Shelter Island Race

Who knew that Shelter Island was such a great place to travel 2-3 hours, including a ferry ride, to go and do a 10K race?

I went out to "The Hamptons" (I feel pretentious and nauseated just saying that) last weekend for an early season getaway. Anthony and I thought we'd throw in a local race since we'd be there during the 30th Anniversary Shelter Island 10K by chance. I always try to run local races when traveling (I don't want to digress, but remember the San Diego trail race mishap?), so I signed us up. What the heck?

It turned out to be the perfect foil for the rainy weather we were experiencing. We'd already done everything Hamptonsy we could do on Friday, including Lobster rolls, of course, so we drove on over to Shelter Island early afternoon Saturday to check it out. It turns out that there's not much going on on Shelter Island. That seems to be the point over there. Totally nothing. Nothing but immense greenness and beautiful bays, beaches, boats...

We drove around the island several times just getting "lost"; it's a small island, so there's only so lost one can get. After a "cuppa tea" stop in a quaint sandwich shop, having wasted as much time as was possible, we went to the race start. Rain and wind prevailed, but so did we. We joined in on the group pre-race stretch on the wet grass. Then we did some huddling under whatever tents were still standing(I threw that in for dramatic effect...they were all standing).

Finally the lineup, the start horn, and we were off! I cannot say (because I would be lying) that we started off with a bang, but we had a nice 10K Jog. There was no reason to be a hero. Plus, the views were so magnificent that I kind of wanted the run to last. The rain let off for the rest of the run.

Besides the gorgeous views of stately mansions and sailboats moored in coves, being a 5:30pm run, every Islander was out with friends and cocktails to cheer us on. There is nothing I enjoy more than a cocktail at 5:30pm. Barring that, I'll take a run at 5:30pm with a view of other people drinking cocktails.

The course was pretty easy. I had heard about hills, but all I noticed was a gentle slope up or down. The race finished, medals for everyone, and the rain began again. Anthony and I headed back to feisty (in comparison) Amagansett for our own later cocktail hour and celebratory meal.