Sandy Spitler is no stranger to breaking the tape in our City-by-the-Sea. In 2018, the now-Newporter won the Amica Newport Marathon, with a blazing fast time of 2 hours, 59 minutes and 51 seconds, setting a new course record. Following up on her performance, this past June at the BankNewport 10 Miler, Sandy took the top spot once more, again breaking the course record with a finish time of 1 hour and 17 seconds. Sandy took a few moments to catch up with us, post-race:
We know you’re familiar with the course between your training, this event and your win in the 2018 Amica Newport Marathon. Is there a section of the course that stands out to you as your favorite?
My favorite section of the BankNewport 10 Miler course is close to the end right before entering the fort to finish. The crowd cheering you in gives you the burst of energy to get to the finish and seeing the fort knowing you are almost done! And of course, running along the ocean during the first portion of the race never gets old either!
You set a new course record by a little more than 5 seconds — did you go into the race hoping to break the course record? What did that feel like?
I signed up for the race when I moved back to town and was using it as a race to wake my legs up for a trail race the following weekend. Honestly, went out hoping to have a fun race and try to keep up with the pack of top men! After a long day in the restaurant world, it felt great to finish and surprised to get the course record!
When you’re running 10 miles, what’s your race strategy?
Running the 10-mile distance is always tough as it is still a short enough distance to be able to run hard and fast! Race strategy is to always go out strong and push as hard as possible until the finish.
Newport is your home turf! Besides running, what’s your favorite thing to do or place to go in Newport?
Favorite thing to do in Newport is to explore the coastline with my chocolate lab, nap on the beach and swim in the ocean!
If you could only have one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
The one meal I could eat for the rest of ever is simple grilled seafood and vegetables and a really good margarita every once in a while!
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