Double Bellybuster - Around the Bacon 2012
Posted: Tue Mar 19, 2013 4:50 pm
This was my fourth trip, and third solo 30K, at North America's oldest road race, the Around the Bay Road Race. With unusually warm weather, I demanded on arrival that all in the parking garage Hang Loose:
The course is famously brutal - by 10K section, it is easy, windy then punishing, the elevation map is below:
It's a pretty crazy combination of distance and course. Ks 1 & 2 and 8 to 10 are easier Ks than any of the 17 that follow so you need to start not too far off Half Marathon pace...knowing the hills in the back third will crush you...two hours later. That's it - push for speed as much as you can without expending so much energy that you cannot sprint downhill to Copps Coliseum after brutal hills in Ks 21, 26 and 27.
2010 got me to a similar positive split as the lead runners - the back 10K will always be 1-2 minutes above the first due to topograghy.
2009 - 51:52 / 53:16 (26:36/26:40) / 57:03 = 2:42:11.6
2010 - 49:26 / 50:07 (25:32/24:35) / 50:36 = 2:30:09.2
I thought that 4:50/K was about right for the first 10K (48:20) as even in a perfect Bay Race, 4:52/K is the quickest I could possibly imagine completing the course.
And we were off:
The first 10K were as expected, it is downhill, one could pick their pace:
1K - 10K Splits
4:54, 4:43, 4:44, 4:55, 4:48, 4:47, 4:44, 4:50, 4:50, 4:51, 0:06.0
48:10.0 for first 10K
14K was the highlight of the race. A group of good samaritans had set up grills on their front lawn and bacon was being offered to runners. Delicious. I was disappointed to find out in conversation over the remainder of the course that almost all runners had passed up the taste sensation. Crazy!
The rest of the middle 10K was uneventful. The first 12K had been marginally quick so I kept it above 4:50/K after that as I knew that the rolling hills were coming that would tenderize me for the big ones:
11K to 15K Splits
4:46, 4:51, 4:54, 4:54, 4:59, 0:05.3
24:29.3 for 5K
1:12:39.3 thru 15K
16K to 20K Splits
4:52, 4:57, 4:57, 4:52, 4:56, 0:05.4
24:39.4 for 5K
1:37:18.7 thru 20K
I took the flats and downhills hard to the finish while taking a fair bit of effort off on the uphills but nothing that saw any Ks more than 25 seconds off overall goal pace:
21K to 30K Splits
4:54, 5:14, 4:53, 5:02, 5:04, 4:58. 5:16. 4:51, 4:48, 4:48, 0:08.0
49:56.0 for last 10K
After not seeing each other for the first 28K of the race, Katharine, a fellow member of the Greater Uxbridge Roadrunners, was with me for a photo finish that clearly shows I was the first to clown for the arena cameras:
2:27:14.7 full race, 878/7444 Overall, 702/3139 Gender, 123/450 M35-39
2009 - 51:52 / 53:16 (26:36/26:40) / 57:03 = 2:42:11.6
2010 - 49:26 / 50:07 (25:32/24:35) / 50:36 = 2:30:09.2
2012 - 48:10 / 49:09 (24:29/24:39) / 49:56 = 2:27:14.7
Very pleased...
...but this good result suggests that I might be in good shape for Spring Marathon. So no rest yet. Stay tuned.
The course is famously brutal - by 10K section, it is easy, windy then punishing, the elevation map is below:
It's a pretty crazy combination of distance and course. Ks 1 & 2 and 8 to 10 are easier Ks than any of the 17 that follow so you need to start not too far off Half Marathon pace...knowing the hills in the back third will crush you...two hours later. That's it - push for speed as much as you can without expending so much energy that you cannot sprint downhill to Copps Coliseum after brutal hills in Ks 21, 26 and 27.
2010 got me to a similar positive split as the lead runners - the back 10K will always be 1-2 minutes above the first due to topograghy.
2009 - 51:52 / 53:16 (26:36/26:40) / 57:03 = 2:42:11.6
2010 - 49:26 / 50:07 (25:32/24:35) / 50:36 = 2:30:09.2
I thought that 4:50/K was about right for the first 10K (48:20) as even in a perfect Bay Race, 4:52/K is the quickest I could possibly imagine completing the course.
And we were off:
The first 10K were as expected, it is downhill, one could pick their pace:
1K - 10K Splits
4:54, 4:43, 4:44, 4:55, 4:48, 4:47, 4:44, 4:50, 4:50, 4:51, 0:06.0
48:10.0 for first 10K
14K was the highlight of the race. A group of good samaritans had set up grills on their front lawn and bacon was being offered to runners. Delicious. I was disappointed to find out in conversation over the remainder of the course that almost all runners had passed up the taste sensation. Crazy!
The rest of the middle 10K was uneventful. The first 12K had been marginally quick so I kept it above 4:50/K after that as I knew that the rolling hills were coming that would tenderize me for the big ones:
11K to 15K Splits
4:46, 4:51, 4:54, 4:54, 4:59, 0:05.3
24:29.3 for 5K
1:12:39.3 thru 15K
16K to 20K Splits
4:52, 4:57, 4:57, 4:52, 4:56, 0:05.4
24:39.4 for 5K
1:37:18.7 thru 20K
I took the flats and downhills hard to the finish while taking a fair bit of effort off on the uphills but nothing that saw any Ks more than 25 seconds off overall goal pace:
21K to 30K Splits
4:54, 5:14, 4:53, 5:02, 5:04, 4:58. 5:16. 4:51, 4:48, 4:48, 0:08.0
49:56.0 for last 10K
After not seeing each other for the first 28K of the race, Katharine, a fellow member of the Greater Uxbridge Roadrunners, was with me for a photo finish that clearly shows I was the first to clown for the arena cameras:
2:27:14.7 full race, 878/7444 Overall, 702/3139 Gender, 123/450 M35-39
2009 - 51:52 / 53:16 (26:36/26:40) / 57:03 = 2:42:11.6
2010 - 49:26 / 50:07 (25:32/24:35) / 50:36 = 2:30:09.2
2012 - 48:10 / 49:09 (24:29/24:39) / 49:56 = 2:27:14.7
Very pleased...
...but this good result suggests that I might be in good shape for Spring Marathon. So no rest yet. Stay tuned.
