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.

2 comments:

Frank said...

Great event as always; good ice cream, so-so run. Boy the hills hurt when you actually try to run fast

Doris said...

doodie. duty. hee. hee.