This was going to be one of the two races I would go all out for this year, but then I got achilles tendonitis at the beginning of June and had to adjust my plans. I was worried, because after my 10K training run a couple of weeks ago in 1:15, my ankle bothered me enough that I hadn't run that far again. So I had low expectations, and decided to run it just for fun. The weather forecast looked daunting during the week (sunny and humid), so I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach! By Friday night, I was thinking about punting, but I knew my running partner, Martha, was counting on my being there. I spent a lot of time carefully taping my knee and calf before I went to bed. I woke up Saturday morning to see DENSE fog. Whoo hoo! Would it hold? I wore black Nike shorts, a cranberry-colored Nike top, an Under Armor wicking cap, and sunglasses on top of my head, just in case. I picked Martha up at 6 am, and we were at the starting line by 6:30. We were trying to find her three cousins (all in their 60s and strong runners), so we walked around and people-watched. What a wide variety of people! The average age was older than I expected. We finally found her cousins, but they started up ahead of us. We obediently lined up well behind the last pace sign (10 mpm). Met a nice woman named Kathryn who has run marathons - she gave me good advice about my injury. The gun went off, and we stood in place for a couple of minutes. It took us almost 5 minutes to cross the starting line. Like Mainerunnah, I got annoyed at the people who were barely jogging or even WALKING, many times three abreast in the middle of the road. So I would "zip" around them and cut back right in front of them. Childish, I know! Around 3/4-mile, I realized I had pushed the wrong button on my Garmin and it hadn't started. So I just asked Martha to tell me her time at mile one and started it then. At this point, I was wondering how far I would make it. The fog was still dense, so the humidity was making me drip. I think it was in the mid-60s. Surprisingly, I started feeling better soon after, and the humidity didn't bother me anymore. The crowd support was awesome. So many people cheering, even for us slowpokes! Great music blaring - Bruce Springsteen, Chariots of Fire, etc. A few homeowners sprayed those of us who wanted it. Whenever I started to wilt a little, I just reminded myself that I had run 5 miles of the race last year, and I knew I was in MUCH better shape this year. Before we knew it, we were at the hills beginning at the mile 5 marker. I walked a lot of this portion last year, so I wondered how I would do, especially since I've avoided hills at my PT's direction. I was SO HAPPY at how well that part went - slow but sure! I was never tempted to walk. Martha did zoom ahead of me at that point - she's been concentrating on running hills lately. The crowds continued to scream encouragement as we entered Fort Williams Park, the location of the Portland Head Light. Our names were printed on the bibs, so it was fun to hear, "Go, Teresa!!" I high-fived some little kids and told them thanks. My adrenaline was pumping at this point, so I sped up. I had a HUGE smile on my face. The finish is downhill, so you can fly. I crossed the finish line in great shape, and even had the energy to take off my own chip, unlike my experience in other races. Comparison of this year to last year: 2007: 1:19:08 250/271 4587/4839 2008: 1:09:02 240/299 4529/5248 So I improved by 10 minutes over last year. Whoo hoo! Martha finished about 30 seconds ahead of me. We stayed afterwards to watch the kids' fun race and the awards ceremony, which was held directly in front of the lighthouse. It was still so foggy that you could just BARELY see it. I didn't see the 40-foot high poster of Joan Benoit Samuelson that they'd put on the lighthouse - I read about that in today's paper. Martha's cousin took 4th place in the 60-64 AG. I talked to Blaine Moore (RunToWin). His time was 34:08, and he came in 60th overall! He has run as an elite for two years in a row, and told me that my DS16 should be able to within a year or two! Maybe if I stick around these fast guys, some of their speed will rub off on me. It was fun seeing all of the top 10 men and women finishers - none of them were American. Some of the countries they were from included Kenya (wow, they're skinny - I told DS that's the secret, I will just stop feeding him), Japan (the WINNING woman was 41 and the mother of a 7-year-old), Australia, Italy, and Romania. The 11th-place finisher (first American) was Ben True, a 22-year-old who graduated from my son's high school (my son was the first boy since Ben to make varsity XC as a freshman at their school). We took the shuttle back to my car and it took us awhile to get home with all the traffic. We showered at Martha's house and then ate lunch at Bintliff's, a really good place in Portland. I had a mimosa! We were going to splurge on dessert, but they don't serve it, so we headed over to Izzy's Cheesecakes. What an excellent day!! The highlight for me was Martha's reaction. I had to really bug her to sign up for the race for some reason (registration closed 25 hours after it started on March 15, so she didn't have much time). After we finished, she asked me, "Do we have to wait a whole year to get to run that race again??" One of Joan Benoit Samuelson's main goals in starting this race 11 years ago was getting "ordinary" Maine runners to participate in the race. I think she's succeeded - a guy at church this morning told me that the ONLY reason he runs is so that he can do this race each year! Thanks for reading my novel! I highly recommend this race - come to Maine and you can stay at our house! By the way, my ankle feels PERFECT today! How can that be? It's the best it's felt in two months.

Great job Teresa!!! Fine racing followed by CHEESECAKE Sounds like lots of elite type runners were there. If you start further up the line that will take 2-3 minutes off your time and if you can stay healthy your training will take off another 3-5 and you'll be chasing that one hour mark next year. Extra bonus that your ankle feels so good.

Great race and great job Teresa. I 2nd that, over 10 mins off you your time from last year and even after the injury. Glad to hear the ankle felt even better after the race, that's a really good sign. DH, DS, DD didn't go with you for support? Larry