I'm not really a huge fan of mud/obstacle races, but they are fun from time to time. So when a friend asked me to join her team, I jumped at the opportunity. The race was very well organized, and a lot of fun. But it really wasn't very difficult at all.

Getting to the race was really easy. Since it's at a major medical center, it's very easy to follow signs to get there. Parking was also really easy, and packet pickup was a snap.

The race started in multiple waves, which was good since the first obstacle was only about 100 yards into the race. This was a mud pit under some ropes, so you had to crawl through. Then there were a few small walls to climb over, and we climbed up a fire tower (2 stories). After that there was about 1/2 mile of just trail running, no man-made obstacles at all. This section was really nice!

The only obstacles that really even slowed me down were some pipes that we had to crawl through. Being as tall as I am really hurt me here. I wasn't able to use my arms at all. I did sort of a worm through :) Then just before the finish there they had tires hanging on ropes. And you needed to cross about 20 feet without touching the ground. I was one of the few people that I saw that was able to do this without assistance.

Overall, I had a wonderful time, and will do this again if asked. But I was really expecting something more like a spartan race. With a high degree of difficulty.

Falmouth is a race that I've wanted to do since I was in High School, but never thought I'd have the opportunity. And I was not disappointed! This race truly lives up to its reputation, but it wasn't exactly as I expected it to be.

The Expo
I made the mistake of taking the traffic getting on to Cape Cod lightly. I made great time driving to the Expo, until I was 17 miles from the Falmouth, that's when traffic stopped! It took me over an hour to drive the last 17 miles. But, thankfully, the radio stations were playing great music, and I didn't see any instances of road rage. But I did finally make it to the Expo. Once there, parking was easy. I walked right in picked up my bib and my goodie bag and started walking around the expo.

I was surprised, however, how small the expo was. There wasn't really anything unique at all. There weren't too many booths, and those that were there were basically the same as any of the other expos I've been too. There did have speakers throughout the day that were very good. I was also surprised about the lack of SWAG. There was a nice coffee mug, but no shirt and not much else besides fliers. But that really doesn't matter to me.

Getting to the Race
I didn't stay on the Cape, I stayed at a hotel about 30 miles away. I spoke with a couple volunteers at the expo and asked for their recommendation as to what time I should arrive. So, following her advice, I left my hotel at 5am and got to Falmouth in plenty of time to park my car and make it to the first bus to the start.

At the starting area everything was wonderfully marked. It was very easy to get around, there was plenty of water set up, and no lines at the any of the hundreds of porta-potties. I found a great place to sit by the ocean and watched the boats and talked to the other runners while we all waited for the start.

Around 8AM I decided to go and try to find someplace to warm up. This was difficult since all of the roads were blocked off for the race. But I did manage to find a small parking lot to run around for a while. This actually turned out to be a perfect place. This is where the elite women were also warming up. So we all jogged around and stretched until it was time for the wheelchair race to begin. I watched them start and then waited and also watched the elite women's field start. That's when I decided to go find my place in the proper starting corral.

The Start
Getting into the start area was very easy, and pace signs were very obvious so I was able to put myself where I though I should be starting. I was planning on starting out at a 7 minute per mile pace, so I decided to start at the front of the second wave. This was easy to do and there were no crowds at all -- for a very short while. About 1/4 mile into the race I started catching the slower runners, and walkers!, that started right up front. This was very frustrating since I too such care to properly seed myself.

The Race and the Course
Falmouth is know for many things, besides its world class field. Namely: the heat, the sun, the scenery, and the hills! The heat and the sun were out in full force. But I honestly didn't feel the hills were too bad. Only being a 7 mile race, and not a marathon, I didn't feel that hills would bother me too much. The hills weren't too bad, but the heat and sun were terrible. Aside from about 1 shaded mile of the course, there was no escaping the sun! And the scenery was all that I've heard, and more! Stunning views of the ocean, gorgeous houses, and Martha's Vineyard.

The Finish Area
There were crowds along most of the course, but far more near the finish. Spectators lined the entire last couple miles of the course, and their support was wonderful! Once I finished I was able to get bottles of water, some munchies, and frozen yogurt! They were also giving away hot dogs, but I was so beat up from the heat that they didn't appeal to me.

The big mistake I then made was not knowing how to find my car. I asked several people and a couple police officers, and they all sent me in different directions. So, after close to an hour of wandering around, I finally made it back to my car! Then I got to enjoy trying to drive home. Once again I got to experience the wonderful Cape Cod traffic. It took about 45 minutes to make it to the mainland and then I had no further issues.

Overall
Overall, I really enjoyed the race. But if I do it again, I will do things a bit differently.
1. I will stay on the Cape! Preferably in Falmouth itself.
2. I won't plan on leaving immediately after the race. Aside from the race course, I didn't see any of Falmouth.
3. I would wear a hat and sunglasses!!! The heat and sun were brutal!
4. I would try to start in the first wave of runners. I wasted a lot of energy trying to get through slower runners.

But I do think this should be a race that everybody should run at least once!!!

This is just a straight forward, punch you in the gut, difficult trail race!

There are actually two races, a 15k race followed by a 3.5 mile race. Many people, including me, end up doing both. The 15k is first. You start out on a field for about 200 meters before hitting some single track trails. Once there, passing is almost impossible for the next 3/4 mile. At this point the trail widens up, and starts going up! You start climbing, and continue to climb for the next couple miles. So getting stuck behind slower runners at the beginning doesn't hurt your race too much. In fact, it might actually help me NOT go out too hard.

At the top of the big hill the course flattens out for about 1/2 mile, before a huge downhill. But it's very runnable, even though it's on trails. This is a great place to really fly. Then you go up and down the rest of the race. You never can really relax!

This race is followed by a wonderful BBq in Thacher Park, overlooking the city of Albany.

A summer tradition for most Albany runners!

I ran this race the second year it was held. I looked at the results from the first year and figured that I had a good chance to place well overall, and win my age group. Well, the race got a bit faster this year. My time, which would have taken 3rd overall the first year, only got me 20th this year. But that's okay, I still ran a good race.

My friends and I picked this race based on the course profile, a mostly steady downhill the entire course. But none of us seem to remember any of the downhills. The course meandered it's way through farms and fields, on it's way from Watertown to Sacketts Harbor. Before eventually finishing on the shore of Lake Ontario. It was a nice course, with VERY enthusiastic aid station volunteers. But they were the only people we saw on the course. There were 0 spectators!

The post-race festivities were nice. They had a good supply of food and drinks, in a great State Park. It was also really easy to drive away after the race.

If I'm not busy this year, I'll definitely doing this race again!