NETT Runs Turkeyiffically on Thanksgiving!

As has become the tradition. Thanksgivingukkah saw a broad full stable of Mini Ponies out galloping around the streets and trails of the Boston area in local turkey trots for some great causes.

The biggest team of Ponies showed up at the Strides for Stroke 5K in Lexington. This race has become an NETT favorite for several reasons. First of all, it's for a great cause--money raised goes to the Steven T. Hill Stroke Foundation. Read more about the cause here. Two years ago, Frank KJ started the tradition by winning the race and being crowned Turkey King!  Last year an NETT father/daughter duo won the crown.

And this year.....drum roll please......Slava wins the Turkey King Crown! As detailed on the NETT The Facebook page Slava earned the title by braving howling winds and very cold temperatures to win the Strides for Stroke 5K in Lexington today. Other intrepid runners who braved the cold (and whined about it!) were Patrick, Frank KJ (who ran an impressive race pushing Emma all the way), Eminem, CP, and Amanda, who, in their new tradition, chatted, made weekend plans, and gossiped their way through 3.1 miles (one of them huffing and puffing more than the others).

Great work out there folks!

There were some other Mini Ponies out there on a cold and windy Turkey Day. Captain Fluff took his usual stroll around Somerville in the Gobble x3 and finished top 20 in a race with more than 2,500 people!

Crazy Dave and Doris made some new friends over in Franklin Park at the Franking Park Turkey Trot to support the Franklin Park Coalition. This was a first-year event that brought in around 500 runners on a cold and windy day. The course wound around the park and had a fun costume contest. As you can see, the folks in costume were quite outgoing. Results aren't posted yet, but Doris had a great run and Crazy Dave was 6th overall in a comeback-to-semi-real-running effort.

I'm sure there were some other NETTers out of the stable on Thanksgiving morning, so we'll update as more reports come into the NETT news room.

And members should check the Meetup page for more upcoming events--it's the Most Wonderful Time of the NETT year!

Congrats to Bob on Winning his Division in the North Shore Trail Series

BIG congrats to NETT's Bob Segal for winning the 60+ age class in the North Shore Trail Series this year. What a feat! Here's Bob's report:

The series started in May with a 5K trail race and ended in November with the Stone Cat marathon, with a total of 8 races. You score points based on your percentage of the winning time. They take your best 7 races of the 8 to determine the top three in each age/gender division.

 

Last year I was fourth in the M50-59 division, so this year my goal was to try to be first in my new 60-69 division. I was able to accomplish that by winning 6 of the 8 races in my age group, while coming in second (to Marshall — always an honor) in one race and third in the other (the marathon, where I was pretty

banged up and undertrained so was just glad to finish).

 

As you can see by viewing the results in the graphic, half of life is just showing up. :) Complete results are here:

 

http://www.nerunningco.com/trail-series/2013-series-scoring/

 

(Note that Chris Smith ran some of the races too, in spectacular fashion.)

 

That said, what I'm even more proud of is that in only my second full season of competitive trail racing, my point total not only won my age group but would have put me a respectable 5th in the very, very tough and competitive M50-59  division.

 

Thanks to all my NETT teammates for all the training runs and support during the season — that was a great help toward achieving my goal, plus you guys are fun to hang out with!

Favorite Hometown Runs: Duxbury, Mass.

Editor’s Note: This is a follow-up to Frank’s post from March 2012, where he reviewed his favorite run in Kolding, Denmark. Check it out here.

While Duxbury, Mass. isn’t technically my hometown, I do consider it something of my “adopted” hometown. My parents have lived there for almost 20 years and I actually lived there for a year while a struggling (in more ways than one) newspaper reporter. In that year and a few times in the years following, I did a fair bit of running in and around Duxbury and one of my favorite runs is a trail loop through the North Hill Marsh area. So while I was spending a few days this week in Duxbury, I decided to run the loop again after a roughly 10 year absence. Here’s how it played out.

Here’s a link to a map of North Hill Marsh trails and another one of the Round Pond trails, in case you want to follow along. I sure wish I had the map with me during my run (I was sure my memory would serve me better, but alas Father Time had a couple tricks up his sleeve…) The trails are well marked with colors and letters, but of course, I learned these trails before there were markers, so the little buggers only served to confuse an already confused old man further.  

I usually park at the two small dirt lots on Mayflower Street. On one side of Mayflower Street is the Round Pond section of trails. While there’s not a lot of distance here, it’s a great way to start your run and get a couple really nice views across some cranberry bogs (that will be a view you get plenty of on this run!).  After meandering along the Yellow and White trails for a bit more than a mile, you can get the Red trail to cross Mayflower Street and start on the North Hill Marsh trails.

This is where the confused old man got downright befuddled. After starting out the way I had a hundred times on the Pond Loop, I somehow completely missed the Kettle Hole Loop which skirts the Mayflower Cemetery.  Instead, I cut straight over to the Green Harbor Trail and then caught the Connector Trail back to the Pond Loop.  Boy, it’s amazing what a decade will do to a guy’s memory.

The Pond Loop from there is a joy to run. It runs a complete circle around the pond, which is a Mass Audobon property. There are some nice views of the pond, bird watching stands, some running across cranberry bogs, and virtually no hills.  

Here’s a short video clip from the run.

Despite a couple wrong turns and dead ends (“I’m sure this trail used to connect to that bog!”) I enjoyed my first trip back to these trails quite a bit. It was fun to test not only my fitness, but also my memory (I think I failed on both counts but had a lot of fun in the process).

Some Well Deserved Kudos for Frank KJ

When you really think about it, we at NETT are a bit spoiled. Oh, another 1:30 half marathon from a 65-year old? Our team won the Vermont City Relay? A Mini Pony ran a 10K at 6:30 pace....pushing a jog stroller? Yup. 

Frank KJ did just that last weekend at the Genesis Battlegreen 10K, clocking a 40:18 for 10K while pushing Emma in the jog stroller. And while most of us thought it was impressive, this blogger from RunWithKen.com who was just in front of Frank put it in perspective when he said, " This amazing runner maintained a 6:30 pace at the 10K race--while pushing that stroller!He was just behind me when I took this photo.  (A moment later he was far ahead. :) Despite that stroller, he finished 10th out of more than 200 runners!"

Congrats Frank! Well deserved Kudos.