And the winner of the best profile picture is.....

OONA!! Good God, he looks like he just stepped out of Raging Bull, doesn't he? Ooona got 50% of the voting in our Meetup poll. Congrats!

Jim and Katherine take on the flies

Never ones to sit still on any given weekend, Jim and Katherine De Zutter headed up to New Hampshire this weekend to race at the Black Fly Weekend festival of races, which according to Jim were very fun and well-organized events. "This race is a must do for the team and families next year so much to do," he tells the NETT newsroom. The weekend race festival includes an Olympic distance tri, a sprint tri, a kids race (the Little Bugger) and a bike time trial, all based at Waterville Valley. Here's Jim's report:

"The new Black Fly Triathlon was this past weekend. This race is part of the EndorFun series and lived up to the style of races they are accustomed to putting on. This race was held in Waterville Valley in New Hampshire and was set over 3 days. Day 1 was a 4 ½ mile time trail 2 ¼ mile down the mountain and 2 ¼ back up followed on Saturday by a shortened International distance triathlon ¼ mile swim 21 mile ride around the valley followed by a 5 mile run, the water was 52 degrees and the race director was concerned about people having issues in the water. The last leg was on Sunday and was a sprint distance ¼ mile swim followed by a 7 ½ mile bike down the valley and 7 ½ back then a 3 ½ mile run. If you chose the 3 events it was called the LOF or Lord of the Fly’s. Katherine competed in the sprint distance on Sunday that was part of the USAT Juniors series and captured second in the 15 and under and 4th 19 and under. I competed in the LOF in the Clydesdale division and finished 3rd in the time trial 4th in the international and 4th in the sprint. Overall I finished 4th in my division I was happy to have just finished. This race was the most enjoyable event I have competed in the in my short racing career but I would say that it a not to missed next year. The village of Waterville has something for everyone and its all within walking distance."

Even the results of this race are well coordinated, as they break out the fastest splits in each discipline (which we runners always love!). Here's Katherine unleashing a devastating kick on some unsuspecting old fart. (Note the difference in form--Katherine's pumping the arms, high knees, the other guy looks, well, like most of the rest of us at the end of a race!

Congrats as always to Jim and Katherine! Now if we could only get Jim to SMILE more...

NETT holds third in FIRM series

And now a quick update on NETT's status in the FIRM series from Frank KJ:

"A quick update on the FIRM Grand Prix series. After 5 GP races NETT now is in a solid 3rd place with 137 points well ahead of bigger teams like Wheelworks, MRC and Boston Tri. NETT is a tight knit team where quality outweighs quantity. So far 17 different Mini Ponies have raced either individually or on a relay team in a FIRM GP race and every single person has scored points. Katherine and Jerry are still perfect – scoring maximum points in their age-groups in each race they do. And Crazy Dave has now relayed twice, as a cyclist and as a runner. There are two GP races in Lowell on August 9. Check out the races at www.firm-racing.com. Go Mini Ponies!"

Leo rallies up to the Big Man challenge!

Big Leo Fahey ran his first-ever Big Man race this year with great results. For the uninitiated, the Big Man run is a clydesdale race, where you have to stop every mile and eat a hot dog and drink a beer. You puke, you're out. Now, for the sordid details, we'll go to Leo:

"I was finally able to run in the famous (infamous??) Big Man Run this weekend! I had to forego this event the past 4 years due to crappy scheduling issues. I must say, it was a fun race and worth the wait. For those unfamiliar with the race, it is 4+ miles for guys over 190 lbs (they do, however, allow a few ‘skinnies’ in but you can’t win anything) in which you have to stop at 3 ‘aid stations’ and consume 1 beer and 1 hot dog. Participants are weighed just before the start of the race and I tipped the scales at 242 lbs (must have been the 12 rolls and chicken parm I ate the night before at Bertucci’s--carbo loading). I wish I could say I was one the smallest guys running but I wasn’t…

For the first time the race was held in Worcester. The course was very scenic as we started in Piedmont Village and worked our way though some of the tonier sections of Main South and then back to Piedmont Village. The first ‘aid station’ was less than a ½ mile from the start. This was a surprise to most everyone (it being a new course and all) so only the jackrabbits were able to breeze through while the rest of us had to wait maybe 5-7 minutes for hot dog and beer #1. After that there was no waiting.

I felt great the entire race. I mostly just plodded along because I was fearful of being DQ’d for vomiting. I didn’t see anyone else vomiting but there were a few walkers near the end of the pack. The hot dogs were very good and the beer was even better. In fact, the beer was so good that I had to continue after the (see pic) race despite the likely disapproval of my doctors.

This is a pretty unique event that you should put on your calendars for next year. I am anxiously waiting for the results to be posted to see how I finished in my category, i.e., Clydesdale 226 to 246."

Big Congrats to Big Leo!

Brave Ponies take on the Skyline Trail Race in the Blue Hills

Several brave NETT members took on what has to be one of the toughest 7.2 mile courses in New England. I mean, it's tough (as evidenced by the two guys in the background of this photo apparently leaned over blowing chunks!). But despite the ruggedness of the course and some secret training options (a handful of folks apparently took alternate routes to the finish as sometimes happens in trail racing), NETT members were in the top ranks on both the men's (Paul Young, Chris Smith and Dima) and women's (Adrienne and Karen R) and women's races. I think we have to give Adrienne extra special congrats, as the rest of these folks sort of knew what they were in for, having run the race before or something similar. Poor Adrienne went in pretty much blind and finished in the top five women!

Full Results Posted here.

Old Colony Triathlon in pictures

NETT continued to swarm the top end of the multisport results sheets this weekend at the Old Colony Triathlon. Long story short, putthing three guys in the top 12 (all 40+!), another giant step forward by "the kid" and the second place relay team brought in antoher 29 points in the FIRM Grand Prix series.

But with our team photographers Tina and Chrissy on hand to capture the moment, I'm going to let the photos tell this story.

Frank debuts his new hairstyle after the race while Crazy Dave does his always popular Bill Clinton impression.
Always the interpretive artist, Chrissy purposely made this picture blurry, to give us all a sense of what Martin actually sees when he races without his glasses. Nice touch, CD.

Big Al can catch almost anything in the water, but sadly he was not quite able to catch up with his favorite meal--Belgian waffles. (Jerry could sympathize, as he couldn't catch up with a beer before noon).
Joe stops running one step over the mat and says "I am NOT running any more than I need to!"

Hallelujah

Real runners run, they don't TALK about running. Shut up and do your miles. Great Globe column here (thanks to Oona) on the topic of the flood of newbies in the running world. Although, note the author says he only ran his first marathon a couple years ago. Doesn't that make him a newbie? Well I guess the difference is the attitude, not the longevity.

Thoughts?