This was the 11th running (my 4th) of this traditional kick-off-the-season race, held on the north shore of Long Island. Billed as a "challenging" course, it is unanimously hailed as the toughest race on Long Island, and for some people, the toughest 15k they've ever run. Long Island is basically a pile of dirt pushed here by a glacier. The north shore has cliffs, and is very hilly and rocky, while the south shore is flat and full of sandy beaches. While the hills aren't exceedingly long by most standards, they are steep and pack quite a whallop. Because of the hills and the timing of this race, it fits in perfectly with training for the Boston marathon. I really wanted to do well at this race this year, and had high expectations of myself. Normally I don't put a lot of pressure on myself to do well, but this year is a little different for a couple of reasons. First, I'm running Boston on behalf of a sweet little girl, and made a promise to her that I would see her at the finish line in Boston at a certain time. I don't want to be late for our meeting. Secondly, a friend from Seattle who has been trying for years to break 3 hours for the marathon for a long time, just missed his goal again this past fall in Portland. He said he was giving up after that, being in his mid 40's, he said his body can't take the pounding anymore. I was able to coerce him to trying one more time at Boston this year, and said I would run it with him and carry him if need be. He agreed to give it one more go. So I need to be on my game to help him get his goal. I know it'll gnaw at him if he doesn't. The weather for this race is always interesting. In my previous 3 times running it, it's snowed, it was 70*, and last year it was 40* and drizzling (perfect!). 3 years ago they cancelled the race due to a snowstorm. The forecast for this year ensured that the interesting weather would continue. Heavy rain and wind, with temps in the low 40's. It poured overnight last night, but I awoke to find that it had subsided this morning. Yay! It was breezy, but not bad. Heavy fog. The car thermometer read 46* when I left the house for the 1+ hour drive there. The local radio station was giving reports on all the road closures due to flooding, but luckily none of them involved the race or the drive there. I arrived about 1 hour before race time, I like to get there early, get done what I need to, then relax. The car thermometer said 42* when I arrived. Hmmmm... A light rain was falling now, and the wind was picking up. Got my stuff (they give out nice heavy quality sweatshirts) and then just chilled out in a quiet corner of the gymnasium where registration was held. I like watching all the different routines that people have before a race. I swear one guy was doing an entire yoga workout. Despite the weather, there was still a decent turnout which I was glad to see. Finally it was time to head back to the car to dump my stuff and do a warmup. Back outside, it sure felt like it was getting even colder. Still a light rain, maybe 20 mph winds. Not too horrible. Race attire from top to bottom was a Brooks visor, a Nike short sleeved tech shirt under my Children's Hospital Sugoi team singlet, matching Sugoi shorts, Wrightsocks and Mizuno Alchemy shoes. Went for a 10 minute jog to warm up, I'll call it a mile. I was shaking like a leaf, partly from cold, partly from nerves. Lined up near the front just as the timer was announcing 1 minute to the start. Given the nature of this course, not too many people break 1 hour for it. The course record is just over 50 minutes, and the guy that ran that said it was 4 minutes off his best 15k time. When I first ran this race, I ran it in 1:08+. Last year I ran it in 1:04:48, my best time for this course. My training has been going well, so this year I has aspirations of joining the sub 1 hour club. That's just under 6:30/mile average. If you break the race up into 5k segments and look at the elevation changes for each, you'll see that the first 5k gains 135 feet, the 2nd 5k loses 205 feet, and the 3rd 5k gains 105 feet, for an overall elevation gain of 35 feet. So my thoughts were to hit the splits as follows. 5k - 20:30, 10k - 40:00 (19:30), 15k - 1:00:00 (20:00). Holy crap this is long, and I haven't even gotten to the race yet! The race starts, and the 1st half mile is down a pretty steep hill. Perfect for Boston training. Then it goes sharply up and then down some more. Hit the first mile in 6:25. So far so good. I fell in with a couple of guys that I know, both of whom are in their 50's. One is Brian who consistently is under an hour in this race, and the other is Al who runs a marathon in the 2:40's. He's won the over 50 division at Boston a couple of times, but the guy is so wired into running marathons that he doesn't really run the shorter races that fast. Last year he finished in 59:59 in this race, so I knew I was in good company. It was such a pleasure running with him, watching a real master of the sport in action. His stride was quick and light, his feet barely getting off the pavement as he shuffled along. He cut every corner to the inch on this very twisty turny course. An awesome picture of efficiency. Due to the storms overnight, the course was littered with debris. Sand, gravel, leaves and tree branches made it tricky sometimes to pick the right line, often times you were zigzagging to find a clear spot. There were plenty of puddles too. A light rain continued to fall, and the wind started to pick up. The stretch from mile 1 to mile 3 is a real bear. You gain about 200 feet during these 2 miles. The 5k mark is just after you crest the top. I hit it in 20:30, just as planned. But it took a lot more of an effort to get there than I had hoped. Ok, what goes up, must come down, right? Here we are at the highest point of the course, and the 10k split was at the lowest point. Just let gravity get you there. The only problem is, all those 200 feet drop in the next 3/4's of a mile, instead of being spread out. You SCREAM down this hill, out of control, which was a bit scary given the road conditions. Before you hit mile 4, you're at the lowest point. From there till the 10k mark are more energy sapping uphills and screaming downhills. That's another thing that makes this race so challenging, you can never get into a groove or rhythm. You either are grinding up some rediculous uphill, or wildly flying out of control down the other side of it. There is a stretch along the water for about 1/2 a mile long before the 10k mark that is flat, but that's it. I hit the 10k at 40:30, for a 20:00 5k split, but I'm 30 seconds off my goal pace already and feeling maxed out, and know that sub 1 hour will have to wait for another year. Brian, one of the guys I was running with has now pulled ahead of me by 100 feet or so, and Al was about an equal distance behind me. I guess he wasn't having a good day. I am still thrilled to be in their company though, these are two guys I've always aspired to be able to run with. From mile 6.5 to 7 is the meanest, cruelest hill on the course. It gains 100ft in a very short time. Most people walk it, there is little advantage to running it. I've even seen people tack back and forth to get up it, like a boat would in the water. The funny thing about this hill is that they always put a water stop right at the top. You can't even suck in and process oxygen at this point, let alone water. I hit mile 7 with a 7:02 split time, my slowest of the day. I'm shot, just get me home. The rain is coming harder now, and I'm starting to get cold. The final 2 miles continue the up and down rollercoaster, with the last half mile being just plain cruel. It looks like a deathmarch watching runners finish going up that thing. Final time was 1:02:04, with a leg and lung burning 21:39 final 5k split. Ouch! Over 2 minutes off my probably unrealistic goal for this race, but still 2:44 better than my previous best time for this course. Brian finished in just under 1:01, off his usual time, and Al came in about 45 seconds behind me. I ended up 5th in my age group, but upon looking at the results, saw I was in the company of people that normally end up several minutes ahead of me. Even though it wasn't quite what I'd hoped for, I'm pleased with the outcome. Right after turning in my chip, I headed back out for another 20 minute run. Rain was teeming down now, the wind was probably gusting over 30mph, and it was cold. By the end of it, there were little ice pellets mixed in with the rain, and my muscles were on the verge of seizing up. I couldn't help but laugh at the lunacy of this. I grabbed my bag from the car and walked like the tin man from Oz, stiff and chattering, back to the school to change. The men's room was packed, and I wasn't gonna wait, so I ventured off to find the least populated area of the school and stripped and changed right there. Sometimes you get to a point where you just don't care, and this was one of those times. It is such a great feeling to be warm and dry after being cold and miserable. I went back into the gym to partake of the many baked good that they had available for the runners. One of the sponsors was a bakery, so the spread was pretty impressive and tasty. I loaded up with cookies and danishes and crumbcake and went out into the hall, sat down and ate and thawed out. While sitting there a fellow comes and sits down near me and starts to chat, asking how my run went, telling me about his run, about himself, etc... he was a member of the Rolling Thunder running team, a group of developmentally disabled kids and adults that show up at most local races. They are a great group, and it's always nice to see their bus pull up at a race. Some of the members are quite fast, I think one guy was 8th overall today. Eventually I needed to get going and said goodbye to him, and he said it was great chatting with me and thanked me profusely. I said likewise. It was one of the most genuine and heartwarming conversations I've had with anyone in a long time. This random encounter was by far the highlight of the race for me, and I look forward to seeing my new friend at the next race. During the drive home, the rain couldn't have come down any harder, and along with the fog and the spray from other cars, visibility was almost nil. But the strangest thing was, the temperature actually rose 15 degrees during that drive. At one point, an 18 wheeler going way too fast for the conditions passed me, and in the process of cutting back into my lane began to hydroplane and fishtail. Somehow he managed to pull out of it. After I was done crapping my pants, I thought "that was cool!" A huge thanks needs to be given to the race organizers, the race timer, the police and especially the volunteers for this race, for pulling it off in adverse conditions. For the volunteers, it took a lot to get out of their warm, dry bed so early on a cold, wet windy day in order to come make sure that we runners were well cared for, all for no compensation. The course was well monitored, and the water stops were all well manned and stocked. sorry about the length again. I really appreciate your taking the time to read. Thank you all very much for your support!

What a great read! Thanks for putting it down on "paper".

Great report! You write as well as you run! That's some hilly course. And I thought WE had hills here! (Of course ours are at 9500 ft, but still...) What amazes me is that with your speed, you're only 5th in your AG. How many total were in your AG, anyway?

btb I presume Boston is your goal for the season and this was a prep race of sorts and you didn't taper as much as a goal race should get. If so, 2:44 is a substantial hunk of a PR. Plus the weather might have been better. That time on that course with only 5th AG suggests you run with a tough crowd. Congrats on the PR and for making it home safe and sound if not unsoiled jjj

Wow, btb, that was a tough course in tough weather conditions. You sure did well, though, with a course PR. It was neat that you made a new friend after the race. Congratulations. TomS

There's no question this was a tester of a race, given those hilly conditions and cold rain, but even though you didn't hit the goal, you are well under 7's and that should give you some confidence for where you are in the Boston training. March is never a great time to run PR's at this distance if you are in the middle of Boston training, so you should look at this race for where it fits in. Very well done. Spareribs

btb....All's I can say is "jeez, you can run"! What a fabulous race under not so ideal conditions. Your race report....cool The 18-wheeler driver....not so cool...glad you didn't crap your pants! Congrats! Jewels

So I started reading and I thought running a race in yesterday's weather is something only die hards do but I can understand going out to do it. After all I would have. Fifth in your AG in the kind of field this kind of race draws is unbelievably impressive! So is your time. Oh, yes the RR goes on about a 20 minute post-race run in a storm you had to live through to believe! Then I thought ok this is somewhere past die hard! Congratulations on the race, your time and heck just getting to the finish.