Last Sunday my husband J and I took on the Ocean Road 10K, and today I’m finally getting around to sharing some of the highlights.
Ocean Road 10K Race Recap
I have had my eye on the Ocean Road 10K since last year, but the race has a limited field and by the time I was sure I could make it work in my schedule the race had sold out. Determined to not repeat the same mistake, once I caught the first notification on Facebook I jumped at signing up.
This is a Rhode Island-based race, so there were no local packet pick-up options, leaving me to have to make the trek down to Narragansett the day before. (There was an option to pick up your bib on race morning, but most of the race communications tried to dissuade you from going that route). While I didn’t love the extra driving time down and back, the packet pick-up itself was a breeze. I especially appreciated that they let you pick up bibs for others as long as you had a copy of a photo ID, so I could pick up J’s bib while he was off picking up our oldest son from his cross country meet.
Since this was a point-to-point race, all runners were assigned to a shuttle based on when you registered – and since J slid in on registration literally moments before it sold out, we were assigned to the first wave of shuttles at 6:30 a.m. Factoring in the hour plus drive, we were up and moving by 4:30 to make sure we were out the door by 5 – oy! Though in hindsight, I will say that given how fast the parking lot was filling up when we arrived at 6:15, I’m glad we didn’t plan to arrive later.
The school buses were all lined up and ready to head out, and we were both a little surprised that given all of the repeated reminders in the pre-race communications about taking your assigned shuttle, we didn’t see any race staff on hand to make sure people were getting on the right shuttles. Being on the first shuttles had its advantages of first dibs on the Porta Potties and getting in line to rent a locker (The locker situation turned out to be a hot mess, but more on that later).
The race didn’t start until 8 so we enjoyed the sunrise, watched the handful of surfers on the water, and tried to stretch and stay warm. As the start time neared and they made the first call for the “fast runners” we realized there were no posted markers to help runners self-seed. No Bueno. We shuffled in where we could as the race went off in “waves” – and soon we were off.
The goal for this race was simply to use 5:1 intervals and to try to hold a solid pace. And for the first 4 miles, we did just that. Shortly after the 4-mile marker, my hammy announced it was done…hmm yeah, well we’ve still got 2.2 miles to go. J suggested we switch to shorter run intervals and while it helped a little I could really feel my pace slowing. Thankfully, it was only a couple of miles of discomfort before we were heading down the home stretch and crossing the finish line.
We got our medals, water and did a quick peruse of the food before hitting the Kind Bar tent, and then headed to the beach where most of our fellow runners were gathering. It was such a gorgeous day that if we hadn’t had family plans for the day we could have easily hung out and enjoyed the beachfront.
Running just gets better with views like this!
Race pluses…
- This race offers a stunning course – it starts at Point Judith Lighthouse and follows the RI coast up to the Narragansett Town Beach. Along the way, you’re treated to great coastal views and some beautiful beachfront property. (Having the picture-perfect weather we had, certainly didn’t hurt!)
- While the course rolls a little, it’s fairly flat – the inclines that exist are gradual.
- Free race photos!
- The T-shirt is fun, and I think they hit a home run with the medal!
… and minuses
- How do you ask runners to self-seed and not provide some kind of pace markers at the start?
- The mobile lockers were advertised at $5 so to get to the front of the line and discover that the $5 locker was the size of a thimble and the woman managing the lockers was trying to get everyone to “upgrade” felt like a big bait and switch. On top of it, many runners (like us) only had exact change so you can imagine how well this worked out. We were able to jam my sweatshirt and the small bag we had into the locker but J ended up having to carry his sweatshirt the whole race.
- Just a couple of extra volunteers positioned in the parking lot post-race would have gone a long way to making things run smoother when it was time to leave.
Final thoughts
I really enjoyed the vibe of this race and only wish my hamstring had allowed me to run the race I wanted. While the distance was doable, I had to significantly slow my pace to finish, so clearly, I still have some work to do on my rehab.
I would run this race again in a heartbeat and will be looking to return next year!
I’m linking up with Erika, Marcia, and Patty for Tuesdays on the Run.
Sounds like a great race but that locker thing? What happened to bag check? I hope that isn’t a trend for races in the future. Geez, it’s like the airlines with carryon bags..
Love the medal and the shirt, and the views look amazing. Great job!
Wendy recently posted…Run Is All You Need
The race was great but the locker thing was just bizarre! It was my first experience with a mobile locker and I have to say I’ll never do it again.
Odd that a late sign-up put you on an early shuttle — and that it didn’t matter! I prefer to get to a race early for the same reasons. Did they send out a post-race survey? It sounds like issues they could fix pretty easily, although I’ve never had a race where you had to pay for bag check (or locker rentals). Glad you enjoyed it but so sorry your hammy flared up! I do love the photo and the medal.
Coco recently posted…Celebrating 30 Years Riding 60 Miles
Definitely minor glitches that they can easily rectify. The hammy thing is totally frustrating, but still enjoyed it!
I love that you and the hubby got to do this together 😉 When my hubby joins me, we seldom run side-by-side LOL That medal is one of the coolest pieces of hardware I’ve ever seen!
Kimberly Hatting recently posted…What (running gear) would I buy with $1,000?
I love it when my husband will join me for a race! I also love that he knew my hammy was suspect and offered to stay with me 🙂
That mobile locker situation would have really annoyed me, that’s so not cool!
Despite that hiccup, sounds like it was a nice race and I love that you were able to run it with your husband. I also love the race shirt and medal!
Kim G recently posted…Building Your Marathon Playlist
Yeah, I definitely will not be using a mobile locker again any time soon. The rest of race was great and the medal is an instant favorite!
I love the medal!! Agree with the others on the locker situation — I’ve done many races, but never one where I had to pay for (or even use) a locker!
The locker was a first …and last for me for sure!
That does look like a stunning course. The intervals have been helping me as well and the shorter ones do seem to work better. Sorry that hamstring issue came back 🙁
Deborah Brooks recently posted…September Runfessions – A monthly tell all
Thanks Deborah – looks like I still have some rehab work to do!
Congrats on your 10K! I would love to do this race, it sounds like it’s absolutely beautiful! I’m sorry your hamstring caused trouble, and I hope they ask for feedback so you can tell them how disorganized they were!
Janelle @ Run With No Regrets recently posted…Road to Recovery Week 3 Recap
Thanks Janelle. It really was a great course – if you ever find yourself up this way in the fall it’s worth checking out!
Congrats! That’s an awesome medal. I love point to point races and the view of the water is unbeatable. Woohoo!
Thanks, Rachel! I’d never done a point-to-point before – it was kinda nice not to be on a typical loop. And you really couldn’t beat the views!
This is such a beautiful race course. Love the bling and the super fun t-shirt! But, yeah what’s up with the locker thing? Weird!
Sandra Laflamme recently posted…Workout Recap Week of September 10, 2018
The whole locker thing was just odd! I hope they lose this idea for next year’s race!
Love the medal and the tshirt, and great work persisting, hope you get the ham sorted out once and for all very soon!
Liz Dexter recently posted…Book review – Corinne Hofmann – “Reunion in Barsaloi” #amreading
Thanks so much Liz!
I love Rhode Island – sounds like a gorgeous race! I agree you need some sort of seeding system at the start for more organization.
Rach @ Girl On The Run recently posted…Ironman 70.3 Atlantic City Recap
I was so surprised there was no seeding!