Niantic Bay 10K Road Race!

Result?  46:22 officially, 7:28 pace, 39th of 217 registered.  Everyone had the course as slightly long, and Strava had me down for a 10K PR at 45:56, or about 4 minutes faster than my previous best!!!  Sweet!

Never done this race before, but it was awesome.  Band playing, party atmosphere, and lots of WTAC runners there, some of whom didn't recognize me without my facial hair.  Paul Gray even introduced himself and shook my hand before realizing who I was.  That much of a difference, guys, really???  Some of my other running peeps were in attendance as well, including BLS, Don Weller, and Bob Buckingham.  Met up with Jonny, Jeff and Matthew for a warmup run, and did a little over a mile before the race started.  Lined up about middle of the pack with the Grays, where Paul told me I had to beat his time of 46:11.  Well, okay, it worked at Shad Bloom, so why not?  I suppose I could have been closer to the front, but the course allowed for passing so it was never a problem.

Getting ready to race, beautiful afternoon...

It was a bit warmer than I'd hoped, but I felt pretty good.  Just had to remember not to go out too fast.  Paul and I were back and forth in the first mile.  Mile 1 seemed long, and I was almost feeling like I was coming up on mile 2 when I got there.  My GPS was calling out every kilometer, and it takes my mind off the race when I have to constantly convert to miles.  Probably one of the most scenic races ever - out to Old Black Point along the water, where Katherine Hepburn used to live.  I think we even passed her home?  I looked for the "Go Away" sign but didn't see it...

When you get into Black Point, there is a short "lollipop" loop, and I was thinking I'd be doing pretty good if I made that before the leaders came out of it.  Sure enough, as I hit the lollipop, here comes the pace car rounding the corner, and who's in the lead?  Jonny miles, side by side with another runner and cruising, awesome!  I hit the mile 3 mark at 22:30, damn good pace for me and just off my 5K pace, which Jonny told me would be just right.

Reeled in a few more runners in the last couple miles, but I was basically by myself at that point.  I think I mentioned before the race that my goal was sub-46 minutes, and I was 45:56 according to Strava, so just made it!  Very happy with my results.  I'm progressing faster than I expected, and I think sub-7's at my next 5K is in the cards.  Talked to Don and Suzan post-race, and was able to scramble quickly to snap a picture of Beth as she crossed the finish line:

B-L-S! B-L-S!

Great activities after the race.  Chowder, pizza, watermelon, etc., band playing, and I found out I got second in my age group!  Not a big deal to some, but I've only ever scored medals for finishing races, never for placing in my age group...so here's my latest bling!

Ka-Chow!!!

Loved the race, and tentatively convinced the family to come out next time, as my wife (East Lyme class of '87) used to hang out at the park as a teenager.  Now, what's next???  Have to decide, as I have nothing scheduled before Camire's Firecracker on the 4th of July...