I Scream for NETT

It was really great to see so many new and old NETT faces out at Frank and Tina's ice cream run this weekend! With 20-plus people there, it was one of our most well-attended events in recent memory.

New NETT Rivalry Emerges at Marathon Sports 5 Miler

There's a new NETT rivalry...the M&M rivalry (Mary & Marshall). Here's Mary's report:

I first saw Marshall (far in front of me) at mile 1.5. I then proceeded to chased him down from mile 1.5 to mile 4. As I passed him I told him "Good Job You Crazy Old Man". However, when we got to the track for the last 300 meters, he hunted me down. Sprinted past me in the last hundred, I caught back up to him, but he ELBOWED me to finish one step ahead of me. Our times say he beat me by one second, but it was pretty instantaneous. We finished the 4.9miles (too many GPS's there all saying it was 4.9M) in 33:37 & 33:38 - full results are below.

I didn't start too fast (was toward the middle / back so it was really jammed up). Marshall said he wasn't going to sprint on the track, but said because it was me & because I called him a Crazy Old Man, his racing instinct kicked in.
NETT finished 5th in the "Mixed Team" competition. Karyn harped on Chris the entire time (calling him a traitor) as he had on a Somerville singlet while scoring for an NETT-organized team.
Great time had by all...

http://coolrunning.com/results/12/ma/Jul12_37thAn_set2.shtml

Also BIG congrats to Zack for his second place at the Corporate Challenge!! Wowsers!!
 

Frank Manages to Not Swear His Way to the Podium at Middleboro

Earlier this year Middleboro introduced a ‘No Swearing Policy’ which Wendy from FIRM reminded everybody prior to the Old Colony race. Luckily the race takes place on quiet roads with little traffic so there were not any aggressive drivers to deal with (verbally). The race itself was a bit of a mixed bag for me with an okay swim, a good bike leg and a run leg where I bonked at mile 3 and found myself walking way too often. Oh well, s... happens! Whoops sorry I forgot the ‘no swearing policy’. But sometimes you are lucky enough that your competitors decide to not show up so despite ending up 23rd overall I took 3rd in my age-group. Barry Phelps took 3rd overall so in the awards ceremony I was 2nd in my age-group.

And Zoltan ended up taking 2nd overall – just a few ticks behind a guy who managed to catch him on the run. Results should be posted at http://www.firm-racing.com/ soon.

Brothers (and sisters) in Arms: Mini Ponies Storm Lincoln on Independence Day

An entire regiment of of NETT Mini Ponies made up of foot soldiers from Russia, Taiwan, Denmark, Virginia, and Pennsylvania was deployed to the streets of Lincoln on the 4th of July, producing a barrage of winning results. Here's the report from Commander Frank KJ.

"Although I've done this race many times, I have never written a report on this race but then again there has never been that many NETT runners present. It was raining all morning and still light rain during the race itself. Pleasant for the runners, probably not so much for the volunteers and spectators. Still more than 100 people showed up so apparently it is a tradition for many people.

Very local favorite Dmitry cruised to a solid first in the 4 Miler (3.85 miles) in a time of 22:03. He went out at a casual pace and I saw him pass the lead guys up Silver Hill like they were standing still. Mary ran a very speedy 25:49 good for 3rd overall and 1st in her age-group. Ever the mentor, Marshall was right on her heels 10 seconds back and of course won his age-group. Tina treated the run as a training run but still plenty good enough for 1st in her age-group with 28:31.

Emma and I signed up in stroller division race which we won; overall we took 3rd place in 14:28 (2.25 miles). The young kid ahead of us probably ran the first mile in 5:30 mile then faded quickly but still had enough energy to fend us off while attending his side stitch. I joked with him later in the day about how he kept looking over his shoulder for the last mile to see how fast we were approaching. In the end another successful day for NETT.

Afterward we watched the parade and had some burgers at the scouts' cookout. The drummer in the parade photo is Frank Row who many trail runners probably know from many trail races. He always run Lincoln 4th then quickly changes to play for his band 'The Nays' in the parade."