By Fred Murolo
Decades from now, when they write the comprehensive history of the Cape Cod Frozen Fat Ass 50k race, the combination of the winter of 2011’s relentlessly miserable weather and the usual windy and cold race conditions will probably lead the author to write that this was a typical year: biting breeze, bitter cold, sucking sand. But, just as St. Andrews plays easier when the wind dies down, so the course at Sandy Neck was relatively tame for the fifth edition of this little beach run.
Relatively. It wasn’t balmy or anything close. As I cruised through Wareham on the way out to the Sandwich- Barnstable line, the car’s thermometer dipped to 13, and I thought it might be a chilly start, but the forecast claimed it would reach the middle 30’s. And by the time I pulled into the parking area at Sandy Neck, the temp reading was back up to 20, the breeze was light, the sky mostly clear. Things were already looking up. I signed up on the clipboard and checked in with ultra friends. Bob Jensen, the RD and sometimes runner as well, was at the race headquarters camper. He was not dressed to run as the ranger wanted him to stay and work the race. His lovely wife, Fiona, was directing traffic to the new parking areas for this year’s race (because of construction up near the beach). Bob explained that the course was about a mile longer this year because of the construction at the upper parking area, meaning we would start on the road near the gatehouse and run up to the beach.
As the minutes passed, a pretty good crowd amassed—the usual suspects: Jeff List (who regularly trains on the course and was running the race for the 4th time), Greg Stone (who I think had already won it twice), the lovely Jane Stringer (who I believe I’ve seen there every year and who apologized for Pete’s absence due to illness), Zsuzsanna Carlson (two-time women’s winner, I think) Scott Deslongchamps (former winner), many others. And there were some new faces. Conversation overheard at the starting area: Runner1 “Have you done this before?” Runner2 “No.” Runner1 “How did you hear about it?” Runner2 “Do you know Pete Stringer? He’s this guy who runs all the time and he told me I should run this. It’s really a lot of fun and I would have a great time.” (Today, that guy is either thinking he’s never going to speak to Pete again or he’s online looking for more ultra races.)
At about 7:30, we started, running on the road to the upper lot, to the stairs down to the beach and off through the sand and rocks. The morning was beautiful, only the lightest breeze along the beach, sand almost firm because of the cold. The course is a figure 8, run twice for the 50k (plus a few bonus miles). You start off running west along the beach, water to the right, dunes on the left, about 2.5 miles to a crossing stream, then bend around to the left eventually 180 degrees, to a path through the tidal flats and then across a wooden stairway back to the beach, where you head east back to the parking lot stairway and up to the lot. Then you run back down the road to the gatehouse, where you take a left on a jeep road trail 5.5 miles along the tidal flats on the east side of the area. When you reach trail 5, you take another left and that leads you back to the beach where you turn left again and head west back up toward the starting area. This year, because of the construction, you exit the beach on the four-wheel drive beach road, back to the gatehouse to check in on the clipboard and get ready to do it all again. The upper loop is about 5.8 miles, the lower loop about 11 miles.
Lap one was great—the sun warm, the wind light, the sand firm. Sure, you still had to slog through some of the dunes on the back side jeep trail, but the footing on the beach was much better than usual. And the beach part of the lower loop, where you are running 5 miles of sandy and rocky beach was really not that bad. Strange sighting along the beach: a dead dolphin. I thought it was a piece of driftwood, until I got close. It was black as it decayed. It looked like it had a big bite mark in its side.
But there was the matter of the second lap. The wind picked up out of the southwest, the sand warmed and dried in the sun and got softer. Those of us who have suffered through this awful winter missing our long runs slowed and slowed again. You can really see who was in shape and who wasn’t.
The results: as Pete reported, Greg Stone won again. I think this is the third time. Greg is a Cape Cod guy. He runs some of the local beaches regularly. He’s fast. I think Greg just may have won every edition of the CCFFA, but for suffering a fractured hip when he fell on ice a few years ago. He’s got some titanium in there now and says he’s lost some speed, but 4:22 on this course is fast! And it’s not like he was spurred on by someone running stride for stride with him. He was over a half hour clear of the field. And Zsuzsanna Carlson also won again, handily.
And me? I finished the race for the fifth time. I’ve spent more time running this race than anyone. But man, was I slow this year—7:12. The lack of long runs this winter really showed in the second half of the race. First lap: 3:04. Second lap 4:08. The last slog up the beach past the dead dolphin seemed to take forever. You try to keep focused in close and take the best and firmest line through the sand and rocks as you slowly move up the beach, but then you find yourself looking at landmarks, like that big flat-topped dune, and it seems to get no closer. Then you think, “Where is the exit road? Isn’t it behind those big dunes . . . No. It’s where that pickup truck is coming out. About a mile away.” The shoulders slump. But you keep moving. Eventually, you get there.
Thanks to Bob and Fiona and Pete and Jane and all who helped put on this race. What a great way to spend a Saturday in February. See you next year.