Running Like an Antelope: Run Around the Block

Sunday, October 9, 2016

My first 15K - Sept. 9, 2006 - Run Around the Block, New Shoreham, RI

Ten years ago, I participated in the Run Around the Block for my first 15K ever and my third time on Block Island. Here is my report from that 2006 race:

The 31st Annual Block Island 15K, known as the "Run Around the Block", took place on Saturday. I had some doubts about running it -- I suffered yet another injury in my left leg only 8 days before (I think I pulled a muscle) -- but I was determined. This would be my longest race yet, and it would be the first time running more than nine miles since April.

I'd done a 10K, but wasn't ready for a half-marathon, so 9.3 miles was nicely in between. Plus, Block Island is a beautiful place. What runner wouldn't enjoy its scenery? This race was the perfect end-of-summer goal.

After three hours of sleep, three hours of driving to the ferry, and a nap on the hour-long ferry ride, I landed on Block Island and hiked to the starting line.

Yawning as I walked, it was not lost on me that the enormous hill I was climbing was part of the race course. This made me nervous, but I've done hill training; I felt ready.

What I did not expect was the entire course to be a series of hills. For 9.3 miles, the 424 runners were either trudging up inclines or hitting the brakes on sharp declines. We huffed, we puffed, some walked, some soldiered on. I refused to walk or even slow down. But at the 7.5 mile marker, when it was painfully clear that I had to either slow down or throw up, I relented and eased my pace a little, letting a few people pass me by and trying not to be discouraged.

I pushed hard up what I thought was the last hill, and knowing I had less than a mile to go, I let loose. The sadistic organizers of the run, however, made sure that after nine miles of painful, hilly torture, B.I.'s runners would face one last ridiculously steep incline before seeing the finish line.

I don't how I gathered the strength to climb it, but once over the crest, I sprinted with all my might to the finish, to clock in with a result of just under 70 minutes.

Elated, relieved and nauseated, I rejoiced in having conquered something new. I received no medals or special recognition (and I don't expect I ever will, not even for my age group); those are for the elite athletes. I'm an everyday runner who finished his first 15K, proud of myself for setting a goal and beating it.

That's the best prize of all. There are still more hills to climb in my journey, but today, I can rest, and bask in the glow of that achievement.

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Run Around the Block 15K, New Shoreham, R.I., Sept. 10

Set on an island accessible only by boat or plane, with an uncommon distance and an afternoon start time, a more unique race than Run Around the Block 15K would be tough to find.

Block Island is still New England's best kept secret, though you would not think so when throngs of summer vacationers descend upon its shores. Off-season, though, it is a whole different vibe. I prefer to go in mid-May and mid-September, to take advantage of warm temperatures while avoiding the Memorial-Day-to-Labor-Day crowd.

September 10 brought sunny skies, temperatures in the mid-70s and lots of humidity - not exactly great racing conditions. Gloria and I took the shuttle bus from Water Street to the starting area near Fresh Pond, at the convergence of Center Street, Cooneymus Road and Lakeside Drive.

Gloria, pre-race

We got there plenty early, not realizing that we would have to sit in the hot sun for an hour and a half before the start (our friends Tim and Mary Jane wisely took a cab and got there much later). Some runners found some shade under trees on the lawn of a resident who, thankfully, did not mind.

Shirtless and sweaty before the race even started, I did a mile warm-up jog before we headed to the start line. Considering the weather and the hilly course, I had my work cut out for me to get in under an hour (6:26 pace, despite my training to run 6:15s), so when the race began, I bolted out quickly.

The 15K and half-marathon are difficult distances. They are too long to spend time hanging back and plotting moves while the seconds tick away, but too long to start in high gear and keep the throttle up. And with an uphill in the first mile, I figured I would give it some gas and then lay off on the down hill. The top three leaders flew ahead and I was with a small group by the end of the Mile 1 which I surprisingly finished in 5:57.

I thought I was hanging back in Mile 2, yet I shocked myself further with a 6:03. But the Block Island course is nothing but hills - you are either going up or down, almost never on flat land - and Mile 3 was mostly uphill (though more gentle) along West Side Road. Still, the 6:21 was another pleasant surprise.

Also surprising was that I had pulled into fifth place, passing a young guy who looked fit for the event, but had gone off to the side, panting and hunched over. By the end of Mile 4 (6:20), I was in fourth; and once I hit Mile 5 with a 6:04, the idea of not only finishing under an hour, but getting a PR on this ridiculous course seemed truly plausible.

I was on a 6:09 average pace, but I also knew the giant hill up Center Road near the airport in Mile 6 might be the deal breaker. Sure enough, 6:34. But with every uphill comes a downhill, so I quickly recovered and pushed myself into a 6:08 for Mile 7 as I came back to the Cooneymus Road intersection, bringing my average to 6:12 - still in PR territory (6:15).

Hitting those hills from the first three miles again, I was losing steam. I was overheating and my legs were getting fatigued. The same stretch that I had run at a 6:00 pace just a half-hour prior seemed like mountains now as I huffed and puffed my way through my slowest mile (6:36 for Mile 8).

Still in my fourth place position, I hit Mile 9 at 6:22. With an elapsed time of 56:25, I had just over two minutes to do almost a third of a mile. This was going to be close.

I had to get the last 1.3 miles closer to PR pace. If I was not so tired, I would probably have laughed at myself - an hour before, I was merely hoping for 59:59. By Mile 9, I absolutely needed a 58:27.

The end of the course features an short, steep, crushing uphill toward Champlin's Marina, which gives way to an equal downhill into the finish line. I mustered every last bit of energy I had to get up that hill - and it hurt - and then sprinted down with all my might, crossing the line at 58:22, five seconds faster than my previous 15K personal record.

My legs were in agony from the hills, but I was a happy camper and there was nothing left to do but cheer in Gloria and Tim to their triumphant finishes, and enjoy a nice, cold can of America...