Race Report: Endless Summer 10K 2016

The Endless Summer 10K is a trail race through Anastasia State Park near St. Augustine. The race is accompanied by a 5K beach run. Both races are fundraisers for Friends of Anastasia State Park and Don's Friends.

Training & Goals
This was my first trail race and my main goal was to not fall down and hopefully cross the finish line in under 90 minutes.

Race Day: September 24 2016
Arthur and I left home at around 5:15 and we arrived at Anastasia State Park in time to watch the sun rise over the ocean. I got my packet and found the starting area. This race consistently sells out so it was crowded at the start with no pace markers. It was about 75° and clear at the start with a light breeze.

Mile 1: 10:21
We started out running on the beach. Between the parking lot to the hard-packed beach sand we had to run through some relatively soft sand and I was looking down from the start to watch my footing. There were shells on the beach and the sound of us runners crunching on the shells was funny. We split from the 5K runners at the Mile 1 marker and turned around to run back towards the start. We would do this out-and-back several times through different parts of the park.

Mile 2: 10:35
This was another 3/4 mile running on the beach and about 1/4 mile of boardwalk heading towards the parking lot and roadway. I took a short walking break through the water station at about the Mile 2 marker.

Mile 3: 11:03
From the parking lot we headed to a forest trail. As we ran in, a volunteer said "Here's the fun part!" Roots on the dirt trail were marked with neon spray paint. We had to watch our footing. Running through the trail was a lot of fun. It was narrow and hard to pass other runners, so I just tried to keep up with the runner in front of me. At one point I had a runner breathing down my neck but I wasn't sure if I should step aside or just press on. I pressed on, hoping if someone wanted to pass me they might say something.

Mile 4: 11:16
This was half trail and half road as we made a sharp turn around and headed back towards the starting area. I was feeling good but I got passed by some runners during the trail portion here as the path widened. I took another short walk break through another water station. I had read a tip once to point at the water volunteer from whom you'd like to take water, and Arthur caught this picture of me pointing at the water station kid.  :)

Mile 5: 11:13
More road running and another sharp turnaround as we headed back out on the main park road towards the entrance.

Mile 6+: 11:48, 3:44*
At about the 5.2 mile mark we turned around again for the last time and headed towards the start/finish area along an open grass-covered beach path. Here footing was really tricky and with the sun beating down it wasn't as fun as the forest trails. The last half mile was back on the road straight through to the finish area.

It was an enjoyable race and I was happy to accomplish my meager goal to not fall down during the run! I snarfed my post-race banana and a couple of waters before Arthur and I headed to St. Augustine for a walk through the old city.

Chip time: 1:09:47
Placement details: 8th of 11 in age group, 90th overall out of 178 finishers.
Race Amenities: Swag included a nice ladies tech shirt and a drawstring backpack. No finisher medal.
Cost: $39.98 including $3.98 Active.com fees.

*I often forget to turn off my Garmin after a race, so the final time is skewed.

Report written September 29, 2016

Finish photo screenshot from (c) RaceSmith YouTube video