Gatorade inventor dies

The Associated Press reports that Dr. J. Robert Cade, who invented the sports drink Gatorade and launched a multibillion-dollar industry that the beverage continues to dominate, died Tuesday of kidney failure. He was 80.

The AP report says "Now sold in 80 countries in dozens of flavors, Gatorade was born thanks to a question from former Gators Coach Dwayne Douglas, Cade said.

He asked, "Doctor, why don't football players wee-wee after a game?"

"That question changed our lives," Cade said.


I guess we all owe Dr. Cade a debt of gratitude for putting off the BONK for at least a few miles. So raise your plastic bottles to him one more time!

NETT men's, women's team win Andover XC titles

New England Track & Trail had a banner day at the Andover Country Club 6K XC Race this weekend, claiming both the Men's and Women's team titles at Andover for the first time.

It was a day for superlatives. The NETT Ponyettes came out in full force, fielding what is likely the strongest women's team ever assembled. While the women's race only scored top three, NETT would have taken the title if they scored top seven in this puppy! Finishing for NETT's women's team were: Karen Ringheiser, newcomer Mary Smith, Tina Wang, Adrienne Cyrulik, Jennifer Shultis, Laura Wieland, Deb Robertson, and Karen Miller-Medzon. Congrats on a well-run race ladies! VERY impressive turnout, running and scoring all around. It's a team win!


On the men's side, it was also a numbers game with NETT putting out a full squad with very good XC running from its runners. Up front Paul Miller ran a very strong race finishing second overall, setting NETT up nicely. Crazy Dave dropped the ball and let three guys scoot past in the last mile to score, but our 3-4-5 combination of always steady Paul Young, Dave Mingori and Jerry De Zutter sealed the deal with tight pack running (these three Woostah guys have been running races together like this for years and are a huge advantage in team scoring!) Big Ben Winther put out a great effort and Frank KJ toughed out an off-day but was there if we needed him to go all out. And Laura's boyfriend Kevin (sorry Kevin--didn't get your last name), laced 'em up and came out for the NETT squad as well. Again, a true team win.



Karen Miller-Medzon's two sons, Noah and Daniel, were also on the NETT team and represented us very well, both running strong with Daniel taking the Under 19 age category!

Special thanks to  Janos (aka the Hungarian Landshark), and Deb's mom (aka Mrs Roberston, I presume?)! And of course, our team photographer Nicholas again did a fantastic job of capturing the moment! Thanks again.

It's a long way from the early days of NETT, when we could barely assemble a five-man team at the 2002 Andover race (it was Dave, Paul Miller and three guys borrowed from Wheelworks, who we barley knew--at least then!) It was the first race we entered as NETT and we've been back to Andover every year since.

(Big Ben screams "Hey, who wants another BEER? I'm BUYIN'")

UPDATE: For those of you asking about the BET between the men's and women's team, as I had planned it, the bet was based on PLACING as a team--so since we were BOTH first place in our respective divisions, it's a TIE and will roll over to the Melrose Race. (If you score the first three runners on each team, it would be the men's team winning, I think, but that wasn't the bet as I understood it).

So it's onto the Melrose race in two weeks for the breakfast bet. Three people score on each team.

Dasvidania Comrade!

As most of you know, we'll be losing Dmitry to the U.K. for a while, but he's promised to return here to the states with Venus as soon as possible (Here's a nice pic from his sendoff party at the Skellig) While over there, he will be grooming Venus to be a strong addition to the women's team by running her up and down every Fell he can find. (Is it a Fell? Or a Fells? Whatever.)

And here in the states, Paul Miller and Nick Cotton will be tutoring us British Phrases (This link is fairly amusing) to use when we head over to visit Dmitry and Venus.

Happy Travels, Russian Rocket.

Ayer 5K is overrun by Coyotes!

NETT put in another strong showing at the Ayer Firefighters Thanksgiving Day 5K, taking four of the top 10 spots and one of the top 5 women's spots.

Dmitry Drodov made the most of his last race here Stateside (at least for a while) by crushing the course record and winning the race in 15:09. This was Dmitry's fastest 5K time since living in the Boston area, a great way to cap off his racing before shipping off to the U.K. this weekend.

Jerry De Zutter put in a very strong run, clocking 17:36 good for 6th place overall and top master spot. Young John Kinnee was just a few clicks behind in 17:42 and Frank KJ only a few more back in 17:51, good for third master.
(Jerry does his always popular Fonzie impression for the adoring Master's Groupies)

The "Purple Heart and Wounded Knee" award goes to Tina Wang, who took a nasty spill after the two-mile mark and split her knee open. Not the least bit deterred, Tina tied her shoes, dusted off her leg and stood up and PUT THE HAMMER DOWN, to finish in 21:24, second in her age division. Crazy Dave ran with Tina for the race but is on the record as saying he was not at all responsible in any way, shape or form for Tina's mishap. Again..I didn't push her, not matter WHAT that video shows!
(Crazy Dave pouts like a baby as all the other NETTers show off their awards!)


After the race, it was off to Jerry's parent's house in Harvard for the annual Tri Town Turkey Trot, a 5K fun run around the neighborhood. NETTers Paul Miller (and Candace and Alex) came out as well as Toledo Joe Hardin for the jaunt. (No reports from the post-run football game--we'll call the hosptials to see if Jerry's been admitted yet).

Final Grand Tree Trail Race Series results posted

The final rankings for the Grand Tree trail running series have been posted and there's a few NETT names on the list. For the uninitiated, the series scores in two ways: First total points based on total number of races you do (the stoneheads) and secondly, a per-race "average score" percentage.

In the total points category, the top NETT finisher was Crazy Dave with 566 points over six races. Dima Feinhaus had 409 points over five races. And then there were some interesting "ties" for NETT-- Paul Young had 365 over four races and John Kinnee was the next name on the list, just behind with 364 over four races.

And ironically, Karen Ringheiser just outranked Dmitry Drozdov by one spot (Granted she did four races to get her 489 points and Dmitry only three). Frank KJ and Adrienne each had two races also.

In the overall average scoring, in the "six races or more" category, Crazy Dave was ranked fourth overall with a 94% average. In the five race category, Dima F was 24th with an 81%. In the four races category, Paul Young and John Kinnee were 12th and 13th respectively with 91% rankings and Karen was 56th with a 72%. Jennifer Shultis was in the three-race category with a 71% ranking.

I'm sure I missed some folks, but that's a quick review. It's a great series--it's free, volunteer operated and, as near as I can tell, pretty darn accurate. Kudos to Rob Higley of WMAC for compiling the results (I think it's all Rob?).

Ponyettes make challenge for Andover XC: Bring it on!

The NETT Women's Team has made a challenge and Dave has accepted on behalf of the men's team at the upcoming Andover XC Race. Here's the deal:

Whichever team finishes lower in their respective category has to cook a full breakfast after an upcoming run for the other team. Now, it may seem like a tough bet--the men's team has finished first at Andover for three years straight. Tough to beat that. BUT the women's team has a VERY solid squad lined up this year and currently has more members lined up to run than the men.

In the event of a tie, we'll roll the challenge over to the Assault on Mt. Hood XC race in Melrose December 9.

Tina takes sixth at Monson Half Marathon

Big congrats to Tina Wang, who finsihed sixth woman overall at the VERY competitive Monson Memorial Classic Half Marathon this weekend in Monson, Mass. (wherever THAT is?). AND her time of 1:38 put here FIRST in the 30-39 age group, cleaning up a nice $75 prize for her efforts. Typically modest, Tina says, "I was more than 20 minutes off from the first female. I guess not much chance going pro!"

Congrats Tina. That is a great result.

Report from Stone Cat trail races show NETT having strong results

NETT was well represented in the Stone Cat Ale trail races this weekend on a chilly early Saturday morning (races kick off at 6:15 AM-brrrrr). Official results are now available , and Paul Young finished the marathon in fifth place in a PR time of 3:27. In the 37.5 mile (three laps) distance, DimaD finished in first place chose to call it a day in 4:57 (on pace to set a record in the 50). And Karen Ringheiser and Dima Feinhaus also both finished the 37.5 miler as the first and second women (HAH!). So that's three people each doing 37.5 miles for the FIRST TIME.

And Jennifer Shultis overcame some early issues to finish THIRD WOMAN in the full 50 miler (note the first two women were a mere minute apart in a course record time!). Here’s her report:

“Marathoners and Ultras all started together, but the marathoners first had to go out and do a short prologue - a one time 1.2 mile loop before proceeding to do two 12.5 mile loops. This meant that all of the marathoners had to work their way through the maze of trails congested with slower ultra runners. This was my first 50 miler, so I probaby went out too fast. In fact, when Paul Young (marathoner) passed by, he wisely advised me to watch my pace, but on the first loop I felt like I was coasting so I just let it ride. My problem was, umm, let's just say I had to go ...I ran the first loop in 2:03 or so then decided to go into the school to use the bathroom. Mistake! Major time suck...6 minutes. By the time I grabbed food and something to drink, I had been there 7 minutes. I actually even had a little trouble warming my legs back up after stopping, but after that mistake I knew to just use the woods (ahhh nature...). I have no idea what any of my loop times were after that, but I know I was hitting 40 minutes pretty dead on each loop getting to aid station #1 (at 4 miles) and then another 40 minutes to # 2 at 8 miles (for the first 3 loops), so I was holding close to a 10 minute pace. That seemed like a pretty casual pace.

Then someone told me I was 5th female leaving aid station #2 on the third loop really??). Shortly after I passed a woman and she couldn't hang. I was pretty excited to be in 4th and wondered could I move up another spot(?), but I was really feeling "it" now. I came into the turn-around at the start/finish and saw Dima, Karen and Dmitry all there. I would have loved to stop and find out what they were doing (quitters!! Just kidding -they each did 37.5 miles or 3 loops!!), but I decided to get in and out of the aid station as fast as I could. I knew the less time I spent there, that meant the less work I'd have to do on the course. Karen gave me a grilled cheese, I wolfed down a cup of gatorade and split--I wanted to be done. Then, surprise, surprise...on the way out I saw a woman coming in who I KNEW had been in front of me before (WTF?!?!). I never saw her when I passed her--she must have been in the woods herself??--so now I was thinking I was in 3rd place for women?? WOW! But then the fourth loop got really hard. My calf had been hurting me since the 2nd loop and now both legs were really stiff and hurting. I was hobbling a bit and I started getting clumsy.

I fell twice and kept stubbing my toes (Ouch!!!). My pace was really suffering, but after the last aid station, I started to feel pretty safe in 3rd place. After all, not a soul had passed me in the last loop and a half. I knew I just needed to put out enough to hold my position...


But then as I let myself walk this short hill about 2 1/2 miles from the end, I looked back and saw that the phantom woman ( the one I had never seen as I passed) was now back and she was catching me! Yikes!!! I started running as the trail turned out of her sight and just prayed(!!) that a) she had not seen me, and b) that if she had, that she hadn't seen me walking (detecting weakness). I have no idea where it came from, but I put my head down, clenched my fists and ran it in as fast as I possibly could. I literally have no idea where it came from--I'm not that competitive fo a person, but this one I wanted. I never let up and it's a good thing as that woman was probably less than 2 minutes behind me crossing the finish line.

Anyway, thanks for indulging me and my story. I guess I'm pretty excited as I never thought I'd do so well. I WAS 3rd female (yippie!!) 19th overall and my time was 9:13 and a lot of change (closer to 9:14 than 9:13).”


And DimaD has pic here.

Vlad goes 3:01, the "shark" has XC fun

Our buddy Vlad Luppov (he of the Shamrocks fame) ran the NYC Marathon in a very solid 3:01. Considering he only had about 1.5 months of decent training post-injury, this is a phenomenal run for V.

Also this weekend, Janos Mako (aka the Hungarian Shark--that's just me trying to make up a nickname--did it work?) was at the Amherst NH XC Festival and had this to say:

"The men’s XC race was not well attended, I think there were only about 25 men. There were a lot of kids races earlier in the day, and the course will host the Junior Olympics XC event next weekend. The course featured well maintained trails mostly through the woods, and around a pond. There were 2 short but steep ascents with steep descents, a steeplechase gate, some empty stream beds, but most of the course was rolling hills up and down through the woods, with a lot of turns. A tougher course because of the rolling hills, I ran 40 seconds slower (20:01) than at the Mayor’s Cup for the same 5k distance. I finished 18th and I think I was 6th master. The only team that seemed to have a lot of runners there was the SISU team."

NETT takes wins at Busa Bushwack, Genesis Battlegreen

Sunday was a winning day for NETT as Adrienne Cyrulik took the women's title at the Busa Bushwack Trail Race and Dmitry Drozdov returned to the Genesis Battlegreen 10K in Lexington to take the win.

First, the report from the Busa Bushwack trail races (UPDATE: Link for results not working--check back later) In only her second full trail race Adrienne outran all of the women in the 9.3 mile race to win in 1:11:31. "I think this really IS my sport!" she said after the race, obviously now a full-on trail racing fan. She won a pair of Saucony running shoes for her efforts in addition to the unique trophies given out by the one and only Richard Busa himself.

NETT had a strong showing on the men's side as well in the 9 miler putting two in the top 4. Crazy Dave was third place overall in 57:00 and Young John Kinnee was just a few clicks behind in 58:22 for fourth. Frank KJ used the race for a hard training effort and clocked a 1:044:55.

And NETT was well represented in the 5.3 miler as well. Paul Young took second overall in 33:11.

And special thanks to NETT's Anthony Chamberas who volunteered at the race, handling timing duties among other.

CLICK HERE to see more photos of the Busa Bushwack.

And while we were all running around in the woods, another group of NETTers was over in Lexington taking care of business at the Genesis Battlegreen 10K. Dmitry Drozdov avenged his bridemaid showing here last year by destroying the competition with a 32:21 clocking over the hilly 10K course (that's a 5:13 pace to us mortals).

And only a week off their tremendous runs at the Marine Corp. Marathon, Dima Feinhaus and Karen Ringheiser both put in great races at Battlegreen with Dima running a 39:41 and Karen crossing the line at 41:20.

Congrats to all. Check back for more details and photos as they become available.