While much of our team was down at Wrentham, another squad of New England Track & Trail regulars put in a strong showing at the Mayors Cup XC races on Sunday.
Dmitry Drozdov gets the gold star of the day for uncorking a 25:22 in the extremely competitive 8K race, a very strong run even by Dima's extremely high standards. "Hell yeah, I'm happy with that run," he said. To put this race in perspective, Dima runs 25:22 for 8K and finished 31st. Whewwww, that is a fast race!
In the Franklin Park 5K, NETT's team finished 7th overall in the three-person team competition. Crazy Dave led the charge with a 17:14 in 21st place, followed by a nicely grouped batch of four NETTers-Ben Winther in 18:52, (free agent) Drew Hanchett two seconds back, Marcello Scippa another six seconds back (4th master overall) from Drew and Janos Mako 20 seconds back in 19:20 for 6th master overall. Full results posted here.
So a good XC race with good pals, followed by a Patriots Trouncing later in the afternoon, followed by a Red Sox repeat miracle that night, and it's about all this Boston boy could want!
Monday, October 29, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
NETT takes overall and four of the top 10 spots at Wrentham
Great results for NETT at the Wrentham du. Here's Frank KJ's race report:
Another multi-sport season wraps up with the Wrentham Halloween Duathlon. Two-time defending champion two years running Paul Miller took the lead from the get-go and at a relaxed pace; in fact so relaxed that the rest of us thought we were running too fast. Well that was all over at mile 2.5 when Paul pulled away from his sole companion at that time. After that he never looked back and steadily increased his lead. Paul and his Union Jack shirt cruised to a convincing overall victory in 56 minutes, still the only person to ever win this race.
Toledo Joe Hardin and Frank KJ battled it out in the M40-44. Joe took the charge from the start; Frank overtook the lead at mile 1 and led by 15 seconds into T1. The lead was short-lived as Joe passed Frank at mile 3 into the bike and steadily built out the gap to 1 minute before the final run leg. Joe ran very strong and thus Frank never got any closer. Joe was right on the heels of a couple of other guys but settled for 7th overall and taking first in the age-group. Frank finished 8th overall and 2nd in the age-group.
And Bruce Goode gets "rookie of the year" honors with his debut in duathlon an impressive 4th place in the M40-44. Expect more from him 2008 in both triathlon and duathlon.
Tina Wang continued to show her diversity finishing 6th overall and a mere 3 seconds behind the winner in the W35-39 age category.
Last but not least, Jim de Zutter also had his duathlon debut taking 2nd place in the M70-74. We need to give him a NETT jersey!
Results will be posted at www.firm-racing.com
Another multi-sport season wraps up with the Wrentham Halloween Duathlon. Two-time defending champion two years running Paul Miller took the lead from the get-go and at a relaxed pace; in fact so relaxed that the rest of us thought we were running too fast. Well that was all over at mile 2.5 when Paul pulled away from his sole companion at that time. After that he never looked back and steadily increased his lead. Paul and his Union Jack shirt cruised to a convincing overall victory in 56 minutes, still the only person to ever win this race.
Toledo Joe Hardin and Frank KJ battled it out in the M40-44. Joe took the charge from the start; Frank overtook the lead at mile 1 and led by 15 seconds into T1. The lead was short-lived as Joe passed Frank at mile 3 into the bike and steadily built out the gap to 1 minute before the final run leg. Joe ran very strong and thus Frank never got any closer. Joe was right on the heels of a couple of other guys but settled for 7th overall and taking first in the age-group. Frank finished 8th overall and 2nd in the age-group.
And Bruce Goode gets "rookie of the year" honors with his debut in duathlon an impressive 4th place in the M40-44. Expect more from him 2008 in both triathlon and duathlon.
Tina Wang continued to show her diversity finishing 6th overall and a mere 3 seconds behind the winner in the W35-39 age category.
Last but not least, Jim de Zutter also had his duathlon debut taking 2nd place in the M70-74. We need to give him a NETT jersey!
Results will be posted at www.firm-racing.com
Sunday, October 21, 2007
NETT shows up in force at Groton Trail Race
Well, it was a great day for trail racing. Sunny and warm (a bit too warm at the 12:30 pm start) but the 10th annual Groton Trail Race got high marks from all eight(?) members that took part.
Paul took a week off from marathoning got a "V" in the race, taking first in the short race.
NETT was well represented in the the long race (9.5 miles) with two men in the top 10 and three in the top 20, while the women's team had three of its finest out as well. On the mens side, Crazy Dave took 5th, Young John Kinnee was 9th (?) and Frank KJ cracked the top 20 with a very solid effort.
On the women's side, Adrienne Cyrulik took to trail racing like a duck to water, finishing as the 5th woman overall in the race, despite her claims she was underprepared and unsure about the course, etc. Our off-road expert Jennifer Shultis snuck in the race in stealth mode but finished very well, as one would expect from the captain of the top adventure racing team in the country.
But the REAL surprise of the day was Tina Wang's very strong run--but more importantly her great attitude about it all. Tina's on the record as not being a huge fan of the off-road running, but given the size of the smile on her face coming into the finish (as captured in this great pic by her son/team photographer Nicholas) I'd say Tina might be mixing it up on the dirt more often.
Another pleasant surprise was the appearance of Crazy Dave's college teammate Shane Mason coming out and mixing it up on the trails like an old pro. Man, it was great to see him out there.
Race director Paul Funch did a fantastic job of marking the course for this race--every corner and turn was very clearly marked and the water stops were great. Nice work Paul.
Special thanks to Nicholas for the photos, Adrienne for the pumpkin bread, and Frank and Tina for taxicab.
Rick Report: Breakers Newport Marathon
Here's a great race report from our roaving reporter, Rick Cleary:
Hello running fans:
A report on today's Amica Breakers Newport Marathon in Rhode Island: I ran 3:46:20, so I didn't qualify for Boston (needed 3:35). For a while I thought I had it, I made it 20 in 2:38, right on schedule, but I suddenly got very tired and there was a big hill. I walked a little and almost gave up but got a second wind and ran OK from 22 to 24, arriving at 24 in 3:16 and thinking, "Hey, two nine minute miles and a can squeeze in there!" I ran the next 3/4 of a mile fast enough, I think, but there's a short steep up just before 25 and my legendary lack of mental toughness kicked in. Once 3:35 was out of the question (and my legs really hurt a great deal, not cramping exactly but powerfully achy all of a sudden) I gave up and walked quite a bit leading to the finish time that made it sound like I missed by a lot.
Conditions were OK, not great. High 60s and almost 100% humidity at the start so that by mile 1 (in 8:17) I was dripping and by mile 2 water was sheeting off of me. The sun never came out, though, so it never get worse.
My lead excuse is that Tommy, normally an all-American super sleeper, woke up last night and wanted to play from roughly mid-night to 3:30. Ann tried to do a long shift but he was loud enough that even I, another excellent sleeper, got up to consult. He didn't seem sick (and is fine today) but we gave him Tylenol anyway. Didn't work, as predicted on a front page article in yesterday's Boston Globe, ironically enough. I was up with him from 2 to 3:30, 30 minutes of book time, 30 minutes of TV, 10 minutes of trying to get him back to sleep in his bed, and finally I had the great idea to take him for a car ride, which worked. Nearly four before I was back to bed, and I got up at 5:20 to make it to the 8 AM start. Definitely my first marathon on about three hours sleep, but I'm not sure it made much difference. (I roomed with Alan Bowman and Shawn McDonald before a couple of Bostons and those guys were so nervous and excited that they didn't sleep at all and still routinely beat me.)
A graph of my personal "probability of re-qualification" would show it starting near zero and growing linearly to almost one by mile 18. I decided to look at the watch after the first and second miles, but then only ever three miles from 2 to 20 ... I hate information overload. From 2 to 17 my three mile splits were 22:31 (way too fast), then 23:36, 23:38, 23:38 and 23:42; perfect! Just what I was hoping, a little under eight per mile, and I was feeling stronger all the way. I maintained faith to mile 20, though 17-20 had slowed to about 8:30 almost the entire section was uphill, moving away from the coast. As noted above I gave up at 20 but by 24 I was back in good form and thought I was going to do it. The combination of not having run more than 17 miles since Boston (when I probably only ran 16 and walked 10) and that slightly too fast early start probably did me in when coupled with the sleeplessness.
At this early juncture I'd pretty much rank the four choices below as equally likely:
1.) Run another marathon this fall/winter and try again to qualify.
2.) Forget it, take a year off from Boston, and try to requalify next year while on sabbatical.
3.) Get into this year's Boston some sneaky way as fund raiser or playing the "it will be my 30th" card.
4.) Run Boston as a bandit.
I feel great as I write this at 4:30, just a little fatigue but can do things around the house, play with kids, etc. It's a very interesting mix of feelings of accomplishment (I was not at all sure I had a chance to qualify, so this was a pretty good effort) and disappointment (was hoping for good reason to quit being a good boy and losing some weight, as I have recently managed to get from 200 to 190, now it's clear I should keep aiming lower instead of bulking up for the Holidays!)
OK, up for a quick nap (thanks, Ann!) before hoping that the Red Sox make us 1 -1 in today's "athletic events of interest!" I'll be the guy sleeping in Section 6.
Rick
Hello running fans:
A report on today's Amica Breakers Newport Marathon in Rhode Island: I ran 3:46:20, so I didn't qualify for Boston (needed 3:35). For a while I thought I had it, I made it 20 in 2:38, right on schedule, but I suddenly got very tired and there was a big hill. I walked a little and almost gave up but got a second wind and ran OK from 22 to 24, arriving at 24 in 3:16 and thinking, "Hey, two nine minute miles and a can squeeze in there!" I ran the next 3/4 of a mile fast enough, I think, but there's a short steep up just before 25 and my legendary lack of mental toughness kicked in. Once 3:35 was out of the question (and my legs really hurt a great deal, not cramping exactly but powerfully achy all of a sudden) I gave up and walked quite a bit leading to the finish time that made it sound like I missed by a lot.
Conditions were OK, not great. High 60s and almost 100% humidity at the start so that by mile 1 (in 8:17) I was dripping and by mile 2 water was sheeting off of me. The sun never came out, though, so it never get worse.
My lead excuse is that Tommy, normally an all-American super sleeper, woke up last night and wanted to play from roughly mid-night to 3:30. Ann tried to do a long shift but he was loud enough that even I, another excellent sleeper, got up to consult. He didn't seem sick (and is fine today) but we gave him Tylenol anyway. Didn't work, as predicted on a front page article in yesterday's Boston Globe, ironically enough. I was up with him from 2 to 3:30, 30 minutes of book time, 30 minutes of TV, 10 minutes of trying to get him back to sleep in his bed, and finally I had the great idea to take him for a car ride, which worked. Nearly four before I was back to bed, and I got up at 5:20 to make it to the 8 AM start. Definitely my first marathon on about three hours sleep, but I'm not sure it made much difference. (I roomed with Alan Bowman and Shawn McDonald before a couple of Bostons and those guys were so nervous and excited that they didn't sleep at all and still routinely beat me.)
A graph of my personal "probability of re-qualification" would show it starting near zero and growing linearly to almost one by mile 18. I decided to look at the watch after the first and second miles, but then only ever three miles from 2 to 20 ... I hate information overload. From 2 to 17 my three mile splits were 22:31 (way too fast), then 23:36, 23:38, 23:38 and 23:42; perfect! Just what I was hoping, a little under eight per mile, and I was feeling stronger all the way. I maintained faith to mile 20, though 17-20 had slowed to about 8:30 almost the entire section was uphill, moving away from the coast. As noted above I gave up at 20 but by 24 I was back in good form and thought I was going to do it. The combination of not having run more than 17 miles since Boston (when I probably only ran 16 and walked 10) and that slightly too fast early start probably did me in when coupled with the sleeplessness.
At this early juncture I'd pretty much rank the four choices below as equally likely:
1.) Run another marathon this fall/winter and try again to qualify.
2.) Forget it, take a year off from Boston, and try to requalify next year while on sabbatical.
3.) Get into this year's Boston some sneaky way as fund raiser or playing the "it will be my 30th" card.
4.) Run Boston as a bandit.
I feel great as I write this at 4:30, just a little fatigue but can do things around the house, play with kids, etc. It's a very interesting mix of feelings of accomplishment (I was not at all sure I had a chance to qualify, so this was a pretty good effort) and disappointment (was hoping for good reason to quit being a good boy and losing some weight, as I have recently managed to get from 200 to 190, now it's clear I should keep aiming lower instead of bulking up for the Holidays!)
OK, up for a quick nap (thanks, Ann!) before hoping that the Red Sox make us 1 -1 in today's "athletic events of interest!" I'll be the guy sleeping in Section 6.
Rick
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Strong results at Diamond Hill, MDI and Down and Dirty
First off, congrats to Young John Kinnee for defending his title at the Down and Dirty Duathlon in Lynn. John clocked a 52:23 on the Lynn Woods course, putting him almost a minute in front of second place. Here's his report:
"The Lynn Woods duathlon season came to a close at the Down & Dirty Duathlon. Although I'm bored of the course, this is a great event with awesome shirts, refreshments, and prizes. I did the first run in 14:39 and was in third place. The guy in first smoked the run and I was nervous but his bike leg stunk so he wasn't a problem. I was happy with my bike leg considering I haven't been riding much. I had about 30 seconds going into the final run with the $100 first prize on the line. I was able to hold off the field and finish in 52:20. My best time of the year was 51:50 but there were different rules for this race that slowed the transitions down a bit. Between the nice long sleeve technical shirt, the jug of Accelerade, the judge of Hammer Nutrition, and $100 it was a very successful race."
Thanks John and Congrats!
Also on Saturday, NETT put three in the top 10 at the Diamond Hill-Birchwold 22K Trail Race. Crazy Dave and Jerry De Zutter ran together for much of the race until a slight misnavigation split up their nice group and put the race into overdrive. Crazy Dave finished third overall in 1:39, Jerry finished (under slight protest) sixth and Dima Feinhaus cracked the top 10 with a 1:50 effort.
Meanwhile, up in Bar Harbor, Me. on Sunday, Paul Young continued his fall marathon blitz by throwing down yet another race in the 2:50s, this time a 2:57 at the Mount Desert Island Marathon, good for 7th place overall.
And over at the Baystate Marathon, Ben Spiess threw down a 2:55 effort and new NETTer Karen Miller-Medzon put in a solid sub-4 effort. Also of note, NETT pals Peter Gallimore and Jean Dany Joachim clocked 3:03 and 3:33 respectively.
"The Lynn Woods duathlon season came to a close at the Down & Dirty Duathlon. Although I'm bored of the course, this is a great event with awesome shirts, refreshments, and prizes. I did the first run in 14:39 and was in third place. The guy in first smoked the run and I was nervous but his bike leg stunk so he wasn't a problem. I was happy with my bike leg considering I haven't been riding much. I had about 30 seconds going into the final run with the $100 first prize on the line. I was able to hold off the field and finish in 52:20. My best time of the year was 51:50 but there were different rules for this race that slowed the transitions down a bit. Between the nice long sleeve technical shirt, the jug of Accelerade, the judge of Hammer Nutrition, and $100 it was a very successful race."
Thanks John and Congrats!
Also on Saturday, NETT put three in the top 10 at the Diamond Hill-Birchwold 22K Trail Race. Crazy Dave and Jerry De Zutter ran together for much of the race until a slight misnavigation split up their nice group and put the race into overdrive. Crazy Dave finished third overall in 1:39, Jerry finished (under slight protest) sixth and Dima Feinhaus cracked the top 10 with a 1:50 effort.
Meanwhile, up in Bar Harbor, Me. on Sunday, Paul Young continued his fall marathon blitz by throwing down yet another race in the 2:50s, this time a 2:57 at the Mount Desert Island Marathon, good for 7th place overall.
And over at the Baystate Marathon, Ben Spiess threw down a 2:55 effort and new NETTer Karen Miller-Medzon put in a solid sub-4 effort. Also of note, NETT pals Peter Gallimore and Jean Dany Joachim clocked 3:03 and 3:33 respectively.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
NETT ladies hit the roads at Tufts, Chicago
In addition to their success at Wayland XC this weekend, four NETT ladies ran extremely good races on the roads this weekend.
First off at the Tufts 10K, Karen Ringheiser and Adrienne Cyrulik ran very strong performances on Monday. After racing at Wayland on Sunday, Karen cranked out a 40:37 for 91st place (out of 5,000!) and Adrienne ran phenomenally, clocking 42:38, good for 115th place, perhaps the best race we’ve seen her run.
And Dawn Mampreian and Laura Wieland defied the laws of physics and completed the Chicago Marathon in record heat (I think we’ve all heard the horror stories about Chicago this year). Their strategy of running together might have been the smartest one of the day, as both finished this grueling race that saw only a fraction of its entrants finish. Hopefully both are recovering well.
Congrats!
Monday, October 08, 2007
NETT shows up BIG at Wayland XC Challenge
NETT was out in force at the Wayland XC Challenge this weekend with mens, womens and masters teams.
The NETT women stole the show, tying with SISU project for the women's team win in the race. Karen Ringheiser led the Ponytails, cranking out a 21:18 on the 5K course. She was followed by the always reliable team captain Tina Wang in 23:11. Jennifer Shultis came up big for the team with a 23:57 and Deb Robertson was just a few ticks back in 24 flat. And new NETT recruit Karen Miller-Medzon chipped in to round out the team scoring with a 24:41.
On the men's side, NETT split in two, with an open and a masters mens team in the race, finishing second and third. Dmitry Drozdov did his usual damage, torching the field to win with a 15:58, becoming the first person to break 16 minutes on the Wayland course. There were nine--yes count them nine--more NETTers to follow, including NETT's cycling specialists(PMiller, Toledo Joe, JerryD and Bruce Goode--yes, that ws Bruce Freakin Goode out there hashing it up!). Marcello Scippa came out of hiding to represent VERY well out there and there were some new faces (Janos Mako, Ali Azerbajani and Rob Lee) and "Mr. XC" Frank KJ who coordinated the team efforts with phenomenal results.
Even Anthony Chamberas got involved timing some of the kids races.
Congrats to all and it was really a fantastic day for NETT. This, to my knowledge, is the biggest showing (15 people) at one event.
Overall results posted here.
The NETT women stole the show, tying with SISU project for the women's team win in the race. Karen Ringheiser led the Ponytails, cranking out a 21:18 on the 5K course. She was followed by the always reliable team captain Tina Wang in 23:11. Jennifer Shultis came up big for the team with a 23:57 and Deb Robertson was just a few ticks back in 24 flat. And new NETT recruit Karen Miller-Medzon chipped in to round out the team scoring with a 24:41.
On the men's side, NETT split in two, with an open and a masters mens team in the race, finishing second and third. Dmitry Drozdov did his usual damage, torching the field to win with a 15:58, becoming the first person to break 16 minutes on the Wayland course. There were nine--yes count them nine--more NETTers to follow, including NETT's cycling specialists(PMiller, Toledo Joe, JerryD and Bruce Goode--yes, that ws Bruce Freakin Goode out there hashing it up!). Marcello Scippa came out of hiding to represent VERY well out there and there were some new faces (Janos Mako, Ali Azerbajani and Rob Lee) and "Mr. XC" Frank KJ who coordinated the team efforts with phenomenal results.
Even Anthony Chamberas got involved timing some of the kids races.
Congrats to all and it was really a fantastic day for NETT. This, to my knowledge, is the biggest showing (15 people) at one event.
Overall results posted here.
NETT puts three in the top seven at Monroe
NETT’s trail running goons took to the hills at the Monroe Dunbar Brook 10.5 mile trail race on Sunday, with very strong results.
With some rain the night before, the course was wet in spots and a bit tricky for the trio of Crazy Dave, Mr. Young and Young John. The course heads out on a mile-long trot along a brook before taking a very steep turn to a hike/run section. After that, there’s more climbing, but of a gradual nature, to the 2,500-foot peak
Dave took third overall in 1:21, Young John was fifth in 1:24 an Mr. Young ran a solid 1:27 effort for seventh a week both pre- and post-marathon, if that makes sense.
And while the boys were off running around in the woods, Doris was hard at work in the two-mile version of the race, cracking the top 20.
With some rain the night before, the course was wet in spots and a bit tricky for the trio of Crazy Dave, Mr. Young and Young John. The course heads out on a mile-long trot along a brook before taking a very steep turn to a hike/run section. After that, there’s more climbing, but of a gradual nature, to the 2,500-foot peak
Dave took third overall in 1:21, Young John was fifth in 1:24 an Mr. Young ran a solid 1:27 effort for seventh a week both pre- and post-marathon, if that makes sense.
And while the boys were off running around in the woods, Doris was hard at work in the two-mile version of the race, cracking the top 20.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
NETT Multisporters do some MAJOR damage at Buzzards Bay Tri, Take the win at Mud Sweat and Gears
The NETT Multisporters really showed their stuff in two of the final multisport races of the year.
First off, down at the Buzzards Bay Triathlon there were some MAJOR surprises.
Not surprisingly, Paul Miller had a very strong race finishing 6th overall despite dealing with some equipment issues with the second fastest bike split and third fastest run split.
Somewhat surprising was Toledo Joe Hardin was leading Paul for much of the race, having a VERY strong race, finsihing one spot behind Paul with the 4th fastest bike split and a top-10 run split. Way to go Joe!
And VERY surprising was the re-emergence of Bruce Goode in his first (at least to my knowledge) triathlon appearance here in New England and his first race in quite a while. Bruce finished a VERY respectable 39th place with solid splits across the board. Nice work Bruce.
Also this weekend, BIG NEWS that Jerry De Zutter claims the title at the Mud, Sweat and Gears off-road duathlon. I don't mean Masters title--he won the damn race by almost FOUR MINUTES with a clean sweep, winning all three splits in the process. Here's his report:
I was hiding in the woods at the Mud Sweat n' Gears off road duathlon (1.8run-6mtnbike-1.8run-FIRM race). It was a very light turnout for the race but there was one guy out in front on the first trail run, I went by him about 1/2 way through that first run and it was clear sailing all the way from there, went on to post an ~4 min win. I was a bit worried about my race pacing with no one to race but needn't have because my finish time was only a few seconds slower than my fastest time on that course out of the ~8 times I've raced it (stretching back to mid-late 90's when I was fast in off-road multi-sport). I was happy with the effort I put in, and didn't take my foot off the gas almost the whole race. Great day for being out in the woods tearing up the trails.
Congrats to JERRY!
First off, down at the Buzzards Bay Triathlon there were some MAJOR surprises.
Not surprisingly, Paul Miller had a very strong race finishing 6th overall despite dealing with some equipment issues with the second fastest bike split and third fastest run split.
Somewhat surprising was Toledo Joe Hardin was leading Paul for much of the race, having a VERY strong race, finsihing one spot behind Paul with the 4th fastest bike split and a top-10 run split. Way to go Joe!
And VERY surprising was the re-emergence of Bruce Goode in his first (at least to my knowledge) triathlon appearance here in New England and his first race in quite a while. Bruce finished a VERY respectable 39th place with solid splits across the board. Nice work Bruce.
Also this weekend, BIG NEWS that Jerry De Zutter claims the title at the Mud, Sweat and Gears off-road duathlon. I don't mean Masters title--he won the damn race by almost FOUR MINUTES with a clean sweep, winning all three splits in the process. Here's his report:
I was hiding in the woods at the Mud Sweat n' Gears off road duathlon (1.8run-6mtnbike-1.8run-FIRM race). It was a very light turnout for the race but there was one guy out in front on the first trail run, I went by him about 1/2 way through that first run and it was clear sailing all the way from there, went on to post an ~4 min win. I was a bit worried about my race pacing with no one to race but needn't have because my finish time was only a few seconds slower than my fastest time on that course out of the ~8 times I've raced it (stretching back to mid-late 90's when I was fast in off-road multi-sport). I was happy with the effort I put in, and didn't take my foot off the gas almost the whole race. Great day for being out in the woods tearing up the trails.
Congrats to JERRY!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
