Monday, June 18, 2012

Frank Cracks Top 20, Zoltan Takes the "W" at Ashland


Here's a quick report from Frank about the Ashland Triathlon this weekend:

"I finished 19th overall and 4th in my age-group. These days Olympic distance is long for me. I cannot be disappointed given that my swim training is next to zero. I am very happy with my run leg as I kept an even pace the entire - in fact the same pace that Crazy held for the entire marathon. Zoltan had an amazing race and managed to fight off a contender by merely 23 seconds to take the overall win. Some crazy swim and bike splits he has! Old Colony in 3 weeks."

Great results everywhere else this weekend. NETT is all over New England.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Breaking News! Tina and Marshall WON their division at KBVCM

This just in to the NETT news room, after a thorough analysis and audit process, it was determined that Tina and Marshall's two-person mixed master relay team "For Hannah" was in fact FIRST PLACE!

See the updated results here.

According to the nice folks up at RunVermont, the original results included a team that wasn't actually a mixed team. Once they were removed, it was For Hannah, taking the win.

Huge congrats to Marshall and Tina. They worked very hard in warm temperatures for this win. They deserve it. We're all proud of them.

So it was 2 for 2 in the relays for NETT up in Burlington. Who WOULDN'T want to be part of this club?

Monday, June 11, 2012

It's Double Duty for NETT at Great Lincoln Steeplechase

The Great Lincoln Steeplechase is not only great, but it's unique in that it starts in the afternoon. 2 pm, in fact. For NETT members this year, that meant some double duty (or doodie, as the case may be).

Never one to shy away from a starting line, Marshall decided that having done a 10K earlier in the day shouldn't stop him from running the Steeplechase. And he did just that. Imagine, finishing second in your age group in a New England championship 10K and then winning your age group at the second race of the day in 48:56. Sorry if you get tired of hearing it, but the guy just never ceases to amaze us all on a weekly basis.

Crazy Dave completed his pacing duties earlier in the morning and took the Steeplechase out at a moderate pace and weaved through the field, making his usual wiseass comments on the way. 44:44 for him, second master by a step (Frankly, Andy Milne's physique distracted me in the final strides--if that's what it takes to be a top XC skier, I might as well hang up the skis now!)

Frank KJ turned the race into a one-man game of hide and seek. He was hiding but the rest of us didn't know it until he came to the finish in 47:36, but we won't talk about his double duty.

Our new pal Bob came in under well under the hour mark, a very solid time on the hilly course and seemed none too phased by it.

Even the NETTers who weren't racing did double duty. Youngstah and Doris become volunteers on-demand, jumping in at the finish line to help call out bib numbers and times to race officials while Tina and Emma were busy cheering at the finish. We Mini Ponies are always around the lend a hand.

After the race we used our hands to shovel ice cream in to our bellies. It wouldn't be an NETT outing without some kind of food involved, now would it?

All in all, a fun day at a great race. Always a well-run, fun event that strikes a good balance.

Wednesday, June 06, 2012

A Choice....



Special thanks to Rick for the tip.

Monday, June 04, 2012

A little something to get you geared up for the Summer Olympics

With the summer Olympics coming up in London pretty soon, the NETT newsroom thought this might get some of you fired up. Okay, maybe it's best suited for the "next generation of Mini Ponies, but I know that Emma will like it. ("Elmo's okay!")

Saturday, June 02, 2012

Experience Pays Off as Franks Nabs 2nd in Rainy Rye Duathlon

Frank KJ put his multisport expertise to good use today at the Rye by the Sea Duathlon in Rye, NH. Here's his report:

"When the going gets tough the tough gets going. Or in my case go race the 16th Rye-by-the-Sea duathlon in miserable weather (because I had already registered in advance). But I did not regret going because it is a great low-key race with a fun run course and a scenic bike course along the ocean. Even in the driving rain I found time to watch the cresting waves roll in on the shore and look at the pastures in front of the large houses in Rye and Hampton.

The rain actually didn’t start until 30 minutes before the race but from then on it seemed to rain harder for each leg of race. I had a good first run positioning myself in 4th only a few seconds behind the first 3 guys. Two of them were multisport rookies so I was out of T1 way before them. I passed the last of the 3 guys out of the gate and found myself in the lead at the start of bike leg. Yeah.

I had bought new wheels Friday afternoon and only ridden them for 2 minutes to test the gears so I was a bit nervous about that. But boy are they great wheels. I was flying down towards the ocean. Still the guy I had passed at the start found his legs and passed me at mile 4. He was a strong cyclist so I did not attempt to follow him. Around mile 8 another guy came by but he was only a tad faster than me so I used him to keep me honest for the rest of bike leg by staying 30-40 feet behind for the rest of the ride. I ended up riding the 17 miles with an average speed of 24 mph so the wheels are officially broken in.

In T2 I had a faster transition than my pacer so I was quickly in 2nd place. I did catch a glimpse of the leader just before he headed into the trail section. His lead was about 90 seconds so very unlikely I would catch him. The trails were now really muddy from the damage done by the first run leg and more rain coming down. Since I was running in my regularly road racing flats I almost wiped out a couple of times.

Net result: 4th fastest first run, 3rd fastest bike leg, and 2nd fastest second run leg, and 2nd place overall. Plus a dirty bike and a pile of very wet clothes. Results at http://www.coolrunning.com/results/12/nh/Jun2_16thAn_set1.shtml

At the awards ceremony the announcer just had to point out that the combined age of 1st place and 3rd place does not even add up to my age! But he did say he was impressed with my ‘fitness level’ (given my advanced age)."

Check out the article here on the race from Seacoastonline. I think they were only off by a couple letters on Frank's last name. Not bad. Congrats Frank!

In other multisport news, NETT up-and-comer Zoltan Varga finished second at the Ludlow Triathlon, with our pal Pat Dwyer just a few spots behind.