Run the Spaceport... I Mean Runway 5k Race Report 2021

 

So, I've wanted to do a Runway race for a while, ever since I saw the one in Tampa, but I didn't want to travel all the way to Tampa just for a 5k. I found this race, and it was closer, in Fernandina Beach!  

Um, hang on a sec... pulls up Google Maps...

Tampa is 2.25 hours from my house.

Fernandina Beach is 2 hours from my house.

 

(If you don't know The Chicks, you need to find them!)

Well, okay. Today I learned about distance. Back to the story. 

 

Hubby took today off, but chose to stay home, rather than come with me (like he did for the Bridge of Lions run). And that's fine with me; sometimes I just wanna be by myself, you know? 

 

I had to leave early, since the race started at 7am; I was up and out by 4am or so! The drive was, as expected, very quiet, especially because much of it was non-interstate driving. It was very easy to find and park. We were parked in a field adjacent to the runway we'd be running on. I was parked way down near the end, and there were no lights at all, other than what was provided by headlights, cellphones, or various flashlights. That seemed very unsafe (but kind of cool at the same time). 

Carefully, I headed up towards the packet pickup, first pit-stopping at the potties so I could use them before they got nasty. Let me tell ya; peeing in a pottie that has no interior light, and trying to find somewhere to put a cell phone to shine the flashlight is difficult! I think I tucked it in my bra... It was an experience! After that, I got my bib and shirt (no other swag), and made my way back to the car.

 

As it got closer to race time, I locked up and headed toward the start area again. I noticed a lot of "space" themed stuff, "space" themed music, and other vaguely astronomical touches, which was odd. Turns out, the announcer (I think it was the announcer, not the run director) was affiliated with NASA or something (it was too early to really pay attention), and he just decided to lean heavily on space, less so on airport. It worked out well, somewhat, because that morning, ULA Atlas V Lucy Mission launched from Cape Canaveral. 

Remnants of the Lucy Launch before sunrise

We took off down the runway, but after about maybe a quarter-mile, we hit a turn-around and started going back the way we started. Um, huh? I thought it'd be 1.5 miles up and 1.5 miles back, you know, on a runway?

Nope! It was a half-mile on the runway itself, and then we deviated onto a freakin' trail!!!!! I HATE trails! This one was sandy in the beginning, that really soft grey sand that shifts as soon as you put any weight on it. Then it changed to muddy ruts, like an unpaved truck road through the woods. Yuck! 

After about a mile of this, we exited back onto the road we all drove to get to the parking lot, so a little more actual pavement to run on. The water stop utilized silicone cups, instead of paper cups, which I thought was interesting! In their mission to eliminate cup waste, Hiccup (the provider of the cups) will drop off, pick up, and wash cups, so they can be used again at future races! (Kind of wish I knew that... I ended up taking two of them home because they were so nifty!). 

After the water stop, we turned around and headed back the way we came (yay, more sand and mud). We finished with about a quarter-mile on the runway, walking past some fun ultralight planes on display. 

Check out this great video put out by the race folks - if you look hard, you can see my patriotic ass waddling by at :38!

I can't find the official results anywhere, but Garmin shows that I finished with a great time of 54:12, which is an 18:04 pace.(And it's pretty close to the finish photo below, showing a gun time of around 54:30)

What a cool finish photo!

That's some good-lookin' peach fuzz there!

Nails painted in solidarity with the Southwest Airlines pilots Strike against Covid Vax Mandates (though Southwest blamed the issues on weather)

I picked up my medal, a second Hiccup of water (seriously, such a cool idea!) and wandered back to my car. I didn't feel like sticking around for the awards ceremony, and there wasn't much else to stay for, so I didn't feel so bad. 

This photo came out really nicely!

First up, I went to Harris Teeter to change clothes, and check out the store - I'd never been to one! It reminded me of a mish-mash of Publix and Whole Foods. It was a good-looking store, very organized. I was hoping to find something good in the bakery for breakfast, but nothing caught my eye. But as I walked through the deli, I saw they had a hot bar, and surprisingly, they had a breakfast hot bar! It was a little sad, but I decided to give it a try anyway. I got a little bit of eggs, a few slices of bacon, and a biscuit. Oh, and a chocolate milk, for the protein.

Biscuit w/Butter & Jelly, Scrambled Eggs w/Cheese, Bacon ($4, give or take)

I ate my tiny breakfast in the car, and as you can imagine... it wasn't all that spectacular. The eggs were okay. The bacon was too crispy for me. The biscuit was standard. But, it was food, and that's all I needed! I also went to their attached gas station/convenience store to pick up a soda.

My next stop was one I found by playing "What's That Place?" on Google Maps. You know, when you look at Google Maps, and something catches your attention, whether it's a name, or a geographical feature and you think to yourself, "what's that place?" I saw the name "Boneyard Beach" and I was intrigued. What did Boneyard refer to? So, I did some digging, and apparently, it's a mile-long stretch of the Florida coastline that seems to gather the bleached skeletons of dead oak trees. Coincidentally, park archaeologists have also found fossilized mammoth bones on the beach nearly as big as the trees!

Boneyard Beach is a favorite Jacksonville retreat and close-kept secret. Three miles of shoreline along the Nassau Sound at the very northeast corner of the city limits form a spectacular visual and ecological wonderland.

No skyscrapers are in sight, because the beach tucked into Big Talbot Island State Park is within the bounds of the federally protected area of the Timucuan Ecological and Historical Preserve. Sculpted by nature, this shoreline boasts 30-foot bluffs and a striking beach peppered with massive driftwood trees that recall images of an elephant graveyard.

Relatively recently (within the past few hundred years), this has meant a swift retreat for the shoreline resulting in rapid tree fall. Their bones are bleached, smoothed and battered by sun, sand and wind. While no longer standing, these trees still have an important job to do. They protect the remaining woods and uplands by dispersing and breaking up wind and wave energy and slowing further erosion. Their buffering effect keeps the barrier island in place so it can play its vital role of absorbing the brunt of the Atlantic hurricane season’s fury and protecting the cities, towns and salt marshes inland. Without the intricate root system of the forests here squeezing the sand and soil in place, the bluff would be eroding much faster, leaving Jacksonville exposed to more extreme sea level rise and storm impacts.

I found some pictures, and I knew I just HAD to go check this place out! The drive along A1A was peaceful, getting to the parking area was easy, and I thought I needed to walk down a long trail to get to the beach (according to other reviews of this place), but there was a cut-out for people not afraid to climb down the bluff, so I did that instead. 

 

The cut-out to slide down to the beach

When I got my first real view of the beach, I was in awe. Just plain awe. It was beautiful, otherworldly, and like nothing I'd ever seen in Florida before. Okay, maybe I'm overselling it, but seriously... it was gorgeous! The photos I took just don't do it justice. 

 

Massive oaks, lying around like Pick-Up-Sticks

There are massive oak trees littering this beach like discarded toys. Roots reach toward the sky like fingers, and bare tree canopies stretch toward the water, searching for moisture.  

I'm going to blow this one up and frame it, it's so cool!

When I first got there, there was an older couple fishing, and a younger couple setting up what looked like a picnic (though I think they were Tik Tok-ing or Instagramming, actually). There was a family with small children, who were playing at the water's edge spotting crabs and tiny fish. 

Random items for scale

Later, two young girls showed up to do a photo shoot (or just another Insta sesh). You can see them in relation to the size of the trees to get an idea of just how large these trees are!

Oh, my God, Becky, you look sooo ka-yoot!

I was there for probably 2 hours, taking pictures of trees, or the beach, or the eagles flying overhead, or the sharks in the water... It was so much fun, but it was really hot, too. I had to drag myself away!

 

Once I left the beach, I made my way south, via A1A, to St. Augustine, where I picked up some lunch, did some shopping, hit up Buc-ee's for some treats, and then headed home.