NETT hits Holliston, and Durden Doubles

More great racing results from NETT this past weekend.

Chrissy Durden has quietly been making big strides in her running (showing up to Tuesday night workouts since the winter, for example). Her hard work is paying off as exemplified at not one, but two races this past weekend. On Saturday Chrissy hit theGail Polizzotti Memorial 5K up in Methuen MA and was 1st in her age group and 18th overall in a time of 22:40. "It was a beautiful, sunny day," she says. "And I haven’t run in sunny weather in a while so that helped get me through the back half of the race, which was all uphill."

Chrissy got a $25 gift certificate to Whirlaway Sports for her troubles.

But one race was not enough for the speedster. On Sunday Chrissy hit the very competitive New Charles River Run 7.5M in Cambridge and was 11th in her age group and 196th overall in time of 58:13. "I felt really good, but think I could have run harder," she said.

And running stride for stride with Chrissy was Karyn Eminem, finishing just a few places in front of CD.

Nice work ladies! Way to reprezent!

Meanwhile, there was another weekend of multisport activtiy for NETTers. While his better half was ripping up the roads this weekend, Martin Bures had what can only be described as a breakthrough performance at the Holliston Lions Triathlon this weekend, finishing 5th overall! Martin's really been ramping up his training efforts lately and it's clearly paying off.

Also putting in an excellent performance at Holliston was Adrienne Cyrulik, who ran a leg of a tri relay. Her team finished first in the relay division, anchored by Adrienne's blistering run leg (the fastest of any relay runner!)

Congrats to all!

Smith Sisters Take on the Laurel Highlands

You just can't keep those Smith Sisters still for very long. Not long after running the recent Pittsburgh Marathon together, Mary again ventured down to Pa. recently to run a leg on a relay team with Sister Clare and had a great time. (It just happened to be the weekend the Penguins won the Cup, too, so all the better!). Here's Clare's report:

Our team "This Was Her Idea!" ran a very respectable 13:10 at the 2009 Laurel Highlands Ultra Relay. Bill started us off with leg 1 - 19 miles with 1500 ft elevation gain. It's 1 mile of flat, followed by 7 miles of hills, and then just blood and guts until you get to mile 18, where you know you climb up a rock face with stairs cut into it, to meet your 2nd runner.

Mary ran leg 2 - 13 miles. It's pretty level and run-able. She did it in 2:10, which is blazing fast for the course, I think she passed 25-30 runners, some relay teams and some 70 milers. She passed my friend Joe who had never met her, but knew it was her by the similar appearance to myself. The story is: all he saw was a woosh of pink and felt the breeze go by...

I ran leg 3 - 14 miles of rocks, rhododendrons, and roots, arguably the most technical part of the trail. I fell twice, first landing on a rock bigger than me and the second time on some thorns where I mysteriously punctured my hand and looked like I had been crucified by the time I finished.

Keri ran leg 4 - ~11 miles. She had some rocks, roots, and hills, but a nice leg. She was our trail running novice and did great!!

Dave ran the 5th and final leg - 14 miles. Fairly flat with the last 2 miles being down hill. He ran it about 45 minutes faster than he had anticipated, so he ran a great race and was really pumped. We were waiting for him at the finish and he popped out smiling and on cloud 9.

We were happy to have Mary agree to such an adventure, she only knew me going into this and was the only one of us who had never run this trail. She only got a 15 minute crash course on it's terrain and markings while we waited for Bill at the first exchange zone.

The race is extremely well run and supported, there are aid stations at least every 10-15 miles, usually less, pretty impressive when you realize it is literally through the middle of nowhere. The trail runs 70 miles along the Laurel Ridge in Western PA, covering 4, maybe 5 counties. Any and all NETTers are welcome to come down for the relay, 50K, or 70 mile adventure. I'd be happy to put people up in my home. www.laurelultra.com."

Oh, I think Clare will live to regret that invitation!

Sister Mary adds:

"Our team ran really well (I think we were the 5th team out of 21)...which is good considering that the women ran as fast as the men on the team. The trail was very technical & you constantly had to look down at the terrain (ranging from rock beds, over grown mountain laurel, between rock faces, & the usual rocks, mud, & roots) and then look up for the rectangular yellow trail markers. I'd say the whole trail was comparable to the more technical parts of the Blue Hills. I can't believe that people ran the entire 70 miles and it turned my stomach to see what the ultra runners were eating (I think the Boost mixed with Coke was the worst combination).

We were a team of 5 - Bill, Me, Clare, Carrie, & Dave (3 of which I had never met before), so when I finished my leg & looked around I had to assume that my teammate was with the guy who had been standing by Clare (as she waited for me to finish). So I finished my 13+ mile leg, told Clare good luck & then got to feast on the impressive spread set up at the check points (impressive because it was off a dirt path, in the middle of nowhere!!)

I waited around to see Clare finish her 14 miles (bloody hand and all - she was bleeding on her hand, but wasn't really sure why)."

NETT makes Webster Triathlon a family affair

How many men can say they spent father's day watching three sons and a granddaughter race a triathlon? Jim De Zutter Sr. Sr. can. Or how about watch his wife and two sons compete in their first-ever triathlon? Well Dr. Ron Medzon can. On this Father's day NETT made the Webster Triathlon a true family affair.

A common sight at the FIRM races this year, there was an all-out gaggle of De Zutters of all shapes and sizes mixing it up at Webster. Leading the charge was Jerry, finishing 9th overall and first in his age group, despite having a fierce battle with his wetsuit on the beach ("Why won't...you..die!"). Nice work Jerry. Next up on the De Zutter hit parade was Jim, clocking a speedy 1:17 for 4th in the Clydesdale division. Katherine was next, in 1:23 with a blistering run split, ousprinting her Uncle Phil by 14 seconds.

But the family fun doesn't end there, as the Miller-Medzon clan was out in full force, with three family members taking part in their first-ever triathlon. Huge props to Karyn Eminem for kicking butt in her first full tri, finishing 1:29, 6th in her group (with the second-fastest run split!).

And two relay teams benefitted from the Miller-Medzon gene pool as well as some other NETT bloodlines. Nicholas led us off to a phenomenal start in the water (12:24, would have been top-30 swim overall in the tri!). Old Fart Crazy Dave did his best not to drag down the kids with his 36-minute bike split (ugh!) but Noah made up for the Old Fart with a crushing 19:23 run split, bringing us back into 5th relay team overall.

And even Daniel M-M got in the act, by only throwing down the fastest relay run split of the day in helping his mom's friend (Lisa?) to a strong finish.

And beyond the NETT participants, there was plenty of family support with Frank and Tina, Jim Sr. Sr., Jim Jr. Jr and Dr. Ron out there cheering and helping out where needed.

NETT scored no less than 28 points on the day in the FIRM Grand Prix, to extend its third-place lead (we do it with quality more than quantity!). And Katherine still co-leads the individual ranking with one other person.

All in all, it was a great day and, in my humble opinion, was a great example of what NETT is all about.

More multisport success at USAT Jrs, Ashland

Here's another multisport update from Jim De Zutter:

"NETT was once again out on the race circuit this weekend. Katherine DeZutter was at the first race of the USAT Junior series in Hyannis on Saturday. The race was ¼ mile swim, 10 mile bike and a 3 ½ mile run. Katherine worked hard on the swim only to get stuck in her wetsuit and lost a lot of time on the transition. Once she got on the bike things settled down and she was able to catch the girls from the swim that passed her. The transition to the run was smooth and she completed the race in 1:09:20. Katherine placed first in her age group of 15 and under and was also the fastest female in the 19 and under.

I had the opportunity to run in the Ashland International Triathlon on Sunday. The rain was unbelievable, when I arrived at the race I was unsure if they were going to race or should I say I was unsure if I wanted to race. This was to be my longest full race to date. I decided to race and glad I did. For those that have not raced this race the swim portion is in a lake at the bottom of the hill about a 5-10 min walk from transition. That said the swim went of well 22.54 for 1 mile out of the water this is where it gets interesting, you have to run up this hill back to transition most people averaged 5-6 minutes this was a very muddy run and all uphill. After arriving at the bike things went well the 26 mile ride in the pouring rain was 1:12:30. The transition to the run was smooth thanks to Franks K transition workout last weekend. The run was a typical run for me any gains on the swim and the bike were now given back, 25th on the swim 26th on the bike and 146 on the run. Hopefully with lots of work it will get better.

I hope to see a great turnout next weekend at Webster Lake Firm Grand Prix event. Sign up is close to being closed so sign up soon."

Jean Dany voted Poet Populist for Cambridge!!!!!!

GREAT NEWS!!! NETT's own Jean Dany Joachim has been voted the Poet Populist for Cambridge this year! It is a tremendous honor for JD and we are all VERY proud of him.

For more information, see the Cambridge Arts Council's web site here. You can read JD's biography (a story all its own!) and some of his poetry.

For those of you looking to hear JD read part of the infamous Loquacious Dog poem, you can watch it here. Boy, what a story!

If you want to catch JD in person, he'll be formally accepting his honor from the Mayor of Cambridge at the Cambridge River Festival this weekend. There will be a Poet Populist tent with readings all day and JD will receive his honor at 3 pm.

Saturday June 13
3 pm
Memorial Drive at the Weeks Footbridge

Congrats JD!

Life is Good!

Eminem takes it out on wheels

In other NETT news (what a busy weekend), Karyn Miller-Medzon says she "actively promoted NETT during a 30-mile Diabetes bike ride through Marblehead, Gloucester and Rockport."

"It was hilly...yowch! I made sure that people saw my NETT shirt as I passed them on the hills...and again when they FLEW by me on the downhills and flats! But it was very fun!"

And for a good cause. Nice work Eminem.

Ludlow race another NETT success

Another weekend, another strong multisport showing for the NETT Coyotes, this time at the Ludlow race.

Martin Bures continues to improve his triathlon skills, finsishing 7th in his age group and 34th overall! Here's his report:

"It was a great day weather-wise, sunny, low 70s. I had a decent swim, a ride that needs lots of work and a great run. I am pretty happy with the results, though. I have tons of room for improvement. On a longer course with much more serious competition, I was consistently faster in each leg from the previous event."

And the rock-solid father/daughter duo of Jim and Katherine De Zutter were out as well (you could have a trialthon in your bath tub and these two multisport nuts would be there racking up points for NETT!!). Here's Jim's report:

"NETT was represented by Martin, who had a great swim of 11:07 for the ½ mile; 39:30 for the bike of 14 miles and a very quick 4 mile run of 23:23 the 7th fastest run of the day. His overall time was 1:16:37 for a 7th in a very competitive group. We picked up 3 GP points with that great effort. Katherine DeZutter continued her streak finishing first in the 19 and under group and picking up 8 GP points. Her swim was 13:49 it was her first open water race with a wetsuit followed by a bike of 44:33 and a run of 30:10 with an overall of 1:32:04. I followed up with my last race as a Clydesdale (hopefully) with a swim of 11:01 a bike of 35:38 including dropping my chain 2 times and a forgettable run of 35:18 and an overall time of 1:25:14 and 3 GP points. NETT remains in third place in the GP standings."

NETT piling up the multisport points

A multisport update courtesy of Frank KJ:

NETT is doing exceptional well in the FIRM Grand Prix Series. After 3 races, 10 Mini Ponies have raked in 74 points placing us 3rd in the team series. To no surprise Katherine has a perfect score of 24 points winning her age group. Paul Miller's duathlon dominance helped out a lot. Also worth pointing out is that new names like Eri, Martin (see his Ludlow results below) and Jim Jr and Jim III have helped score points for the team already. Note: The FIRM site only shows 53 points; I am working to make sure we get credited with all the earned points.

Next up is Webster on 6/21 and Old Colony on 7/13. The Webster race will feature a "NETT next generation relay team" of Nicholas (swim), Jim III (bike) and Noah (run). For those not competing, come out on and cheer on NETT v 2.0! Some seasoned adult triathletes will have no idea what just flew by them on that run course. And Old Colony is expected to attract some "old" folks for the Indycar race course; the bike course is 4 laps on a flat 6 mile loop.

Let's keep up with the great races and results. Go Mini Ponies!