Luckily it was a small race, otherwise it would've been hard to find a hotel close by. Packet pick-up was easy, although it was outside in tents and hot. On Friday we had a whole day to do whatever, so we decided to bike some of the trails in Rhode Island (more on that in another post!) and we wandered around Newport for a little bit. Rhode Island is very pretty!
On the day of the race, we woke up early (of course!), and drove to the Newport Grand parking lot, where there were shuttles waiting to take all the runners to the start. Jamestown is an island, and there isn't a lot of parking there, so buses took us there and back. There was a long line for the shuttles when we got there, so we had to wait for awhile (again, good thing this wasn't a huge race). By the time we got over to the island, the race was about to start. It was supposed to start at 6:30, but actually started about 10 minutes late, so I had plenty of time.
I started out in the middle of the pack, feeling good! In the first few miles, we ran along the southern coast, and it was beautiful. Then came the hills. I didn't look up elevation charts, but I expected an island to be pretty flat; however before the race started I was informed by other runners that there would be lots of hills. They were right, but I didn't think the hills were that bad, maybe because I've been running lots of hills in Lynchburg recently. There were short stretches of flat, but lots of ups and downs throughout the entire course. I kind of liked it because it made the course more interesting.
I also thought that we'd be running along the coast and seeing great views of the bay, but after the first few miles, the course was along a road with trees on both sides, with no coastline in sight. Again, this was unexpected, but I didn't mind because it was so nice to have the shade! I fell into pace beside another girl for awhile and we started chatting. She had music playing through her phone, which was great motivation to pick up the pace for awhile. I had been running around 9:45- 10 minute miles, but we picked up the pace to about 9:30. Then we got separated, but awhile later in the race, we caught up to each other again. At that point, she was running close to 9 minute miles, which was great motivation for me to pick up the pace for awhile. Eventually she left me in the dust, but I was glad for the extra motivation and pace boost to help me run a strong race!
The last few miles are always the hardest. It was getting hotter, and the hills didn't stop! At mile 11.5, I was ready to be done (which is good, because in my past few races I've hit that point at mile 8 or 9). I kept pushing and thought I had a strong finish. My mom managed to get this shot of me rounding the final corner towards the finish line!
Official time: 2:05:05
Pace: 9:33
Place 285/984 females
