Hey there blog friends! I’m emerging from the depths of wedding planning mania to recap the second race of my “one race a month” summer/fall series (first installment here)–the Beach 2 Beacon 10k! I managed to get a bib to this iconic and uber popular Maine race from a Oiselle friend–normally you have to register RIGHT when the window opens, or you can get a bib through the lottery. Either way, this race has been on my bucket list and I knew we were going to be in town anyway for wedding stuff, so it worked out perfectly.

I drove up to Portland on Friday morning, arriving just in time to meet up with my mom for my wedding hair and makeup trial (with the fantastic Stacia, if anyone is looking). It was really fun to see everything come together and to get totally glam for a day, especially because I don’t wear much makeup IRL. We then did some other wedding errands and picked up J before driving down to Cape Elizabeth (just south of Portland) to get my race bib. Beach 2 Beacon is pretty massive, with over 8,000 people registered, so the expo was a little hectic but a lot of fun. There were plenty of freebies and cool local Maine companies represented. My favorite find was fARTlek jewelry, which makes designs based on race courses. I’m definitely considering treating myself to a Boston necklace this spring!!

From there, we took a couple of quick photos at the Portland Headlight, where the race finish line is. Jeremy and I then dropped my mom off at the bus station and went out for our 5 year anniversary dinner at Street and Co. We had an amazing meal to celebrate a big week: I finished my last MBA course and J passed his last architecture licencing exam! Definitely worth a decadent seafood meal. I’d highly recommend checking out Street and Co. if you’re in the area. Bonus that they were super accommodating on the gluten free front 🙂

We got up bright and early on Saturday morning after a just ok night’s sleep at an Airbnb in South Portland. The race logistics are kind of insane (it’s a point-to-point course with no parking allowed at the finish) so we decided to drive to one of the satellite parking lots. From there, I hit the porto potties and took an easy shuttle to the start, while J took off for a 5 mile jog to meet me at the finish. The shuttles dropped us off on a rural road surrounded by farmland, and I was able to get in a bit of a warmup jog up and down the fields. The start was self-seeded so I slotted myself into the 7 minute mile corral. My A-goal was to run sub 7s, netting out to about a 42-43 minute 10k. I wanted to be fairly cautious because it was an unfamiliar course and especially because it was close to 100% humidity–not anyone’s favorite race conditions. My B-goal was any time under 44 minutes. I was glad I had that all in mind because the course was much hillier than I expected–rolling hills the whole time with a major climb near the finish.

I ticked off the first mile a bit fast (oops) on a slight downhill. The next couple of miles felt fairly steady at 6:54 and 7:08. I grabbed a couple of quick sips of water and pushed through a 7:00 and a 7:04. Then, the hill hit. Mile 5 was a steep climb into Fort Williams Park, and a much slower 7:24. I gritted my teeth and picked up the pace to a 6:20 for the final .2 sprint to the finish. My final time was 43:57, just about a 7 minute average pace and 23rd in my division.

Overall, this was a fun and challenging race that definitely got me out of my comfort zone! I hadn’t run a 10k since 2014, when I ran the Tufts 10k in 49:46. This was also the last race I’ll run before my 30th birthday, and I’d say it was a perfect wrap to a crazy running decade. I would love to try this course again on a sunny day to catch all the ocean views 🙂 I also think this would be an incredible race to spectate–so many elites run! I’m a little bummed I missed watching Shalene, but oh well.

The rest of the weekend we spent running around at camp and doing wedding stuff like maniacs! The big day is 33 days away and we’re feeling good–there’s definitely still a lot to do, but it’s all good and exciting stuff. Stay tuned for a couple of really, REALLY exciting running-related announcements in the next few days–I have big news to share!

Leah