Updated Boston Team Race Results

Just by way of an update, NETT's men's team finished 38th at Boston out of 69 total teams. Keep in mind, that's the open category and we had two masters runners on our team. So all in all, pretty darn good.

To view full team results, click here.

NETT Members on winning Tuckerman Inferno team

NETT members Dmitry Drodov and Dave Mingori helped the winning team claim the relay title in the Tuckerman Inferno race. Dmitry did the first run leg, while Dave did the final hike and ski down Tuckermans.

Big Ben takes on the Muddy Moose

A quick report from Big Ben Winther up in the wilds of New Hampshire:

"I did the Muddy Moose 4 miler this weekend, what a horrible (and wonderful) mess it was. It wa a poor time, but good fun.

I can’t compare to past years but it was pretty messy. There were still a lot of icy patches around the muddy areas, and the fat guys (aka Ben Winther) seemed to fall right through down to the knee in the mud. I have a pretty good gash on one ankle from the ice, and little scrapes all over, but it felt good to get out and push it a little....

Got beat by a guy and his dog...the dog threw his nose in the air and trotted past with grace and ease while I was pulling myself out of the mud puddles with the spit on my chin...."

Ben finished up in 11th place in 33:54.
Nice work Benny--way to get out there and muck it up!




For those that haven't done it, here's a race review and video clip.


And here's a pic from last year's race--it was considered a DRY year last year! Yikes.

NETT dominates at the Wrentham Duathlon

NETT members were all over the Wrentham Duathlon this Sunday. Leading the men's team was Paul Miller, finishing second overall and certifying his place as one of the premier duathletes in the region. Paul won both run splits and had the third-fastest bike split of the day, finishing a mere 20 seconds out of first.

Frank Kjaerssgard had a very strong race, finishing 10th overall and second master in 59:51. Just behind Frank was Toledo Joe Hardin finishing as 4th master overall and 13th overall in 1:01. Also finishing very high up in the men's race friend of the club, Pat Dwyer who finished fourth overall.

On the ladies' side, Adrienne Cyrulik started off the multisport season in fine form, finishing 4th in her age group and 5th overall female in 1:09. And Tina Wang represented very well also, finishing 3rd in her age group in 1:11.


See more pics of the day in the NETT Photo archive here.
Hope I didn't miss anyone in those results. Apologies if I did.
Congrats to all! Nice work.

Rick's Boston Marathon review

Ten quick thoughts on a very memorable 2007 Boston marathon
By Rick Cleary


1.) Quick stats: My chip time was 4:13, a personal worst by seven minutes. I've decided my tag line for this one is, "The weather wasn't terrible, but I was."

2.) I guess I knew trouble was brewing at mile 10 when I heard somebody say, “Sixteen to go!” and I thought, “I haven’t run 16 since Boston last year and I’m already tired.”

3.) I really do, I hate to admit it, need to do some long runs. Fourteen years ago I remember getting to the starting line and thinking, "Hmmm, I haven't run longer than 14 since last August," but I still requalified easily. This year I had the same thought (but it was since last April, not just August) and I had no problem for the first half; running 8:00/mile almost exactly and hitting halfway in 1:37, right on target. But I was already very tired, and I slowed to 9:00 and had my first of several short walking segments at 18. A long day in from there.

4.) Despite the heavy legs I enjoyed it and I felt fine at the finish and I'm doing well recovering ... a little sore but no serious pains or blisters. I've already enjoyed a lot of time on the floor with Tommy and Eddie and managed to stand back up each time. In a year in which I've had little time to train, knowing that friends are keeping an eye out for me is very inspirational and really helped me to get to the finish. Highlight was the big family and friends group at Wellesley College, I have to learn to get running hard again after the adrenaline rush of passing everyone there.

5.) My friend Dave Carhart, a colleague at Bentley, lives just before the two mile mark. This was handy as I gave him my wind pants and Gortex jacket as I passed him. Dave also had his traditional "math sign" to encourage me. He knew that to requailify for next year I needed a 3:35, which is 215 minutes, and he had a sign that encouraged me to run 6 cubed plus e to the i*pi... 216 + (-1) = 215, clever!

6.) The weather wasn't bad for the race but had an impact on the weekend in other ways. My commuter train into town pre-race didn't show up due to debris on the tracks, for instance. Fortunately I had a good back up plan of riding to the start with friends from Wellesley.

7.) I loved starting in the back of the first wave, we had a ton of room to run and move immediately. However getting passed by zillions of second wavers in the last couple of miles was sort of a drag.

8.) Fast Eddie Sandifer and I had some excellent in race conversations and he pointed out that the two times I've dropped out of Boston came at the extremes of the life cycle; just after my Dad died in 1990 and just after Eddie was born in 2003. In fact, I have a long history of running poorly in my first Boston after the birth of a son; so even though Tommy is almost one I am adding that to my excuse list.

9.) At dinner Sunday night I didn't have a beer or any wine, following BAA medical advice about avoiding hypothermia and dehydration. My friends Kim Snedden and Bob Talda did have one or two and then crushed me like a bug. So much for that advice!

10.) The funniest part about seeing my entourage at Wellesley was that I always take my orange hat off and wave it so they'll see me as I approach. Usually it's a baseball hat, but this year it was my blaze orange knit winter hat which holds quite a bit of moisture and as I circled it overhead in the strong east breeze I realized that I was giving the unfortunate pack of runners right behind me a very unwanted shower. Fortunately runners are used to that.


OK, time to pick a fall marathon and try to re-qualify for next year. Thanks again for all the online support; it really helped me get around!



Rick

NETT braves the storm at Boston Marathon

NETT runners braved the wind, rain and cold on Patriots Day to compete in the Boston Marathon.

Frank White led the charge, putting down a VERY impressive 2:50:29, which is I believe a PR for Frank in terrible conditions. Frank worked very hard this year despite having many other duties (law job, new daughter, teaching classes, etc.) to juggle. How many other people do you know put in their hard workouts at 8:30 pm on Tuesday nights in sub-zero temperatures?? Congrats Frank.

Jerry De Zutter was his usual consistent self, ticking away the miles in tough weather to finish in 3:04 definitely a sub-3 in decent weather!). Jerry's a longtime Boston veteran and always manages to run solid under any conditions.
Paul Young struggled in the second half of the race and shut things down in the last 10K. Not much you can do when you know things just aren't going your way, right? We've all been there. But Paul toughed it out and finished in 3:16.

"Hey Dave--remind me to train for this thing next year," yelled Rick Cleary as he passed us at the 18 mile mark, keeping his sense of humor despite the terrible conditions and a rough day for him. Rick finished up in 4:13.


Friends of NETT out on the course included Vladmir Luppov, who ran a very strong 3:07 despite missing a few weeks of training due to illness this year. And Dima Feinhaus was right there at 3:07 also.

And Tricia Grenier might have had the best performance of the day, running more than 15 minutes faster than her qualifying time to finish in 3:25, a truly impressive feat in miserable conditions.

Special thanks to all the NETTers who Ponied Up and came out to cheer on what many will remember as the most sparsely attended races in memory. Ben and Cindy Winther and their pal Michelle, Leo Fahey, Dmitry Drozdov and his pal Vlad, and Jennifer Shultis were all out there cheering, handing out candy and oranges to the runners and generally giving it "more cowbell".

As always, Go Mini Ponies!

Merrimack Results--NETT puts two in the top 15

NETT put two runners in the top 15 at the Merrimack River Trail Race on Saturday. Dave H finished 7th overall in 1:04 and John Kinnee finished 13th in 1:07, a solid run for young John. Leo Fahey continued to show promise off-road finishing the 10-mile course in 1:41 filling out NETT's 7th place team scoring (although to confess, we had no idea they were keeping team scores).


More photos available here courtesy of Dave Dunham.

Dima gets citizenship!

For those who haven't heard Dmitry was sworn as a U.S. citizen last week. Now he's free to become fat, dumb and war-mongoring just like the rest of US in Jesusland.

For photos of his ceremony and the post-ceremony celebrations, see the NETT photo archive.

NETT scores three men in top 10, top four woman

The NETT Mini Ponies were well represented at the Northern Nipmuck 16-mile trail race in Connecticut on Saturday with three finishers in the top 10. Dmitry took first place easily in 2:01, Dave H finished fourth in 2:15 and Dave M came in seventh in 2:21. Jennifer S represented the ladies well with a fourth place finish in 2:57.

For photos, check the NETT archive here.

To read a review of the race in the Nashua Telegraph, click here.

Coyote in Downtown Chicago Quiznos

I thought this might be of interest since we, after all, the NETT Coyotoes:

Here's a LINK TO A VIDEO of a coyote that decided he wanted to try a Quiznos sub, but COULDN'T GET SERVED!

Discrimination!

Mingori Tunes Up, Young's by the Sea

Dave Mingori ran the Boston Tune Up 15K in Upton, Mass. on Saturday, finishing 13th place overall in 56:55. Note: 7 of the top 13 were 39 or older, making the age-group races very competitive.

On Sunday, Paul Young did a final tuneup before Boston down in Cohassett at the 10K by the Sea. Paul finished 9th overall in 36:29, third master.