Race Report: Screech at the Beach 5k

First off, I will say that my PR of 20:23 at the Fall Fest 5k wasn’t a fluke!  I was only a second off that time at yesterday’s Screech at the Beach 5k running a 20:24.24.  Although the Fall Fest 5k was a certified course, my watch read a little short (but then again my GPS took a while to get signal in the valley!) and I started mid-pack on a hand timed race.

Fast forward to yesterday and I ran another fast 5k to boost my confidence.  I remind myself at the starting line of every 5k that I do not like 5ks but I think they are a good check point to maintain some speed throughout marathon training.

Screech at the Beach was fun! There is a great 3 mile loop in New Seabury, which I have run a number of times.  Pretty course along the water, mostly flat with some rolling hills.  I got to the race early and ran the course as a warm up and because I had a 6 mile run scheduled for that day.

During warm up I was paying attention to the wind, which seemed breezy in all directions, and trying to decide how many/what layers to wear.  It was also Halloween so I had to test out some items of my costume!

A small race with only 231 finishers, the announcer noted that there were about 100 more runners this year than last.  There were a lot of fun costumes including a whole group of runners that dressed up as literally every single character in Toy Story.  They were awesome!  The first mile I was trying to pass Kermit the Frog and at the end was waiting to see how much of a hot mess Miss Piggy looked after running 3 miles with a gigantic blonde, curly wig.

I decided to go with an 80s workout theme complete with leg warmers that flopped around the whole time, an oversized sweatshirt with the neck cut out, a fanny pack and lots of neon.

The race was pretty well organized.  Number pick up was the night before at Marathon Sports in Mashpee and all registered runners got 20% off anything in the store.  The start line was a little chaotic.  A number of kids were lined up front row on the start line (so annoying) and there was a man pushing a stroller right up front too (double annoying)!  I also noticed a dad and son on rollerblades (c’mon, really?) and a number of dogs (love ‘em but not running road races)!

My GPS watch was not picking up signal at the start line.  New Seabury can be notorious for poor cell service in certain parts so this was no surprise to me.  I used the stopwatch function on my watch so I really had no idea how fast I was running.  I did like the big mile markers and I was happy I ran the course the race beforehand.

Like I said already, I spent the first mile trying to pass Kermit then the second mile trying to shorten the gap between me and the 2 girls in front of me (I could see the lead female but I was too far back) and the last mile finishing strong.  I did catch one of the girls at the 3 mile marker just before the final turn toward the finish line where I saw Danielle & Jason cheering!  I may have been 3rd female but I think I was first overall costume finisher!

Photo cred: Danielle Nardi

The Popponesset Raw Bar sponsored the event raising money for the Boys & Girls Club.  Post race food was catered by the 99.  It was decent food but I was really hoping for some Raw Bar chowder!  Next year, Bob!

Up next: Week 6 of Houston Marathon training & the Jingle Jog on Saturday, December 5th!