Go Mini Ponies! The official blog of New England Track and Trail

What is Going on Here?

2011-12-22T21:48:00.005-05:00

What on earth is going on here? Frank is being awarded a sash like a beauty queen? ("I feel pretty...oh so pretty..")

And then crowned Turkey Prince? And who the hell is that crazy chic? And WHY did Frank come home covered in...of all things...glitter?

What is going on here??

Good Press for NETT

2011-12-14T07:59:00.002-05:00

The NETT Mini Ponies were out in force this past weekend at both the Assault on Mount Hood XC Race in Melrose and Walter's Run in West Roxbury.

In addition to our great results, we got some great press from these races as well.

In additon to NETT being thanked for coming out to Walter's Run in this article, Crazy Dave gets a brief quote here in a story in the West Roxbury Transcript about Walter's Run. And here's a good picture of the start, with Frank KJ right up there with the baby jogger! Love it.

Here's a couple NETTers toeing the line at Walter's Run courtesy of the West Roxbury Patch.

We didn't get mentioned in the Mount Hood coverage, except that our pal Ryan Hunt gets a mention here as the first Melrose finisher. (And I love the picture of Walter the Dog--he could give a s-t about the race. He's like "is that bacon I smell? What is that?"

NETT Caps Off Double-Header Weekend in Style at Walter's Run

2011-12-11T20:09:00.004-05:00

For the second year, NETT showed up in force at Walter's Run in West Roxbury, just flooding the results before enjoying a delicious brunch.

In the results, it was a swarm of Mini Ponies up front. In the women's race, NETT swept three age groups--Mrs. Pizzaro took the 20-29 age group, Adrienne took the 30-39 age group and NETT newcomer Sinead took the 40-49 category. In addition, Tina was 11th overall/4th in her age group and Eminem took 7th in her age group.

Of course, technically Emma was the first NETT lady across the finish line.

On the men's side, it was NETT all over the place as well. Chris exacted his revenge on Crazy Dave by two seconds as they finished 3rd and 4th overall. The Youngstah was only a few spots back in 7th and Martin was 11th. Chris G put in a great effort as well, hitting 8 minute pace on a very hilly course. I think he's getting used to this running stuff....

The most impressive men's result of the day is a toss up between Frank, pushing Emma in the baby jogger, finishing in 19:39, good for 13th place overall or Little Skittles finishing his first race in many moons. Great work guys!

In addition to the NETT regulars, a few of the FATC members were ripping it up out there including Victora, Alissa, Ken and Matt, with Amy and Cara out for support. And Paul's Sheryl put in a solid effort as well.

Doris greeted us all at the finish line by "pulling our tags" when we crossed the line (she was volunteering). We had plenty of support (thanks to Ron, Chrissy and Lincoln!).

After the race it was back to Dave and Doris' for the new NETT tradition of a festive holiday potluck brunch. It was great to catch up with the regulars and new folks.

As usual, race director Keith Shields and the Parkway Running Club put on a fantastic race. A challenging course, great raffle, nice volunteers and all for a good cause. Read more about the The Walter Burgess American Running Camp Scholarship
here.

All in all it was a great day and the capper to a great weekend of NETT racing and socializing. Here's looking forward to a great 2012!

NETT Shines in First Half of December "Double Header" at Mt Hood XC Race

2011-12-10T20:31:00.003-05:00

In the first race of the NETT December Double Header, the Mini Ponies tested their mettle at the always demanding Assault on Mt. Hood XC Race, hosted by the Melrose Running Club.

The NETT men's team showed some numbers and finished as the 4th men's team behind CMS, CRC, and CSU and just in front of our pals on Team Glennon. This was NETT's first time scoring as a team in 2011. The top three scorers for NETT were Dave Hannon, Chris Smith and Andy Hall. The supporting crew was strong with Marshall Randolph (2nd in his age group), Jack Burke and Patrick McVeigh all battling a very tough course.

For the women, Kristin Hall led the charge, finishing 2nd in the master's division. Jenn and Doris also did a fabulous job of tackling the steep climbs and descents of the Mt. Hood Golf Course.

As usual, Brian Slater and the folks at the Melrose Running Club put on a great race. Every year the course changes and this year's was called the toughest version yet, by more than a few runners. The post-race buffet at the Melrose Fish and Game Club was very very nice. Pasta, meatballs, salad, desserts, and BEER!

Looking forward to the second half of the weeken's double-heard, Walter's Run tomorrow.

What's Wrong with this Picture?

2011-12-06T21:18:00.005-05:00

According to these statistics from our Meetup group, our total membership (blue) is up but plateauing, while our ACTIVE membership (red) is on a steady decline. Is it time to make some changes in the NETT membership policies? NETT members speak now!

NETT Celebrates its Anniversary at Andover XC Race

2011-11-28T21:09:00.009-05:00

A few Mini Ponies were mucking it up at the Andover Country Club XC Race on Sunday. It was nine years ago that NETT first raced as a team at Andover.

This year, the women were represented by Tina Wang who finished fourth in her age group in 25:48 and Karyn Miller-Medzon who finished in 27:05.

On the men's side Crazy Dave finished 10th overall and fifth master and Janos Mako who finished fifth in the 50-59 age group in 21:20. To get an idea of just how competitive this race has become in the age groups Marshall Randolph was THIRD in his age group! And yes, Chris Smith was out there too. Blabbity blah Somerville blah blah.

Special thanks to Frank and Emma, our top-notch cheering section.

"I swear to you Emma. If you walk through that door over there, they will give you FREE BEER! Uncle Crazy would never lie to you!"

As always, the post-race party was top-notch with a great meal and..of course..FREE BEER!!

Big Congrats to Dustin and Mary!

2011-11-28T21:00:00.005-05:00

A HUGE NETT congrats to Mary and Dustin for tying the knot this weekend. These two crazy kids got hitched and had their reception appropriately enough just a mile down the road from the Blue Hills! It was a fun night with everything from salsa dancing to a wild Pennsylvania tradition involving a bag of dollars and a minor brawl in suits.

Congrats!

Congrats to Eri!!

2011-11-26T13:05:00.003-05:00

Big congrats to Eri for finishing his first marathon last weekend. Eri finished the Philaelphia Marathon. Here's his report:

Right at the start I made a deal with my friend Alex that we would run
together until the end. We kept a nice 7:50-8:00 pace until mile 18,
then as I was getting ready to speed it up, Alex was having some
problems with his right leg... So we slowed down gradually all the way
to 9:40 until mile 23. He insisted that I would leave him and run at
mile 18 but I kept him company until mile 23 and then took off (when he
had to stop to stretch and consistently insisted that I should go).

The last 3 miles or so I kept a 6:50 (according to my gps watch)
average and finished with 3:34 (according to my watch, and 3:35
according to their timing). I am pretty happy with the result... I was in pain at the end but I think I can do better in the next race...

The day was perfect, a little over cast but not too cold, then the sun
came up. Great organization and a ton o water station and bathrooms
along the way. apparently there were 25000 runners and 60000 people
cheering... I would definitely do it again, I loved the city!

Heee's Baaaccckk.....

2011-11-08T08:01:00.001-05:00

Congrats to Marshall!

2011-11-02T21:19:00.004-04:00

Warning: If you have a fragile ego and are in your 20s or 30s--seriously, don't read the next paragraph. Skip down to the video.

HUGE congrats to our pal Marshall who, at 63 years young, ripped out a 3:13 at the hilly, windy Cape Cod Marathon last week. That's 3:13 at 63 years old! Insane.

Marshall never fails to impress us and reminds us that you're as fast as you feel. So in his honor, I'm going to post my new favorite video featuring a couple other running idols that captures the spirit of it all. So watch the video, raise a glass and sing it loud: I Never Wanna Grow Old!

Emma Hits Her Stride at Waltham Halloween Race

2011-10-30T16:49:00.003-04:00

A great Halloween race report from Frank KJ:

With Wrentham Duathlon postponed to next week, Emma and I decided to join Tina for a 5K race in Waltham. Nice little race for a good course - only downside is that the course is on Waverly Oaks with a lot of traffic. Luckily we got through it safely. As you can see from the results - - Emma placed 3 and 3/4 right in front of myself in 4th place. Tina placed 2nd overall. Afterwards a cold red-nosed Emma enjoyed all the attention in her Tigger outfit while Tina and I collected a couple of Best Buy gift certificates.

Breaking News: NETT Racks up the Wine and Pumpkins at Groton Trail Race

2011-10-23T21:57:00.004-04:00

The NETT Mini Ponies had a great day at the Groton Town Forest Trail Runs today, highlighted by a 1-2 finish in the women's 9.5 mile race.

Mary Smith has clearly bounced back from the Nipmuck Marathon, running strong enough to take the women's win in her first crack at Groton (time to come), while Adrienne Cyrulik was not far behind to finish second place overall. What a great finish for the Ponyettes. Both earned themselves a coveted bottle of wine made personally by race director Paul Funch.

In the men's long race, CrazyDave chugged along fast enough to take the master's win, while Eri Verter, in the final stages of marathon training, cranked out a very strong run on the trails.

In the 3.5 miler, NETT "better halfs" Chris and Doris both enjoyed their first trip to this race with Chris earning himself a pumpkin for his efforts.

It was great to see some other NETT pals like John "I hate Facebook" Kinnee, Brodie Miles and Tom Hildreth mixing it up on their first trip to Groton as well.

As always, Paul Funch and his crew put on a great event--just what trail running is supposed to be. A well-marked challenging course with all sorts of surprises, helpful volunteers, VERY generous prizes (homemade wine takes a LOT more effort to make than a plastic trophy), and some nice post-race snacks.

NETT gives back to the trails

2011-10-19T08:10:00.003-04:00

This weekend, a couple NETTers decided after all the dirt they've taken off the trails (and tracked into their cars, yards and living rooms), they should spend a day fixing them up a bit. Here's Mary's report:

"Saturday the Needy Little Man (aka Crazy Dave) proved that he's truly very generous. Dave and Mary joined the Friends of the Blue Hills in their organized trail maintenance day. The work days were started as a way for avid Blue Hills users to give-back, and help maintain the network of trails. Work days happen one Saturday a month (during Spring, Summer, and Fall), and include clearing brush and downed trees, digging ditches to re-route water and minimize trail erosion, and other small projects.

There were over 30 volunteers lined up at the Houghton's Pond parking lot. The core group of organizers (a bunch of guys named Bob) gave a brief description of the scheduled projects and then organized all the volunteers into smaller groups. Mary & Dave joined the "Brushing Group" which involved clearing downed trees that were making the trails impassable. The trees had been down since Hurricane Irene blew threw New England. The destruction from Irene was incredible. There were rows of huge downed trees, that fell like domino's in Irene's wrath. Some were so large, they looked like baby Red Woods! However, that did not deter Mary, Dave, and the 3 other's in the group. They worked diligently to clear the downed trees using only a hand saw and pruning sheers. The 3 guys in the group did all the sawing, while the gals worked with the pruning sheers and then used their pure brute strength and determination to move all monstrous logs (that the guys cut up).

The trail work day wrapped up around noon. The amount of work that done with 5 people, a saw, pruning sheers, and a whole lot of determination was absolutely amazing!! The next scheduled work day is November 12th.

Molkie Takes it Up to a New Level Down in Jersey

2011-10-16T19:21:00.004-04:00

As most of you know, our pal Dave Molk headed South this fall to do smaht guy stuff. Well, he's definitely being smaaht about his running too, finishing his first 50K this weekend at the Mountain Madness 50K on a monstrous course down in NJ. Here's his report:

"I just finished my first 50k down here in Jersey and I'll start by saying that in my experience so far, the trails in MA are vastly superior to the ones down here. Take advantage of them. The race was Mountain Madness and claims around 5000' of elevation gain but luckily most of that is rolling, rather than steep scrambles. The terrain reminded me a lot of the Blue Hills, minus the Skyline trail. I ended up running the whole thing with a really nice guy who had ample ultra experience, so he definitely helped me more than I helped him.

I had tweaked something in my leg the week before the race (everyone's nightmare), so was considering not doing it at all rather than get into trouble mid-race. Luckily, we had good drop points for the first 10 miles and everything felt ok, so I kept going. Nutrition became a bit of a problem later in the race, as I got really tired of Clif Shots, which in turn led me to reject pretty much anything I tried to eat. I think Hammer shots are the worst product I've ever tried (stocked at the aid stations).

Other than that, I stayed hydrated, blister, cramp, and chafe-free, and tried to look at it as a fun adventure/hike in the woods. I had a few mental lapses but the body stayed strong and the legs were good up to the last mile and a half, which was downhill and beat up my quads more than I expected. Still, things are feeling good today. Course marking was similar to Oxford, so I got some extra mileage in, but luckily not too much. We had a gorgeous day, starting in the low 50s and ending in the 60s, with sun for most of the time (although we had a lot of tree-cover).

I finished with 6:29 for 13th place."

Big congrats Molkie! Way to make us proud!

MiniPonies Tackle the Trails at Nipmuck Marathon

2011-10-04T07:54:00.005-04:00

A couple hearty MiniPonies took to the trails at the Nipmcuk Trail Marathon on Sunday and the results were one great finish, one acceptable finish given the circumstances, and a whole lot of stories to tell.

First, we'll check in with Mary "Candy Pants" Smith on her race. CP finished 7th woman overall in 4:50 (time means nothing in this event, except to say it's a rugged run). But it's not even so much WHAT she did, but how she did it. Starting out easy, weaving her way up through the pack, bee-bopping along most of the way, and finishing looking like she could have run another 10 miles. Here's her report:

"Overall this was a great race! A little crazy, a smidge muddy, and a bit hilly...but I would do it again. The race was 2 out and back runs: 6+ miles one way back to the start and then 6+ miles in the other direction and then back to the finish. The out and back on the single track made it tougher to pass (especially when the speedy runners were coming toward you) but it was encouraging to see the other runners. Somehow Dave managed to provide pertinent advice both times we passed each other.

I was a little nervous going into the race, wondering if I trained enough - I just ignored that part of my brain until the race started. The pre-race de-brief was informative yet, shall we say 'interesting'. I don't think words could explain the actions of Nipmuck Dave & his pre-race mud jaunt. When the race started, I was toward the back, which was good and bad...good because it forced to start slowly, but bad because it was hard to pass on the single track. The people in front of me were walking up every hill and through every mud crossing (and there was plenty of mud). The 1st 3 miles of the race were slow and mentally tough - trying to navigate around the other runners. About 30 minutes into the race, the weather gods decided it wasn't muddy enough, so they brought on some more rain. It rained just long enough to make sure everything was soaked and that the mud was plentiful.

I got to see Dustin & Doris (our biggest fans) at the half way point. Dustin told me I could quit the race, but I told him that if I quit - I'd have to find another marathon to run before the wedding (I set a goal for myself to run one more marathon before the wedding-mission accomplished). I enjoyed the 2nd half of the race more than the 1st, even though the 2nd half was slightly longer & more technical. All the runners spread out and I was able to run alone in the woods...and there was less mud. Plus, since I started so slowly, I was able to speed past people who were starting to struggle. A memorable section of the 2nd half was having to slide over a big fallen log (because it was too big for me to jump) but then crossing a marshy area - where I had to wade into shin deep water for 3 or 4 steps before I got to the footbridge (which was also submerged). I thought of it as a way to clean off some of the mud. The course continued through the woods, on a short stretch of dirt roads, over some significant climbs, and down a treacherously slippery set of stairs to the final turnaround.

The last 6 miles were challenging, but we were all like horses headed to the barn. I tried using Jean Dany's attitude of "run harder when you're tired so you finish sooner". I saw Doris & Dustin again at one of the aid stations, and then was off to finish the race. The last 2 miles were the toughest but I knew the end was near. As I crested the last hill and headed to the finish I felt "OK" but was glad to see Dustin waiting for me at the bottom - I knew it was almost over and that I was about to finish! I finished in 4:50 slightly slower than Dave's 3:55 effort.

There was post race food and drink (who in their right mind wants more Gatorade after a marathon). We got some food, checked some results, & I even found some evidence of Candy - CP lives on!! Thanks to Dustin & Doris for waking up at 5am on a Sunday, and especially to Dustin who missed all the 1:00 football games!"

Crazy Dave could have taken a lesson from Candy Pants and taken a different approach. Unfortunately for him, the race played out in a not-so-pleasant manner. A slightly upset stomach meant he limited his food intake to basically less than half a sports bar. And for a race this long, that spells disaster. The last five miles, he was not his usual peppy self and struggled up some of the hills he was actually looking forward to early on. The result? He gave up two places in the last 1/4 mile to finsih 6th overall in 3:55, good for first master (thanks mostly to a kids' soccer game up in NH somewhere).

As the photos on Dustin and Mary's Facebook show, Crazy Dave was basically a ghost after the race (check out the last picture as well as Dustin's hilarious comments throughout!), turning whiter than Pat Boone at a Clan rally. Not to worry for all of his many many fans out there, all's well with Crazy Dave and he's back to his usual wisecracking self (as the previous and current sentence will attest to).

The Shenipsit Striders did a great job putting this race on for the first time in the fall. They made sure there was plenty of mud, a couple knee deep water crossings, and plenty of aid at the aid stations and volunteers on the course. Congrats to Clint Morse, taking the reigns from Nipmuck Dave.

HUUUUGE thanks to:
Dustin for waking up at the crack of dawn, driving all the way there and back, taking pictures and all out support.

Doris for the continued support and post-race medical care.

The race volunteer in the white Boston Marathon jacket who watched Crazy Dave like a hawk after the race, repeatedly asking if he was okay and if there was someone coming to get him. No joke--that is exactly what he (I) needed at the time whether he (I) knew it or not.

The Newton Wellesely Hosptial Bear for checking vitals.

And ALL of the race volunteers who spent a long Sunday in the woods so that a bunch of us whackos could run around in the mud.

Wings Flies at Reach the Beach Relay

2011-09-18T20:07:00.011-04:00

The Result

The NETT-heavy Team Wings flew through nearly 200 miles of New Hampshire roads to finish 16th overall in this year’s Reach the Beach relay. 16th out of 434 teams.
See the official results here (and scroll through some of those team names—very funny)

To put this feat in perspective, here are a few statistics:
• That is an average of 6:50/mile for 191 miles
• Although we have virtually the same team we did two years ago, we lopped off 10 seconds/mile average
• We finished 7th place out of 119 teams in the men’s open category
• We only had three actually “open men” (men under 40). We had three men in their 40s, one in his 50s, one in his 60s, one woman in her 40s, and three open women.

Preparation is Key to Success
One of the secrets to Wings’ success is team-oriented preparation. Even before we left of the race, there was Chris waiting for Crazy Dave to get off the plane that morning at Logan Airport, fresh from a week of partying in Vegas. Team-oriented preparation in action.

The team vans headed up to the start on Friday morning and then we relaxed a bit.
Chrissy outfitted us with some goodies from CitySports to help us glow in the night legs.

Dave’s week in Vegas had him a bit overweight, but he and Peter had a smoke and relaxed before the start.

A few Wings members partied with the Hello Kitty team at the start (Hello Kitty Loves You, Justine). And of course we decorated our vans with the usual slogans and borderline profanity.

Off and Running
As part of his negotiated contract terms, Wings’ newest member Marshall Randolph took the first leg from Cannon Mountain. He toed the line with a group of runners roughly 30 to 40 years his junior. And let’s just say experience won out over enthusiasm, with Marshall patiently watching a couple of the overzealous kids pull away before patiently running them down.

With that solid start, Wings was off and running. The next 35 legs and 190 miles are a blur. Jean Dany set a new team record by passing more than 48 teams on a single leg! (He stopped counting at that point).

Crazy Dave set a new volume-based team benchmark of another sort (the look on his face in this pic should give you a clue). Team Captain Karyn has the most experience in this race and set a personal record by passing 10 runners in a short five mile leg. Van 2 set the bar really high in their last set of legs—a sub-2 hour marathon. But with that goal a bit unattainable (by humans, at least), they reset their goal to a more volume-based one as well.

Before we knew it we were joining Eri on the final run into the finish on the beach (and no, he didn’t even slow up to let us jog in with him on the sand, he continued pushing hard all the way to the finish line to get us every second possible).

Upon Reflection
It was a really inspiring performance by literally every member of the team, putting in the extra effort at every turn. This race requires not only good running – it requires good organization, good communication between vans and runners to make sure everyone is in the right place at the right time, it requires a keen understanding of the rules (Note how many teams lost time or were even DQed due to rule violations). Captain Karyn deserves huge credit for not only organizing, but setting the tone for our crew. (Yes, there is such a thing as too much information-Mary keeps WHAT in her pants?)

And it requires a LOT of understanding from our spouses and families who allow us to partake in this craziness every year so special thanks to them. Especially this year.

Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, we dedicate this year’s performance to Wings member Jeannette. We were thinking of you and know you were with us out there in spirit and can't wait to see you next year.

You can see more pictures of our race:

Here on Karyn's Facebook page

And more HERE on Karyn's Facebook page

And Justine has posted more here

NETT Relay Team Takes 2nd at FirmMan

2011-09-11T21:04:00.001-04:00

The relay team of Big Al, Frank and Tina took 2nd in the mixed relay at Firm Man. Al put down a great effort on the swim including swimming through layers of sea weed at the end. Frank paid for not having done more than two rides longer than 56M this year by hitting the wall at mile 46. Of course it didn't help that there was a headwind and 3 miles of grooved pavement. Tina put the hammer down on the run and ran a supersonic 1:33 (or so) half-marathon. Thanks to Al's wife Judy for coming out to cheer and babysitting Emma.

Frank's Pastry-inspired Hill Repeats from Denmark

2011-09-03T17:50:00.005-04:00

Frank and Tina are just back from a trip to Denmark and, as always, Frank provides an amusing travelogue:

So you thought Denmark was flat as a pancake. Think again, we actually do have some good hills. While vacationing on the island of Bornholm I did hill repeats up a 0.4 mile 6% grade road complete with two hairpin turns. You can check the route and elevation here.

The view of the small coastal town is quite picturesque.

I then ran along and over the rocky coastal cliffs [photo attached] back to the hotel and then ate some more yummy Danish pastry while listening to this wonderful song from a 1959 movie celebrating Bornholm.

Thomas Chamberas XC Race Another Success in 2011

2011-08-30T07:29:00.004-04:00

The Thomas Chamberas 6K XC Race is in the books for 2011. It was a great success, as we put on a great race and raised more than $3500 for the Cystic Fibroris Foundation--and we got the race in right before Hurricane Irene let open a can of whoopass on New England. About 150 runners finished the race this year. Results posted here

Chris Miller of the Naval Academy Prep took the men's race in 18:06. Amelia Lanberg of GBTC took the women's race in 21:11. Both Navy Prep and GBTC brought a ton of runners to the race, as they have in the past, so very big thanks to them and their coaches. The Greater Framingham Runnning Club and the E Streeters also brought teams. But the highlight of the day came when the race's namesake, Thomas, came striding into the finish, having run almost the entire course -- at six years old!! Wow. Check out the stride this kid has! Specail thanks to all our volunteers again this year. And of course to all our sponsors and folks who donated prizes. We had some very generous donors all around. Thanks!

Weekend of tris and trails for NETT gang

2011-08-14T17:06:00.005-04:00

It was a weekend of triathlons and trail runs as a couple groups of Mini Ponies set off on some adventures this weekend.

Question: Would you run into the deep woods with two guys named Crazy Dave and Farmer Ed? Well Mary and Molkie answered "yes" and were treated to an epic run up, down, and around Mount Greylock this weekend.

Farmer Ed Alizbozek and his trusty canine guide Tippy led the NETT trio on a guided tour of Greylock, starting with a 50-minute climb, hitting the War Memorial Tower and the Bascomb Lodge, taking a detour to take in an astounding view from Stony Ledge, and winding up with a dip in the falls at Lower Peck Brook. It was a fantastic day of running. Many thanks to Farmer Ed!

Not to be outdone, Frank KJ headed out to the Westborough tri this weekend and met up with an old (but young) NETT member who's been a bit quiet recently. Here's Frank's report:

"Katherine and I did Westborough Sprint Triathlon today and with great success. Katherine won her AG and I took 3rd overall. Steve Levandosky who is in my AG won overall. The swim was super short so I stayed in contact with Steve the entire way. On the way out of T1 he realized he had forgot to put his helmet so that gave me a chance to get a head start. Nevertheless he got me around mile 3 and then steadily pulled away from. The run was a great mix of trails along Chauncy lake and through corn fields and some road and grass sections. I knew I had a good race but I was still surprised to learn that I had taken 3rd overall. Good luck to Katherine at Nationals next week.

P.S. The ice cream run is now officially over as I finished the last bit of Cherry Bomb the other night!"

History Almost Repeats at Greenfield and Thankfully Doesn't Repeat at Dam Race

2011-08-08T21:26:00.004-04:00

There were some great NETT results this weekend from the trails and the tris, with history nearly repeating itself in one instance and thankfully not repeating itself in another.

Here's a report from Frank KJ:

"Martin and I ventured out to Greenfield triathlon again this year and with almost equal success as last year. Last year Martin won the international distance and Frank took 3rd in the sprint. This year Martin was the first person to cross the finish line but some ueberbiker in the next wave eventually ended up with the victory. Martin was, however, more than one minute faster than last year and once again had the fastest run time so all in all great race.

I was 3rd to cross the finish line in the sprint but some even older dude got me by a mere 12 seconds. Looking closely at the results reveals that he was 29 seconds faster than me in the transitions - guess I need to spray some more PAM on that wetsuit. I had the fastest run split of the day and 3rd best bike split so another good day in Western Mass for me.

Thanks to Lincoln, Emma, Chrissy and Tina for cheering us on - and letting us race ;-) "

Great report, Frank. Meanwhile this weekend, Dave Molk continued his tour of the classic New England trail races, this time at the Dam Trail Race in Oxford, a notoriously tricky course to follow. Here's Molkie's report:

"I ran the Oxford Dam race this past Saturday, finishing 12th. Going into it, I didn't know much other than that the course has a reputation for being hard to follow and features a river crossing. The first mile or so was really dusty, so the footing wasn't the best, but it quickly became packed down.

It's definitely a run-and-gun type course, with minimal technical spots or hill work. The water level was extremely low, so the crossing wasn't particularly intimidating and unfortunately didn't provide much of a cooling effect (there was a fair amount of exposure with hot/humid conditions, something that really hit home on my overly ambitious cool-down).

Good course marking - apparently a different course from last year's (which I guess has been the trend). Lots of helpful volunteers - definitely worth checking out."

Nice work Molkie. Keep it up!

NETT Screams for Ice Cream

2011-07-24T22:10:00.007-04:00

The Mini Ponies ran, biked, walked and did everything we could to burn a few calories before indulging in the First Annual (I hope!) NETT Brunch and Ice Cream party. One group rode their bikes while another ran the Battle Road all in the name of ice cream.

("What? Pictures? Quick put down the ice cream and pick up some fruit!" says Dave.)

It was great to see the "extended" NETT family enjoying the day.

NETT "B" Teamers Get Straight A's at Mass State Tri

2011-07-17T21:58:00.007-04:00

Karyn Eminem provided a great update on the NETT B teamers at the Mass State Triathalon in Winchendon. Here's her update:

Our Team #1, doing an Olympic distance, was composed of Eri-the-Fish Verter, Doctor Ron, and our very own poet athlete, Jean Dany.

It took The Fish almost as long to get into his wet suit as it did to swim the 3/4 of a mile, but he did it with such speed that he literally almost fainted when he got out of the water. Doctor Ron took over on the bike leg and took off for his second-ever race and his first time riding 25 miles. He re-emerged about 80 minutes later, sprinting into the finish chute -- the only athlete carrying his bike instead of rolling it. Jean Dany took off on the run so quickly we barely saw him speed by, and he passed almost EVERY athlete on the course, finishing in about 40 minutes, despite the 90-degree heat. The effort earned the team 3rd place in the male Olympic relay.

Team 2 was composed of resident musician Daniel (or DMM as his friends call him), running, and two non-NETT women biking and swimming. Daniel (who's been concentrating more on music than running of late) confessed that he started slowly, until some guy came by and said "Hey, I'm in the relay too" at which point he took off and ran the second half of the race minutes faster than the first half-- passing half a dozen people in the last quarter mile (which looked great!) That effort earned his team a 3rd place in the Mixed Sprint Relay.

I was the final athlete in the NETT roster. My swim went surprisingly smoothly. Somehow I didn't have to vie for a clear corridor. So I didn't make any stops at all along the way and felt great at the finish. My transition was slow (how do people do it so quickly????). I couldn't get my socks on my wet feet and started heading out without a helmet (oops) and headed back for it. Once I was on the bike I realized how hot it was, and also how hilly. I got passed a fair amount on the flat and downhill portions, but passed literally a dozen people on the first 1.2-mile-long hill (okay...some of them re-passed me later) and half a dozen people on the second long hill. So I wasn't disappointed. What I had forgotten is how hard it is to actually run when you get off a bike. Yowch! The run was fine -- I didn't set any personal records, but I didn't get passed either, and had some satisfaction running by nearly every woman who had sped by me on the hills. I think my time was in the mid 23's (haven't seen the official breakdown yet). I came 5th in my age group, satisfied by the effort and humbled by how talented real triathletes are.

It was a great day and we missed the NETT'ers who weren't there!

Report from NETT North (WAY NORTH)

2011-06-25T22:33:00.004-04:00

The NETT news room got a report recently from our furthest North (and Western) member, Liz who's gone to live out in the wilds of Manitoba among the woodland creatures. Apparently, she's already getting to know some of the "locals." Here's her report:

"So the other day I had a crazy run and I knew NETT would appreciate it. I was running on our island trail, which on average takes me 21 minutes, so I don't know how long it is because it's a trail, but my guess is 2.5 miles at the most. However all of that doesn't really matter, I was out the other night before dinner and I was only planning on doing one lap, and I was just coming to the last turn on the trail when I spotted a bear! Now I knew a bear had been spotted a couple of times so I wasn't surprised I saw it. I made some noise and it got scared, but instead of running into the woods it ran up a tree, and not any tree but one I needed to run under!

So I stood there for a bit weighing my options, trying to decide if I should A) run under the tree with the bear in it, B) wait for it to come out of the tree and continue or C) turn around and run two laps. I decided my safest bet was to turn around and run a second lap and I was still on time for dinner. Oh the adventures of trail running up here."

Good Choice Liz!

Molkie Continues his Tour of the New England Classic Trail Races at Greylock

2011-06-22T07:40:00.003-04:00

Dave Molk has been on a mission this spring to run what many consider the "classic" New England rrail races and he's doing a great job. So far he's hit Soapstone, 7 Sisters and this weekend he ran the Greylock Half Marathon (Greylock Gallop to some of us old timers). Here's Molkie's reoprt:

"I ran this one strong and am feeling better on the hills (singular in this case). After losing a shoe in the first mud pile (literally the instant we hit the single-track), I regrouped, re-shoed, and began the climb, hiking a few parts but keeping a run for most of it. I felt great on the downhills but was a little overzealous in hammering them, as my right calf started twitching towards the end (though I didn't know how much was left). Scary moment for a borderline cramp, as well as the first I've had in my leg. Thankfully it didn't seize or buckle and I didn't lose any spots, although I gave up trying to reel people in. I finished maybe 3/4 of a mile later in 24th, spent but satisfied."

Congrats Molkie. Great to see you touring the classics.

NETT Relay Team Wins the Big Take at the Big Lake!

2011-06-20T21:44:00.003-04:00

Well, you gotta give Frank credit for not shying away from a challenge. At Sudbury, it was the Battle of the Dynasties, relay team vs. relay team. This week, it was the Big Take at the Big Lake at the Webster Triathlon, where Frank -- solo -- challenged the relay team of Nicholas (swim), Bruce (bike) and Crazy Dave (run).

Frank headed off in the first wave, and three minutes back, Nicholas hit the water. As the results show, Nicholas was about 13 seconds faster than Frank, so it was close. But then, the rules worked against the Great Dane. The organizers at the last minute allowed relay teams' runner to run the chip up the 200 meters from the beach to the first transition area which was a big advantage for team Nicholas. They put a minute on Frank there (closing the head-start he got going in the first wave to about two minutes).

On the bike, Bruce surprised himself and threw down a 34:29 to Frank's 34:02, keeping Team Nicholas' about a minute ahead (and only two minutes back physically). "I have to say I was very impressed with Bruce's bike split, especially given the hilly course," Frank said.

On the run, Crazy Dave set out about 2 minutes after Frank and got a glimpse of Frank at the turn around. "Frrrannkk....I'm commminnning Frank!" Dave caught Frank with about 300 meters to go on the run and the two came in stride for stride to the finish.

At the end of the day, Frank deserves big credit for organizing everyone and putting in a great effort. He was 11th overall and first in his division.

Team Nicholas ran away with the relay team crown, finishing more than 2:30 ahead of the next team. It was a lot of fun.

"Another successful day for NETT in a multisport race," Frank summed it up.

Quick Recap of Lincoln Steeplechase, Exeter Trail Race

2011-06-13T07:46:00.004-04:00

Several NETT members hit the trails this weekend. On Sunday it was the Lincoln Steeplechase 6.7 mile trail run on our "home turf." Here's the news from Frank:

"I haven't seen the results yet but as I recall Chris Smith ran 41:50 for 6th overall, I was 44:40 for 15th, Dave Molk ran with a friend in 47-48, and Marshall was 48 and change. Marshall won his age group, but by mistake they gave it to someone else. They probably didn't think anyone over 60 could run under 50 minutes on that course! (NETT pal and multiple winner of the Thomas Chamberas 6K Race) Ryan Carera won in 38:32 or something like that actually quite a lot of runners considering the weather. Paul Young, Tina and Emma were on hand to cheer. My wet muddy shoes are on the porch optimistically waiting for the sun to return."

Thanks Frank. Dave Molk's run at Lincoln was actually his second of the day! Earlier on Sunday, he was up in Exeter, NH for The Exeter Trail Races . Here's his report:

"I felt really strong on this one. It was cold and wet (read slippery, especially the wooden bridges) but I went out hard and basically stayed in 13th for most of the race. I tucked behind a guy I thought was Scott Livingston from the Shenipsit Striders (who I know is fast) and passed a guy with him towards the end but couldn't get past him too. After finishing 12th, I discovered that the guy I was behind was in fact not Scott, but had still beaten me in other races this season, so still fast.

The Lincoln Steeple Chase got a bit uncomfortable after 15 minutes or so but my friend and I gritted it out. Chris and Frank both looked good (at least at the start, as I didn't see them after that. Marshall was a class act as always. Strong cheering by Paul, Tina, and Emma."

Great show of support out there folks!

Martin's Mooseman Report

2011-06-08T07:46:00.005-04:00

Here is my Mooseman 2011 International Distance race report.

First the pros: It was a beautiful day, cool - water temps high 50s-low 60s. The course was well laid-out and marked - overall, a very professional event.

The cons: It is an Iron Man event so they could care less about the International distance. They still have not posted the results for the race even though using the exact same timing system, they were able to post the results for the 1/2 iron man race as the race was happening. Also, they only worked to accommodate the 1/2 Iron so the bike course was long by 2.5+ miles - that favored the heavy bikers which had me at a bit of a disadvantage.

Overall, I would have to say that it was a good International-distance season opener. The swim went well - I got out of the water 4th in my division - there was a pro that I didn't even see and who beat us all by a lot. I got out of the water right with the next two guys who beat me in the swim and made it out of the transition before them. The bike course was really hilly and I am still a little twitchy on downhills from my incident last summer so I gave up a little time there. Also, it was a long bike course - 27.5+ Miles so all of the heavy bikers got a good advantage out there. Coming out of the bike transition, I passed two people immediately and began hunting down others. The leader was flying as was a guy from the 40+ age group. I was able to hunt down one other runner before the finish to cross the tape 7th.

The IronMan folks still have not posted the international results 3 days after the event - someone literally photographed them and posted them to flickr, which is where I have figured out my overalls. I ended up 10th over all in the swim, 49th overall in the bike and 1st in the run(maybe - I still have not seen them because work blocks flickr). That was good for 2nd in my age group and 13th over all for a time of 2:22. I wish that I would have done a bit better and broken top 10 over all but it was a great race nonetheless.

(Lincoln's Proud of his Dad!)

Here are the "results"

Here is the context:
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=3371984;

NETT Continues the Summer Tradition at the Corrib Classic 5K

2011-06-05T20:38:00.007-04:00

The NETT Mini Ponies kicked off the summer racing season in what's become an annual tradition by racing the Corrib Classic 5K in West Roxbury.

It was a great day, with some strong performances. On the men's side, Crazy Dave and Chris Smith took 1-2 in the master's race, (4th and 7th overall). It was a particularly impressive run for Chris, given he ran the Rhody 5K earlier in the day, as did Steve Peckiconis, who took fourth in his age group. (How do these guys DO it?)

On the ladies' side, Adrienne and Tina outdid Dave and Chris by finishing 4th and 6th in the women's field, Tina the first master. Also, the speedwork has been paying off for Doris, who had a strong run on a hot day, and NETT pals Victoria ran well with Alissa's pacing help.

After the race, it was back to Doris and Dave's for the annual post-race cookout, with a long list of NETT members and pals and some surprise guests!

Frank takes to the Sea for the Rye Duathlon

2011-06-05T20:13:00.002-04:00

Frank journeyed north this weekend to the Rye-By-the-Sea Duathlon. And here's his report:

"With Black Bear Duathlon sadly canceled this year I decided to race Rye-By-The-Sea Duathlon. It a great scenic course and very well run event. The 3M run leg starts out with 1M on the roads, then 1.2M on trails in a small wood and finally 0.8 on dirt road. I had a solid first run leg coming in to T1 in 6th place. The first 5M were right into the wind but luckily with a slight downhill. I could, however, not match the strong cyclists so by the time we turned south on the Ocean Rd I had dropped down to 9th.

For the next 7 miles the was a strong tailwind and I averaged around 27 mph - that feels pretty cool. Around mile 9 I had a scary situation as a small terrier came running out from a driveway in front of me; luckily for me it decided to simply just stand still in the middle of the road. The last 4 miles were tough as we headed back into the wind and now with a slight uphill so suddenly my speed dropped to more moderate readings. The second run (which is the 1st leg run in reverse) was quite uneventful as I was not able to close the gap to any of the guys in front of me and I myself had a solid gap on the next guys. So I remained 9th overall and with (yet another) 2nd place finish in my age group. A great race on a day with near perfect weather."

Congrats Frank!

Race Report: Soapstone Mountain Trail Race

2011-05-15T21:48:00.005-04:00

A few hearty NETT members headed down to the legendary Soapstone Trail Race on a wet Sunday. A first-timer, a second timer seeking redemption, and a veteran of more Soapstones than most of us could ever hope for.

Big congrats to Chris Smith, for his successful return to Soapstone after getting disastrously lost here last year (we were about 80% sure he had been abducted by aliens at a certain point). Chris finished 10th in 1:56 this year. Here's his take on it:

"I laugh at you Soapstone Moutain! (insert diabolical laughter) Is that all you've got? Actually, I almost didn't go when I woke up to hard rain. I checked the radar and it didn't look too bad so I got up and headed out. The race started with a nice temperature but sketchy footing. I was going even slower than usual on the downhills. With about 5m to go it started to downpour. The trails turned to rivers. After the last big climb I was just ahead of two guys. I fell at the beginning of the decent and lost one spot, lost another spot due to my slow decending speed. I could see them just ahead on the fire road to the finish but there was nothing left in my legs. I finished 10th place, but I am beat."

Also big congrats to Dave Molk who cracked the top 20 in his first attempt at Soapstone. (After his strong effort at 7 Sisters, clearly Molkie is checking off all the "classics" on the New England Trail racing circuit). Here's Dave's report:

"It was a wet race, although we started off dry (at least, not raining). I took two diggers but didn't have any shoes sucked off by the mud, which I was pretty worried about. Fun course, thank god we didn't have to go back down that big hill, although there was a long descent near the end that was also really slippery. As seems to be the trend at the moment, I had a better second half. Fun race. Chris looked good, but I couldn't actually see him, as he was out of sight in front of me the whole time."

And one of NETT's trail running veterans Dave Mingori was just minute behind Molkie in 2:05. Surf through the Soapstone results and you'll see Dave's name in a lot of results, always pretty high up--the guy's just a trail running stalwart and put in another great effort.

Great work guys! Putting the "T" back in NETT!

NETT Dynasties Do Battle at the Duel in the Pool

2011-05-09T21:23:00.007-04:00

The stakes were high and the terms were set. Two all-star NETT triathlon relay teams went head to head at the Sudbury Sprint Triathlon, pushing each other to phenomenal results.

Team 1, aka the Wang Dynasty, of Nicholas (swim), Frank (bike) and Tina (run) was unbeatable head-to-head. So in a show of true sportsmanship, they agreed to provide a 10-minute cushion (thanks in part to the Montreal Canadiens' Lars Eller) to NETT team two, aka the Chow Dynasty, which consisted of Dave's niece Julie (swim), Crazy Dave (bike) and Doris (run).

The Wang Dynasty was first up, with Nicholas swimming his 400m pool leg like a marlin covered in butter. Fast and smooth despite having spent 6 hours doing hard labor the day before. Frank headed out on the bike and put down the Danish hammer, and laying down the second-fastest bike split in the relay. With that Tina took off looking like she'd never even heard of the Boston Marathon, throwing down a sub-16 minute run for a total relay time of 40:27.

If the Chow Dynasty was going to win the bet and a free breakfast at Helen's Restaurant in Concord, it would need to put in a 50:27, no small task for two first-time triathletes and a "cyclist" who looks more the part than acts it. After a long warmup, Julie took off on her first-ever triathlon swim leg like a pro. She beat her seed time by 30 seconds and ran like a started deer out to the transition area to send Dave off on the bike leg. Dave, extremely concerned he would be the weak leg on his team, gave it everything he had, but still gave up more than two minutes to Frank. The race was in Doris' hands, er, feet.

Doris sped off on the run leg, knowing she'd have to work hard to keep her team in contention. With the bet on the line, Doris knew it was close and kicked it in the last 300 meters like there was a shoe sale on the other side of the finish line.

When the dust settled, it was close, but the Chow Dynasty kept it to an 8:41 gap with a 49:08, thereby winning the bet!! Breakfast at Helen's to the victors!! (Special thanks to the Chow Dynasty team mascot, M, and of course Emma for her undivided attention as a spectator).

Also putting in great performances at Sudbury were Big Al Prescott and his wife Judy. Al, who even took a spill on the bike ("It's boring if there's no blood!") put down a 49-minute effort while Judy put in a 1:02 solo effort. Great job by both.

All in all it was a fun event--the pool swim makes it a great first-time event, and the weather cooperated nicely.

Liz's Take on Boston

2011-05-06T07:43:00.001-04:00

Well, as most of you know our latest NETT casualty, Liz Haacke, has returned to her native Northlands. But before she left, she threw down a great Boston Marathon. Here’s her take on her first Boston.

My thoughts on the marathon:
This is a little later than I had hoped to write it, but moving kind of came at me fast and took over my life a bit. So here is what my impressions are from what I remember.

First up, the bus ride out. I was so happy to be going on the bus with Karyn and Peter, it gave me people to talk to and calm me down. And Karyn mentioned that the bus ride is one of the worst parts of the race, and I agree. You are driving and driving and driving thinking the whole time that you need to run the whole way back, you really get a sense of how far you have to run. Also, I was surprised to be surrounded by fellow Canadians on the bus, so we had a pleasant chat about Canada and also the marathon until the man sitting next to me told me Winnipeg is a horrible place, well seeing as that is where I now reside, our conversation was over after that.

Once I got off the bus I found a line for a port-o-potty. Walked around a little then I was time for my wave. Deciding what to keep on, what to put in my bag and what to toss along the way was a challenge as it was a cold wind that morning. One the way to the start I made one last pit stop and then had about 3 minutes to make it to my coral.

Then we were off, and it was a smooth start, one of the fastest starts of all the races I have done, and I kept telling myself to take it slow, that if I thought I was going slow enough I probably still wasn’t and to run my own race. The first half felt great, I had what I thought was a great pace, I saw my friends that had volunteered and had been put at the elite water stop at the 5k mark, so seeing them gave me a boost. Going through Wellesley was fine. Then a few miles after the half my quads started to hurt and my pace started to slow again.

When I knew the Newton hills were coming I welcomed them in a way, I had trained on hills quite a bit, and it gave my quads a break. So I took heart break in stride, it was challenging yes, but so much better than going downhill at that point. The last few miles were decently painful, but I kept going and I saw my friends again in the last half a mile so that gave me a boost.

Crossing the finish line was a great feeling and way more emotional than I thought it would be. Moving through everything in the finisher’s chute was slow and didn’t help with cramping, but it was well organized.

Overall I am glad I did it, and it was a great way to say goodbye to Boston.

Thanks Liz. We miss you already! Best of luck from NETT!!!

Molkie Tackles the 7 Bitches the Hard Way

2011-05-04T22:17:00.002-04:00

Congrats to Dave Molk, who not only survived his first run at the 7 Sisters Trail Race, but finished in 2:33, 41st place, in one of the toughest races in New England. Here's his report:

"The first half was somewhat miserable despite my starting conservatively, with a few wrong turns, higher temps/sun exposure, and my not being in the race, mentally.

I regrouped at the turn-around, ate a cookie, and started to pull things together. I wish I carried more water, as I kept running out between stations, but passed a lot of people on the way back. I actually avoided getting passed myself on the last 6. Felt really solid on the downhills (except one or two that had me praying to avoid a broken ankle) but the uphills reminded me just how out of shape I am from where I'd like to be.

I'll be trying to get my act together for some races later in the season.
Bottom line: Despite still walking down stairs like Frankenstein (running hard downhills without training them beforehand = demolished quads), I'm planning on coming back next year to run it again and knock some solid time off."

Congrats Dave!

NETT goes 2 for 2 at opening Hale Trail Race

2011-05-02T21:06:00.003-04:00

The nice folks at Hale Reservation in Westwood kicked off their 5K trail race series this weekend, and NETT members took the men's and women's division wins. Mary Smith made it look easy, cruising to sixth place overall and the women's win in 25:05, while Crazy Dave took the men's race.

Here's Mary's report:

"After spending 6 nights in Seattle, I couldn't think of a better way to start my weekend than a 5K trail race. I knew I would be tired & still on West Coast time - but as Dustin always says "You can run a 5K in your sleep." So I made the long 4 mile drive over to Hale Reservation. It was a small, low key 5K (close to 75 people)...on nice single track trails. Nothing was too technical or too hilly and the course was well marked. Doing all those runs in Hale definitely gave me a "home advantage" - for the most part I knew what was coming next.

My least favorite part of the race came with about 100 feet to go - some man trying to "Coach" me...saying the finish was right around the corner and telling me to "Empty It Out". I could see the finish line, I know how to run a race, I was in the lead, and there was NO one nearby....I didn't enjoy his "Coaching". However it did provide for some entertainment during Sunday's long run.

So now to the BEST parts of the day. The men's & women's races were swept by NETT!! Crazy Dave crossed the line 1st for the men and I finished 1st for the Women, in about 25 min (notice - I did not mention Crazy's time). The day was filled with nice trails, beautiful weather, "Winner Loving" flies, and quite a few laughs!!

Next 5K at Hale is June 25th at 9 am. They were planning to design a course up Powisset Peak. I definitely recommend them to anyone interested.

Tina's Take on Boston

2011-04-27T07:54:00.004-04:00

As many of you know, Tina Wang basically defied the laws of nature and came back from having a baby to run Boston in a few short months. Here's her take on how the race played out:

"I know that I wasn't as disciplined as Karyn on the training so I knew that I would definitely bonk during the second half of the marathon. So the strategy was to run as fast as I could during the first half. Yup, weird strategy and opposite to what everybody else recommends. The first half I felt good. But the second half, oh, boy, was a torture. Frank and Nicholas were waiting for me at mile 23. Which was great, but meant I couldn't even drop out before then. If I made it to mile 23, I guess I'd better finish it. Then during the final 2K, I thought, hey if I can finish with 3:40, I might have a little chance to register for Boston next year (I will be "allowed" to registered on the third day, I believe). Therefore, I picked up my pace a bit and finished in 3:38. I was so sore the next couple days....... I have never been this sore after a marathon before. This is what happens when you don't train enough, I guess.

I am so glad that Karyn, Liz, Deb, and Peter all did so well. I am so proud of everybody!

Eminem's Boston Race Report

2011-04-18T21:52:00.002-04:00

Karyn M-M defied the laws of medicine by not only meeting her post-surgery goal of completeing Boston, but re-qualifying for next year. Here's Karyn's report:

Done!

What a day -- the weather was perfect. A light breeze, constant sunshine and temps between 48 and 60.

Peter and I kept a steady pace until about mile 16 when he was felled with a calf cramp -- he'd been having calf problems for the last week.

I ended up running ahead and stayed pretty much on pace to achieve my goal of under-four-hours (okay...I cut it a little close at 3:59:03...but I wasn't the least bit disappointed. I was ecstatic). Five months after knee surgery and I re-qualified...if by the skin of my teeth : ) Also fabulous was that Daniel jumped in just before mile 23 and encouraged, cheered and paced me to the end -- making sure that I crossed under hours. He was awesome. (A cheer from Little Skittles at mile 23 -- where he was sitting in his throne with his track buddies was pretty nice too).

The only foolish thing I did was not dealing with a pebble that landed in my shoe at mile 7. By the half I knew I had a decent cut or blister and by the finish line I was a bit worried about taking my shoe off and looking. I spent about 15 minutes in the med tent while they cleaned and bandaged it. Turned out to be a lovely cut-and-blister combo package. I won't be wearing shoes for a few days : )

Best news is that Peter picked himself up and finished despite his calf. He crossed the finish line in 4:13! I had been worrying for 10 miles that he wouldn't make it. I shouldn't have!

That's our news. Off to an icebath with the hockey game in the background.

Mini Ponies Gallop Through Historic Boston Marathon

2011-04-18T21:35:00.004-04:00

It was a historic day at the Boston Marathon with world-record times and the NETT Mini Ponies were right there in the thick of it all.

Liz Haacke said a fond farewell to the Hub by pounding out a 3:41 in only her second attempt at the distance. Here's hoping Liz enjoyed it so much she'll be back again next year to run! (We'll hear more from Liz tomorrow on her run)

Deb Robertson somehow managed to sneak in some great training while putting wedding plans together at the same time. In what will (I assume) be her last marathon as a single lady, Deb knocked out a 4:05.

New mommy Tina Wang somehow managed to balance a newborn baby, driving lessons for Nicholas and marathon training to run 3:38. Poor woman is so sleep-deprived, she was making coffee stops on the course! I don't know how she did it. (And if you're thinking this photo of Tina gulping starbucks looks familair, it's a repeat of her pose from two years ago here Same outfit, same pose, pretty funny!

And Karyn Miller Medzon, only a few months after knee surgery, held steady and strong to requalify with a 3:59 (Karyn's report will be posted separately, shortly).

On the men's side, Frank White's weekly training efforts on Heartbreak Hill clearly paid off as he skated to a 2:50 effort.

Congrats to all!!

Multi-sport Season Kicks off at Wrentham Duathlon

2011-04-17T19:46:00.003-04:00

How often can you say you outdueled a political juggernaut -- and you're not even a politician? NETT's Martin and Frank KJ did just that at the Wrentham Duathlon today.

"We both had the pleasure of kicking Senator Scott Brown's ass, but enough about him," said Frank. "We were lucky with the weather as the sun broke through the clouds as we toed the start line."

Frank reports that Martin was a bit off pace on the run but improved his bike leg from last year by more than a minute! "If he had worn a more aero outfit instead of a loose-fitted jersey he likely would shaved another 30 seconds off."

Frank had another "just missed the hour mark" race at Wrentham with the same old run and bike splits but good enough for 5th place overall. All in all a promising start to the multisport season. Results at http://www.firm-racing.com/

In other racing news, Toledo Joe Hardin outran a juggernaut of his own at the BAA 5K, just outkicking the great Uta Pipig in 19:32. Nice work Joe!

NETT Men Head for the Hills to Kick Off the Trail Racing Season

2011-04-10T20:14:00.004-04:00

NETT runners has a variety of trail races to choose from this weekend to kick off the season in style, with Merrimack Rivah, Northern Nipmuck and Blue Hills all taking place on the same Saturday. And our boys chose to head for the hills!

Dave Molk made his triumphant return to trail racing after an extended absence, cranking out a 1:19 at the Blue Hill Fox Trot 10 Miler. That effort got Molkie fifth in his age group and 11th overall on a very hilly course. "This was my first race since Stone Cat 09 and it's great to be back at it. Looking forward to digging in this season," he said.

Can't wait to see more great results from this guy before he heads south at the end of the summer to go become a musical doctor.

Also on Saturday a few NETT folks and friends hit the Northern Nipmuck 16 Mile Trail Race (or should I say it hit US!). Kidding aside, NETT went 2-3-6 in the men's masters race with Youngstah, Crazy Dave and Dave Mingori tackling the extremely rugged course. Old pals Keith Schmitt and John Kinnee deserve acknowledgement as well for running top-notch times on their first times on this course.

Nice work all and looking forward to more trail racing success out there.

Battle Road Runs are Back!

2011-03-31T21:23:00.004-04:00

Even though it's snowing as I write this, Spring is officially here and we're starting up one of NETT's longest traditions, our Monday night runs on the Battle Road Trail.

We meet every Monday night in the parking lot of the Element Hotel in Lexington, Mass. and run 10 miles (five out and back). At the end of the run, our sponsor, the Element Hotel, provides beverages and snacks for us in a private room (no joke--they really do!).

If you don't feel up to a full 10-miler, you're welcome to start out with us and turn back at any point and meet up with us back at the hotel later.

Details are posted in the Meetup group every week, so please RSVP if you plan to attend.

SPECIAL TREAT:
To get you all in the right frame of mind, I wanted to point you to a song called "Battle Road" written by one of my favorite singer-songwriters Kevin Connolly, who lives in the area and walks his dog out on the Battle Road Trail regularly.

If you go to his web site here, you can play his song on the bottom of the site (hit the arrows to the left if you want to get to Battle Road).

"Do what you gotta do, down the Battle Road."

Liz tackles Stu's, Dave makes masters' debut

2011-03-14T16:14:00.005-04:00

It's been a bit quiet on the racing front, but here's a couple NETT results from the past couple weeks.

Liz Haacke's dedicated Boston training showed through in her performance at Stu's 30K on March 6. Liz churned out a 2:36 in her first run on the hilly 30K course.

"I felt good the whole race," Liz said. "I didn't go out too fast which was good. I ran pretty hard, but I think I could have run harder. I definitely think my hill workouts have been helping, the hills were challenging, but I never came to something and thought I couldn't handle it. I was by myself for a good few miles, and during those miles I think I slowed down, but then someone picked me up a mile or so past the half way point and we talked the rest of the race, which helped keep my pace up a bit. And, in really good news, I was not too sore after the race, so no injuries or too much of a beating on my legs."

Congrats Liz!

And in other racing news, Crazy Dave made his master's debut, but not in a running race. He finished in the top half (just barely!) of the Bretton Woods Nordic 20K race this past weekend, finishing 50th place in 1:43 in his first "official" classic nordic ski race.

NETT comes out of hibernation at Hyannis

2011-02-27T21:11:00.002-05:00

Despite the very tough winter, it's clear the members of NETT have remained steadfastly focused on their training this year, as evidenced by the performances thrown down at the Hyannis races this weekend. Heck, just getting to the race was a challenge, as the New England winter threw us another curveball on Sunday, dropping several inches of snow in the morning.

In the 10K, Frank KJ blistered out a near-PR 36:18, finishing third overall. The ages of the first place and second place finsher combined are still less than Frank's age! Great work Frank. (It's a good day for the Danish, as I type this, a Danish film, In a Better World, just won the Oscar for the best foreign film).

In the half-marathon, Martin Bures led the charge, knocking out a 1:22 in despite less-than-ideal conditions. On the ladies' side, Karyn Miller-Medzon cranked a speedy 1:48, clearly having a strong winter of training. Deb Robertson was just a bit back in 1:49, according to the netttime.

Congrats to all! Great work out there.

Burke Wins Eastern New England Trail Race Series!

2011-01-04T20:07:00.004-05:00

Huge -- I mean HUGE -- congrats to Jack Burke for winning the overall crown in the Eastern New England Trail Race Series!
Jack scored 871 points over 12 races throughout the year. That is a lot miles both running and in the car! He travelled as far as Maine and Northern New Hampshire. This marks the second year in a row an NETT member has won the series. Marshall Randolph was first last year, with Jack.

NETT also shows up strong in the age group results, with Eri Verter taking second in the 20-29 age group, Dave Hannon taking 3rd in the 30-39 age group, Paul Young and Chris Smith scoring in the top 20 in the 40-49 group. Jim De Zutter and

On the women's side Adrienne Cyrulik was second in her age group with 260 points while Katherine De Zutter, Karyn MM, Kristin Hall and Mary Smith all scored points.

The organizers of the ENETRS are looking for help. Rob MacDonald crunched the results again this year, but Renee the organizer says, "If there is anyone who enjoys playing with numbers and would like to take over the keeping of results or if they would like to be part of a team who shares the duties please contact me at rainman52@verizon.net."

NETT's Resolution for 2011: Recruit some younger talent

2010-12-26T17:36:00.002-05:00

Is this too young?

NETT comes out in force at Walter's Run

2010-12-14T21:58:00.007-05:00

Nothing gets the Mini Ponies out like a free brunch!

There were plenty of NETT folks out at the Walter's Run in West Roxbury on Sunday, taking a number of age-group awards.

In the women's race, Mary Smith took first in the 20-29 category (6th overall) Adrienne Cyrulik just a place behind took second in the 30-39 category, while friends of the club Wendy Akeson took 3rd in the 40-49. Also in the women's race, Karyn Eminem took her first strides post-surgery to support the race, Chrissy "Buros" made us all feel wimpy by running pregnant, with Doris working as pacer for both.

In the men's race, NETT went 7-8-9 with Crazy Dave, Chris Smith and Frank KJ all scoring in their age groups.

Along with all those folks, it was great to see some friends of NETT were out in force including Alissa Nelson, Victoria Groves, Tom Donohoe, and Harry Benzan.
(Apologies to anyone I missed!)

After the race it was back to Dave and Doris' for brunch by a cozy fire.

HUGE congrats to race director Keith Shields and all of the volunteers from the Parkway Running Club. The course was filled with volunteers and the pre- and post-race organization was perfect. There is a lot of effort put into this race and it showed on race day. Nice job PRCers!

The race is named in memory of Walter Burgess, a PRC member who passed away. The race raised more than $7,000, which will be split evenly between the Walter Burgess Scholarship Fund, the Boston Globe's Globe Santa charity program, and the YMCA's Reach Out Campaign. (Photo courtesy of West Roxbury Patch)

The Early Days of NETT (part II)

2010-11-30T21:52:00.002-05:00

We'll continue our reflective period here with some thoughts from another one of NETT's founders, Paul Miller, about the early days of NETT. (To see part I go here)
"So in my memory, it was Dave and Bruce (not sure which one first) that got fed up of our previous club and decided to leave it. You said you had mulled over for some time the idea of starting your own club. With you and Bruce deciding to leave, I decided I'd rather join whatever you were up to as training with friends was more important. (We got some early flack from former coach about forming "a social club" rather than "racing team".)

In terms of the early name, I know there were suggestions of calling it "Banana" among some of early members and Bruce and I were against that as making the team name an "inside joke" would not be ideal for encouraging outsiders to join, and certainly not for encouraging any serious runners. Various names, including things like "MetroWest" were flung around but NETT became agreed upon. Whether there should be three "T"s or not (the third one being "Tri") was also a matter of debate.

The first track workouts I remember were at the Watertown track, before they shifted to Bentley due to too many "walkers" on the town track. The Weston High School grass intervals were a regular summer + early fall favorite workout as well. I remember my Dad coming to one of those the year Alex was born: 2003 (yikes -- seems like yesterday). He commented on what a nice bunch you were, after we had a meal post-workout. As an aside, seemed like you'd already been dating Doris for a while then ;-)

I'm pretty sure that Jerry was one of the early members as well as Paul Young, Ben Winter and Anthony Chamberas. I think Joe Hardin joined NETT pretty early too -- I think he joined NETT in the first year. Dave Shackelford came to workouts pretty early on too.

The early races I remember were the Mayor's Cup, New England XC Champs, Andover XC and the BU mini-meets in those first years I think. I think my first official non-tri race with NETT was the Marathon Sports 5-miler in Wellesley, a few weeks pre-Ironman when I PR-ed. Later that summer Dave and I both did the Pisgah 50K while I think Anthony and Dave Bartel did the shorter race.

I also did my only ever snowshoe race with Dave the first winter on the team. I would never have even worn snowshoes or done a 50K trail race without the influence of NETT.

The early social events I recall inclued the annual party with "awards" at your apartment on in Newton and "Table football" competitions were a big hit.

For me a great memory was seeing Dave after we all clubbed together to get him a decent bike when he was injured. He was quite overcome and surprised as I recall. (Editor's note: I'm STILL overcome when I think about it and tell people where I got such a kickass bike! I still don't feel like I belong on that thing, but love it nonetheless).

All in all, I think the way the team works is great -- without a strict set of rules or anything, essentially anyone who is willing to put in the effort gets to make something happen. If they are thoughtful of others then what happens will be popular and keep going. So, as it should be, those who put the most in are the ones who get to decide the direction of the club.

For me the ideal club is one within which you can find a training partner/company in any of your regular workouts (hence variety of members is good) and go to races knowing you'll have a team member there to look out for. Pretty much as it is -- no obligations, but the more you put in the more you get out.

If I had any recommendations to new members it would be to take what opportunity you get to try something new (snowshoe/orienteering/trail racing/triathlon?) and don't be shy of suggesting your own "meetups" and races to do."

Thanks for the memories Paul! Great stuff.

Thanksgiving Race Roundup

2010-11-26T09:56:00.002-05:00

There were a few NETTers out on the roads this Thanksgiving.

Frank KJ headed out to the Stow race. Here's his report:

Returning for the 3rd time to Stow Gobbler 5K I had expected to toe the lines with Jerry but he was MIA for the day. Instead there were a bunch of high school kids including Katherine DZ; Daddy-o Jim was there as well. The high school kids took off like rockets and I was in 15th place. Some of them were good and stayed ahead, some of them faded quickly so around mile 10 I was in 11th place. A guy around my age came alongside at mile 1 and we pushed each other until mile 2 where he decided to make a move and got a gap of about 10 feet. Meanwhile we had passed a couple of guy and I was now running in 9th place. I thought I would not be able to close the gap again but at around 2.5M he started to fade on the slight uphill up to the parking lot while I was able to keep my pace. We ran together for .25M and then at the 3M sign I put whatever I had left into a "sprint" and crossed the line in 17:55; good for eight 8th place and third master. Katherine was sub-24 on a cruise and Daddy-O Jim DZ was just under 28. The course is actually 5.1K (3.16M) so based on that I am very happy the performance. Next up is Walter's Run."

Crazy Dave and DOris headed to the Donohue's 5K Turkey Trot in Watertown for a great pre-Turkey Day run. Well organized, and the best part was the post-race food! Eggs, bacon, sausage and home fries for all runners! Doris ran great at 29:21 on a very long 5K course while Dave was 18:20.

If you have other results to add, send them along to Crazy Dave.

Nice work Frank!

The Early Days of NETT (part I)

2010-11-21T20:25:00.004-05:00

This time of year, I always get a little nostalgic because NETT really took shape during the fall of 2002 (the Andover XC Race was our first official NETT race).

A lot of runners have come and gone in the past eight years, but a few folks have asked recently about the history of NETT. So I decided to check in with my co-founders Paul Miller, Dave Bartel and Bruce Goode about those early days and see if they remember things the way I do (none of us are getting any younger).

In this, the first installment, we'll have a Q&A with Dave Bartel about the early days. I've known Dave since the 7th grade and while he's not all that active in NETT these days, he was an important player in those early days and continues to do a VERY good job of reminding us all not to take ourselves too seriously.

In your memory, how was NETT formed? Who played what role?

The idea of forming a running club was first brought up by Dave Hannon. He had run with other running clubs in the past and wanted to branch out on with his own club with the idea to create a more laid back, let's have fun and win some races idea. This idea of a running club was one of the many topics we would discuss while running. It should be noted that Dave and I originally met while growing up and running at Chelmsford High. Having more like minded people to run and ultimately train with was very refreshing for me. It almost made the running aspect take a back seat to the comraderie of everyone and we ran with.

Was there any mission statement or overarching plan or goals to it all or was it more of a less structured thing?

In the beginning it was less structured, getting together for runs and going from there. It worked out for me and Dave that we both lived and worked in the Waltham/Newton area. This afforded us the opportunity to meet up for runs more often than not. Dave introduced me to the Lincoln Woods and was one of my favorite places to run. (The other being the Carlisle State Forest.) As I (we) started meeting up with more people, Bruce, Paul Miller, random one off's, Ben, Anthony, Dave Shackelford, workouts and races became more structured (planned) with time.

What were the early runs and workouts like? Where did we meet?

The early runs were divided between Lincoln Woods and runs from Brandeis into the Weston area. I recall participating in a majority of the causal runs and especially the Sunday monring long run at Lincoln Woods. Eventually I began participating in the specific workouts, tempo runs, hill workouts and track workouts. The fondest memories that stuck with me are the long runs in Lincoln and the Prospect Hill hill workouts (that mother effer is appox .9 miles gate to top!!)

Beyond the four founders, who do you recall as being the earliest members of NETT?

Anthony Chamberas. Anthony was like the fifth Beatle. He had the right mindset, participated in runs when his time allowed and could be considered and original 'silent' founder. And Ben Winther. Why? Exactly. Paul Young was also involved in those days.

How about races? Do you remember doing any races in the early days of NETT?

In the early days I really enjoyed the training more than the races. On training runs we all ran as fast as the the slowest person there. No one was there to 'win' the training run. Well, maybe Big Ben sometimes, but that's why we love him! When Dave did coax me into a race it was a Thanksgiving day race or the Yankee Homecoming. On a personal note, the Falmouth Road Race was one that I looked forward to each and every year.

Do you remember any early social events? Where were they what were they?

I do not recall many social events. Rumor has it I was at one particular event from what I was told. Apparently I horrified a friend's girlfriend (now wife) when I relieved myself on the sidewalk outside their apartment. Dave and Doris drove me home. The next day I saw Anthony and his girlfriend (now wife) when I went back the next morning to pick up my car. Pictures of this event never surfaced so it may not have ever happened!!

Overall what is your favorite memory/memories with NETT?

Favorite memories are of the Lincoln Woods training runs. One in particular was with Dave, Ben and Cindy. After crossing the MBTA train bridge re-entering the woods into the rocky, curvy downhill Dave stumbled and fell banging his knee on a rock. We were unaware that something like this would cause him to pass out, or as I like to call it, taking a "dirt nap." As we suddenly stopped and stood over Dave lying on the ground barely breathing, Ben's first response was, "Should we poke him with a stick?"

The other memory was always having a steady, reliable running partner in Crazy Dave.

Any words of advice for new members? What you, as a founder, would like to see happen with it all?

Know about and understand the banana. If that makes sense to you, you certainly belong with NETT!!

Thanks Dave! Stay tuned for interviews with our other co-founders.

UPDATED: Mini Ponies run Wild in the streets of Manchester

2010-11-10T18:09:00.012-05:00

Yes, the herd of Mini Ponies took to the roads this weekend at the Manchester City Marathon with some great results. But why not let some of the herd tell the story themselves.

First off, Eri "Muscles" Verter's report:

"This was my first official half marathon. My goal was to break my Derry performance which was 7:16 m/h avg. I don't know if it was waking up to an adrenaline rush from Dave's phone call of "Are you almost here Eri?" or was my hard training with you guys, but I shattered it with a 7:02 pace (according to official results and 6:59 according to my watch). I was a bit faster on the second half which tells me that I was efficient in my energy conservation. It was a lot of fun to do it with so many people that I knew. Doris's signs and shouts of "Go Eri" and Ben's "Go Muscles" shouts definitely helped me a lot mentally while I was running. Thanks to some competitive people at the end I finished my last mile with 6:22 m/h and kept my impassibility since mile1-2. The next challenge will be this year's Derry 16 miler at the end of Jan."

Oh yeah. We got tickets to the GUN SHOW. Muscles finished 44th overall in 1:32 for the mathematically challenged.

Next up, let's get Chris Smith's take on the day:

"My day started off with a little adrenaline rush. I rolled over in bed looked
at the clock to see how much more time I had to sleep and to my surprise the
alarm should have gone off twenty minutes prior. I jumped up but figured I still had plenty of time to get to Manchester by 8:00 to meet Ben with my number. Had breakfast and was on the road by 6:40. I had already made up ten minutes. Got to Manchester, no trouble finding parking, to the hotel, find Dave, Doris and Mary. Eri… woke up more than twenty minutes late. Ben and Cindy show up then Eri(followed by the NH state police). Dave, Cindy, Mary, Eri and I head to the start as Ben and Doris tactically plan out their viewing/support route.

Being a smallish race I am able to line up near the front Dave a couple rows back. I don’t know where everyone else ended up. The first mile was mostly downhill but a little bit of a head wind to contend with, I still think it was a little short though, I had a ~5:40 split. I settled into my pace. The course was littered with these annoying hills, up and down. Some of the down hills where so steep they were tougher than going up. Overall I felt good throughout the race. My time does not reflect it though but it was one of the more difficult half’s I have run.

After it was quickly back to the car for some warm clothes then some hot soup and hot chocolate and hot chocolate and. … ok maybe I had more than my share but did I mention it was cold. I then find Cindy and Eri and we then spot the familiar pink hat of Mary. She looks like she has not even gone for an easy jog. I’m starting to suspect that she may have just gone back to the car and taken a nap. Now we wait for Dave. The only one crazy enough to do the full marathon. The clock ticks 2:54 and here he comes with a smooth stride but looking a little rough around the edges. Dave was bloody with a dazed look on his face as he finished. Crazy may have beat the hills of Manchester but they didn’t go down with out a fight."

Thanks Chris. For the record, Chris was 11th overall in the half in 1:24 (sixth master--stacked field eh?)

Now let's get Big Ben's unique take on the day.

Some folks know that I scratched from the Marathon, after pulling a calf muscle during a track workout on the Tuesday before the race. I’m a moron. I know most of the team was all worked up about oversleeping and whatnot, but I woke up on time. I ate a leisurely English breakfast of blood sausage and grilled tomato, dry white toast, and tea. I quit coffee the previous Friday.I might start up again, I’m not sure.

At 7:15am my beautiful wife Cindy told me to get in the car, and we flew down to meet the team for our 8am rendezvous. I wasn’t worried about anything until 7:45 when I looked at my phone, which was set to silent, and noticed that I’d missed a call from Crazy. I was immediately worried something was wrong, so I handed the phone to Cindy. Cin’ called Crazy, he was in our designated meeting spot, we caught up with the group about 5 minutes later. No big problems.

After we handed out the number bags it became apparent I hadn’t made sure there were pins for the numbers. My bad. It was stressful time for me. Chris had a whole bunch of pins. I felt a lot better.

We took some photos. We all checked out Mary’s new ring. It’s pretty impressive. I have a picture. The gun went off and Doris and I drove out to the 7 mile mark. It was really cool. Everyone looked awesome. I almost missed Cindy running by because I went to take a wiz. Doris had me driving her car through Manchester, because I knew the area. She’s a great new car. It’s a stick shift. I learned how to drive on a stick shift…in 1985. It still works.

We drove around some more, saw those guys at the half finish, then drove back out to get some Powerbars to Crazy. We saw him at 23 and 24, then back at the finish.
We had a great conversation with the volunteer at mile 23. He was stationed right next to a fresh dead squirrel, I covered it with leaves so Doris wouldn’t have to look at it. A group of spectators showed up a little later and stepped in it. I apologized, but I thought it was really funny.

Doris got really mad at me because I farted while we were outside waiting for Dave at mile 24, and the wind blew it at her. I felt bad, but I thought that was really funny too. Then we saw everyone back at finish. Doris probably won’t hang out with me any time soon, but I think she still likes me.

I’m really impressed with everyone’s performance. The half marathoners all exceeded THEIR own expectations and they all looked fantastic coming through. Crazy Dave ran a ballsy race, it’s a hard course, it was cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey, and he ran all by himself for the last half."

Thanks Benny. In terms of numbers, the orignal ponyette Cindy Winther busted out a 1:49, obviously unflusterd by the fact that her husband sat the race out with a genital injury.

As brother Chris alluded to, Sister Mary Smith sailed through a 1:42, unphased by the extra piece of equipment she carried on race day (I'll let her tell you that one!). Congrats to her!

HUUUGGE thanks to Big Ben and Little Doris for their support on the course. Afterwards it was time for Mexican food and the biggest glass of beer you ever saw a bloodied marathoner drink!

And in the full marathon, Crazy Dave made his less-than-triumphant return to the road marathon after a LLLOOONGGG layoff to post a 2:54, clearly paying the price for adopting the "Ricky Bobby" race strategy. If you ain't FIRST YOU'RE LAST!

Getting Down with a Crowd at Busa Bushwhack

2010-11-06T20:21:00.004-04:00

"There's a lot leaves and acorns out on the course, so remember, there's only one winner, so the rest of you can be careful."

The words of our esteemed host Rich Busa was more than just Richie being his jovial self, it was a fair warning. There was more blood at this race than most but the great vibes are always unbeatable at this race.

First off, big thanks to the Greater Framingham folks for hosting and putting on such a great race. They brought a ton of folks out to the Chamberas race this year and we did our best to return the favor and bring a lot of NETT folks to this race as well, in both the 10 miler and the 5 miler.

Okay, onto the results. In the 10 miler Chris Smith continued to show his fitness with a 1:08 to walk away with the master's title. And then back in the 1:16 to 1:18 range, there were a few members of the NETT family. Not-yet dad Frank KJ got in his last race before the big day and cranked out a 1:16 (It was great to see our old pal Andy Illidge one spot behind Frank looking fit and half his age!) Marshall Randolph was 1:17 [insert generic comment of disbelief about a guy his age, etc.], and the Turkish Twist Eri Verter was just a few ticks behind in 1:18. Mr. Consistency Jack Burke ran 1:24.

Mary Smith celebrated her "NETT anniversary race" by hula hooping her way to a 1:28. Katherine De Zutter took the long way home to finish in 1:45 while dad Jim finished the 10 miler in 2:01.

In the short race, Crazy Dave and Doris ran 1:04 and were greeted by our host, Richie, who gave every finisher their own dog tags. I really like the fact that Rich greets everyone at the finish personally. Always a class guy.

Post-race fare provided a special surprise: Pancakes! In all the years I've been doing races, never had pancakes. That was great. And there were donuts, pastries, and all kinds of other great stuff. DEFINITELY, a good feast at this race.

All in all, it's a great race and a favorite for the NETT gang--definitely the biggest group we've had at any race this year, with a LOT of NETT shirts out there too, which is great to see.

Pics posted here.

Trusty Stable of Mini Ponies head out to Groton Trail Races

2010-10-29T19:40:00.003-04:00

A few of the trusty Mini Ponies ran the Groton Town Forest Trail race last weekend, with strong results.

On the ladies side, Adrienne Cyrulik finished in 1:19 and Beth Murphy took a break from studying for the nursing boards to crank out a 1:26, just one place behind of NETT-North member Jennifer Shultis.

On the men's side Marhsall Randolph continued to defy father time in 1:11 (good for 17th overall) while Eri Verter continued to impress by cracking the top 20 in 1:12. Jack Burke was Mr. Consistency again in 1:17. And Crazy Dave ran 1:03, good for 6th overall.

As he has for more than 15 years, Paul Funch put on a great race. Well marked course, helpful volunteers and some nice prizes. Keep it up Paul!

Looking forward to the Busa Bushwhack this weekend.

Frank scores BIG with Louisa May Alcott

2010-10-24T21:47:00.003-04:00

Frank KJ decided to sneak in one more race before his life turns upside down and had great results! Here's his report:

Tina and I drove to Concord where I ran the Louisa May Alcott 10K race and Tina walked 2 miles. And funny enough I ended up winning the race running behind the lead police car the whole way. So what if there were only a few people in the race – a win is a win.

The race organizers do a good job of keeping it fun and low-key while still getting all the essential race tasks executed smoothly. I ended up with a finish time of 37:54 but a couple of the miles were long. In fact, when I measured the course using MapMyRun it came out to be 10.2Km (6.35 miles) making my pace pretty close to 6:00. I am definitely very pleased with that.

Results at http://www.coolrunning.com/results/10/ma/Oct24_Louisa_set1.shtml

Boston Marathon closes out in eight hours. A tribute to its greatness or a total scam?

2010-10-22T12:07:00.003-04:00

Note: The following post is the opinion of the author and not the opinion of New England Track & Trail as a group.

Eight hours. That's all it took for the Boston Marathon entries to fill up this year. It's been shorter and shorter the past few years and for some reason, the BAA chose to delay the entry date this year, perhaps in an attempt to achieve what it has--a ton of publicity and an even more "elite" feel to the race.

The event brings to mind a few questions, the most prominent being what are the BAA's priorities in selecting entries, was this year's process fair, and if not, is there a better process?

I did a bit of poking around this week to get some background before developing my opinion. One area I've just never been able to decide where I fall on is the massive number of charities being given bib numbers to the marathon every year. Obviously, on the one hand, this is a great thing and raises tons of money for very worth causes, but that comes at the expense of many runners' goals and dreams. It begs the question: is this a race or a fundraiser. I think this year shows it can no longer continue as "both." According to the BAA site, there are currently 23 charities receiving numbers. SEE THE LIST HERE.

People who know me know I'm a big supporter of charities. I co-direct a race with 100% of entry fees go to charity. And I've worked at BAA charity events for years. But does giving race numbers to these charities really help them raise money or does it just make the BAA look charitable while clogging up the entry process? The Museum of Science CEO made $400K in 2008. How many runners does it take to cover that? Every time I'm there it's packed. I'm just saying....

The Boston Debate League is given numbers. Its mission "is to extend the social and academic benefits of debate to as many Boston Public Schools students as possible." The Boston Arts Academy is a public school that gets numbers.

I'm not saying these aren't worthy charities. But the race seems to only focus on the front end and back end of the race field and has forgotten us in the middle. Take a look at John Hancock's Boston Marathon web page here. It emphasizes the elite runners, the number of charity runners and the amount of money it spends--on elite runnners. There's not a word about the "rest of us".

So that's the answer? As I see it, there's a couple approaches: One, have a second marathon, perhaps the same day as the Jimmy Fund Walk, for charity runners. The problem here? Shutting down the roads for this event. And it likely robs them of the "glory" they get running down Boylston St on race day, which is really what motivates many of these runners (and almost anyone running Boston).

Another option: Eliminate the charity bib programs and have the BAA donate a percentage of each entry to the charities. They get the money, we get to run. (Heck, John Hancock spends $1M on prize money alone).

Got a thought? Post a comment here. If you're an NETT member, you can respond to our poll on the Meetup page.

Strong results from Wayland, Hudson Mohawk

2010-10-17T22:33:00.002-04:00

Just a quick update on some recent results in NETT-land.

Paul Haus ran a kick-ass race at the Hudson Mohawk Marathon last weekend, running 3:11, with almost perfect splits (1:35, 1:36). "I felt really good that day, and was actually surprised that I was able to pace myself so well since the battery on my watch ran out on mile 9. Anyways, I'm really psyched that I officially qualified for the Boston Marathon, which was my primary goal. I'm also very proud of my sister who ran her first marathon in 3 hours 51 minutes!"

Also, there were a few Mini Ponies out at the Wayland XC Festival. Eri Verter showed up only moments before the start and used that adrenaline to uncork a 19:28 while Jim DeZutter charged to a 26:10. On the women's side Karyn Miller-Medzon finished 13th overall in 22:56. And Little Skittles Noah M-M finished 20th in the male 11-14 3K in 11:53.

Congrats to all!!!

Things I Didn't Know I Loved

2010-10-16T12:06:00.004-04:00

Yes, we are a literate bunch of Mini Ponies. Many of you participated in our Poetry Festival last February.

Well, I came across a poem this week that I thought many of you may like to read. It was written by a 14-year old girl who was battling Leukemia and unfortunately lost her battle a few years later. So yes, it's a tear-jerker, but worth a read.
Things I Didn’t Know I Loved
by Jamie Connors

Fourteen years old, I’m sitting in a wheelchair
Being pushed by a nurse down a stark white corridor, She stops to get my chart

I close my eyes, I’m running, Muscles flexing, adrenaline pumping
Sweat trickling down my forehead as the sun beats down on my back
Laughter
Screaming
No one can catch up
Speedy Gonzalez
Pure ecstasy
The best high in the world…
I open my eyes to the cold, harshly-lit hallway before me
My blanket slips
I adjust myself,
It’s extremely difficult
I’m practically out of breath
All seventy five pounds of me ache
Only skin and bones
I knew I loved running
I never knew I loved muscle,
Never knew I loved fat

To read the rest of the poem to to ParkwayBoston for the full version.

MiniPonies rack up awards at Houghton's Pond Trail Race

2010-10-06T21:28:00.002-04:00

How often can a running club say it brought six members to a race and all six go home with an award? The NETT MiniPonies galloped away with a host of age-group awards at the Houghton's Pond Trail Race Sunday in Milton.

On the women's side, Adrienne Cyrulik and Wendy Johnecheck went 2-3 in the 30-39 age group. And Kristin Hall walked away with the 40-49 award, finishing 4th woman overall.

On the men's side, Crazy Dave took 3rd in the 30-39 age group, while Jerry De Zutter made a surprise showing to grab third in the 40-49 age group and of course, our pal Marshall Randolph walked away with the 60-69 prize, by close to seven minutes.

All and all, it was a great race, well-marked, good volunteers and a challenging, but runnable course. Special thanks to Mary Smith for coming out to cheer us on.

Brunch Run!

2010-10-03T13:02:00.004-04:00

NETT had a great day on Saturday at Frank and Tina's Brunch Run. Thanks so much to them for hosting. We got some new faces, some of the old guard and some faces we haven't seen in a LONG time and were very glad to see again. We had a folks out there running, pushing baby joggers, biking with the kids, walking, playing soccer and more. And then of course it was time to eat! A really fun day.

Scientific proof that short runners age slower than average people!!!

2010-09-26T17:33:00.003-04:00

There is rejoicing amongst the Lollipop Guild!

Some recent research proves what we all already knew--short runners age slower than the rest of the world! According to some recent research nicely covered here in Wired, time moves slower the closer you are to the earth and also the more you move.

According to Wired, "Time dilation arises in two situations. In one case, time appears to move slower the closer you are to a massive object, such as the Earth. So a person hovering in a hot-air balloon, for example, actually ages faster than someone standing below."

So by that theory, yes, the shorter you are, the slower you age, right? RIGHT?

Secondly, "Time also ticks by faster for someone at rest relative to someone moving. Einstein dramatized this second strangeness with the twin paradox — one 25-year-old twin traveling in a rocket ship near the speed of light for what he perceives as a few months will return to Earth to find the other has reached middle age."

So, someone that moves a LOT--like a daily runner--ages slower.

So, short runners rejoice! We do, in fact, age slower than others. And I, for one, plan to make the most of those extra few seconds we Munchkins get by doing more of this kind of stuff.

Breaking News! TDD = Total Defiant Domination for NETT going 1-2-6

2010-09-18T19:35:00.007-04:00

Some VERY exciting results from the TDD Triathlon today. Here's Jerry's report?

NETT had several of us in today's TDD triathlon in/around Douglas State Forest in Douglas MA. Weather was a welcome wee bit warmer than what had been forecasted, still a bit chilly for standing around, great for racing. Joe, Frank and I lined up for the men's 40+ wave, Jim raced in the 5th (?) and final wave with the clydies. Tina, Jimmy III and Raj. were there for moral support and to tell us all how great we looked. We were all in/out of the waters of Wallum Lake between 5 and 6 minutes with Joe posting the fastest swim split by a few seconds. During this swim portion a common theme for all was major swimmer congestion leading to full contact swimming.

After getting wet we dashed to our bikes with Joe making a quick transition and Jerry passing Frank in tranisition, who was looking down at his wetsuit, stuck on his lower legs and crying in an eerily similar-to-Nancy Kerrigan voice "....Why meeeee....". Nevertheless Frank left T1 just behind Jerry and they were off in pursuit of Joe. Somewhere behind (since he started in a wave 6min behind us) Jim made his transition to the bike. Fairly uneventful on the bike, I slowly pulled away from Frank and slowly reeled in Joe to post the fastest bike split of the day. All pretty cut and dried.

Joe and I got off the bikes together with Joe out of T2 first. Somewhere on the first dirt road section of the run I was able to catch up to and pass Joe, both of us cognizant of Frank lurking behind. As I ran steadily, making a good effort but not putting myself too far into the red zone, I noticed, as we ran on the out and back section or the road that no one was coming back towards me. This was odd since the young guns (all men under 39) had started 6min in front of our wave. I started thinking about it, trying to figure things out, taking note of when, finally the first guy passed me going the opposite direction, well within 6min. Couldn't crunch the numbers so just forgot about it and picked up the pace a little, now slightly aware that I could be racing for a win or at least a high placing. Anyways, picked up some ground on a couple guys, passed one but another guy clearly pulled away from me. Finished strong and had barely turned around when Joe pulled into the finish after an obviously strong run. Then Frank turned up soon enough. Jim pulled in after making a good effort on the tough short run course (longer than the advertised 5K).

When the results were posted, I was surprised to find that I had notched the win. Joe made an impressive effort to finish a close second (1st AG) and Frank finishing 6th (4th AG), all of us under an hour, with Jim finishing as 4th clydie.

Our whole crew went over to a local diner for the post-race feed and race de-brief. Was an excellent way to spend the morning. Thanks everyone.

The multiple talents of NETT

2010-09-13T22:11:00.003-04:00

Sure, we're a running club. Sure we do triathlons, snowshoe races, bike rides, orienteering, etc. But there's at least one of us who has a real hidden talent. Until now! Take a look:

Congrats to Frank on Firm Man #10~

2010-09-13T22:05:00.005-04:00

Frank raced his 10th FIRM Man this weekend waking up at about 3:45, driving all the way to RI and back by himself! Here's his report.

Today I raced Firmman half-ironman for the 10th time and it was one of the toughest ones. It was cold and cloudy in the morning so there was no spectacular sunrise over Narragansett Bay this year. And it was quite windy. For the swim leg the windy was favorable as it was coming out of the East/Northeast pushing me the one mile down along the beach so fast that I ended with a sub 26 minute swim for 1.2M. Although mostly favorable the water was actually so choppy that it was rare that I caught a glimpse of the buoys. The cold temperatures and wind made the bike leg challenging. With the tail wind on the out section I rode 25-26 mph easily at times but meanwhile my feet and hands got numb. The last 19 miles back to Narragansett were almost entirely straight into the wind. That combined with the fact that my longest ride in the last 5 weks was 30 miles meant I had to dig really deep. I was really close to running out of gas around 48 miles but having done the race 10 times helped me through. Continuing along the theme of being unprepared my longest run in weeks have been 8 miles so I had to rely on muscle memory to carry me through 13.1 miles. The first 4 miles went okay, the next 6 were slower but acceptable. At mile 11, however, my tank was next to empty and I had to walk a bit at a water station to get some water and get myself composed for the last 1-2 miles. But I finished and I am quite happy with my time of 4:43:30 considering my low training volume and the conditions. Results have not been posted yet but I think I placed around 20-25th overall and 5-6th in my age group.

NETT Smiths take 2nd, 6th spots at Walpole 10K

2010-09-07T21:32:00.003-04:00

The NETT Smiths duo (Chris and Mary) ran the Walpole 10K on Labor Day with great results. For Chris, it's his hometown race and for Mary it's her next-to-my new hometown race. Here's Mary's report:

After a long trail run Sunday, I figured why not jump into the Walpole 10K race - since Walpole & Norwood are practically neighbors. In a field of about 95 women, I ending up finishing 2nd with a time of 45:53. Finishing 2nd & not knowing my 10K PR, I have to assume I had a pretty good race. My strategy was to take it easy the 1st few miles (since the muscles felt a little tired after Sunday's run) and re-evaluate after the 1st few miles. I found myself in 2nd place at the 2 mile mark & just never looked back. It was a nice race (flat / rolling hills) with a ton of Walpole participants and plenty of spectators out on the course.

I wasn't the only NETT "Smith" out on the course - Chris ran his hometown race in just under 37 minutes (36:59). His parents even came out to watch and support the race. Chris placed 1st in his age group and was 6th overall. Also, he was a lucky winner of their "random raffle" - winning a 6 pack of Sam Adams Oktoberfest! All in all - Great Labor Day Race!

Runaway Bride

2010-08-31T22:26:00.005-04:00

We started the marriage off right with a jaunt up Mount Mansfield. Looks like Doris has been doing some secret training while Dave's spent a little too much time in the bowling alley instead of the track.

Frank and Martin go crazy at Cranberry

2010-08-30T21:41:00.004-04:00

The NETT multisporters were again kicking booty out at the races this weekend. Here's Martin's report:

This past weekend Frank and I did the Cranberry olympic-distance triathlon in Lakeville, MA. The day was perfect - the water was just cool enough to be wetsuit legal and the sun provided a bright, warm day. This race was pretty large with pro/elites and many collegiate teams including Army and BU. The swim was ~0.8 miles, the bike was 25 miles and the run was 10K.

My goal was to get out with any front swimmers in my wave and then calm down and settle into the swim. The gun went off and I put a few strong strokes in and then looked to my left and right to see where the field was. I found myself in the lead and settled into a controlled pace. Because I went off in wave 6, I started making contact with earlier waves but they were thinned-out enough to be able to get through them without too much trouble. I got out of the water first in my wave and ran to the transition to the bike. The bike went really well - the course had some tight twists and turns in the first several miles which slowed things down a bit but I concentrated on picking people off. I managed to work through the bike leg without getting passed by anyone behind me and had a quick transition into the run. The run went really well but I was pretty tight from the bike effort. The course was largely shaded but there were a few exposed spots - by now the sun was up and hot. I again just concentrated on trying to pick off as many people in front of me as I could. I crossed the finish line in 2:11:12. That was good enough for 1st in my age group and 8th over all and was extremely happy with the race.

Frank had a great race as well. He went off in the wave after me and posted a time of 2:19:03 for 3rd in his age group and 32 over all.

Thomas Chamberas XC Race A Big Success on All Levels

2010-08-29T20:59:00.008-04:00

Well it was another impressive showing at the 8th Annual Thomas Chamberas XC Race this year, with 150 runners coming out to run a great, challenging XC race and help raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

The weather was nearly perfect--bright sun and warm temperatures after a cool morning. We were treated to a very special pre-race ceremony, courtesy of XC superfan Michael Mahon. Mike talked a bit about Cystic Fibrosis and encouraged everyone to donate to the cause. He also gave a moving tribute to local running legend Larry Olsen, who passed away this year. He belted out the national anthem like only he can (see the video here) and lastly, he unveiled the jersey of his favorite team--the Montreal Alouettes (this guy's got two passions--cross country and Canadian football).

New dad Ryan Carrara became a three-time winner of the race, trouncing the course in 18:07. Amelia Lanberg won the women's race in 20:54. The Greater Boston Track Club won both the men's and women's team titles. The Greater Framingham Running Club had an absolute ton of people out for the race as well so BIG thanks to them for their support, as well as the Greater Lowell Road Runners who brought some of their youth runners decked out in funky tie-dyes. And the Naval Academy Prep School that brought men and women's teams again this year. Also thanks to the Eastern New England Trail Race Series for including our race again this year--loyalty is what helps small races like ours keep on every year.

Other race notes:
-We had four men over the age of 70 finish the race that deserve special mention: Jonathan McKenzie, John Parker, Edward Ginsberg and John Shane.
-We probably broke the "furthest traveled" this year with a couple from Lebanon in the race.
-We had two pregnant volunteerts (that we know of!)
-Thanks to some generous donations and a successful raffle we likely raised more money for the CF Foundation this year than ever before.

As always, our army of volunteers were just perfect. Thanks to all of you who helped volunteer (you know who you are and how much we appreciate it). It really is one of the things that makes this race work. Special thanks to Joe Hardin, Paul Young and Ben and Cindy Winther for their LOOOONG support on the volunteer side. They have been there every year, going back to our days when we first put this race in Rhode Island as a XC relay.

Special thanks to our sponsors:
aLoft Hotel in Lexington, Mass.
Asics
La Sportiva
Vibram
Nathan
Darn Tough Socks
Road ID
City Sports
Marathon Sports
The Run Smart Project
Apofacy Solutions
Ryan Miller, yoga instructor
And any others we've missed.

And thanks to all the runners and other supporters. Got feedback, good or bad, email me at Ttroll71@aol.com with comments.

(Photos courtesy of Frank Georges, JimRhoades.com)

Porneşte departe Bogie. Run far.

2010-08-07T08:35:00.003-04:00

As most of you know by now, NETT said goodbye to our friend Bogie this week, who's heading out Colorado to live the trail runner's dream and train in the BIG mountains out West. While we'll always consider him an NETT member, given that he'll be a significantly less active member going forward, I thought it might be a good time to share a few memories about Bogie's time with NETT. (If you have memories you'd like to add, feel free to post in the comments or email me directly and I'll post here).

We first met Bogie through Jennifer Shultis a few years back. As Jennifer tells it, she just bumped into him while running through the mountains of New Hampshire one day and started chatting and running with him. After coming out for a run with us in Concord, we didn't see much from him until maybe a year later and he became a regular on the Monday Battle Road runs and some of the long runs on weekends.

And his running improved dramatically in the time we knew him. In his early Battle Road runs, I remember he'd really just run on his own or struggle to keep pace with the group. But for the past year or two, he's been right there stride for stride with main group.

Perhaps Bogie's biggest contribution to NETT came on the administrative side, however. As most of you know, he introduced us to the Meetup at a time when we (okay I) was struggling to find a way to manage the posting of our runs and workouts, etc. I think since moving to Meetup, we've had more consistent attendance and brought in a bunch of new members and we've got Bogie to thank for that.

But Bogie's trail running activity in New England extended far far beyond NETT. In his relatively short time as a trail runner and short time in New England, he managed to direct three different trail/ultra races in the area (Wapack end to end and two Fells races) and ran nearly every trail race he could find. (Some of us might say he runs TOO MANY races, but I digress). I've been running trail races in New England for, well, a long time, and Bogie has gotten to know dozens more people in roughly one quarter of the time.

Okay, this is beginning ot read too much like an obituary. The guy's just moved to Colorado, not the great trail race in the sky! So I guess I'll wrap it up. We'll miss you Bogie, and best of luck wherever you wind up!

NETT comes up BIG at Greenfield, Lowell triathlons

2010-08-01T19:23:00.008-04:00

After laying low for a few weeks, the Mini Ponies were out in force this weekend, producing some stellar results at two triathlons. First off, here's Frank KJ's report from the Greenfield Tri.

"After a bit of a dry period here's something good to report on the triathlon front. After taking July off to heal from his crash down the Kanc, Martin was back in action at Greenfield triathlon. And he put on quite a show, taking the lead on the swim, biking strong and the finishing off with his usual fast run to take 1st overall more than 4 minutes ahead of 2nd place finisher. Afterwards Martin was interviewed by the local press [perhaps we need a name that caption contest here. I will go first: My coach had me do these excruciating painful hill repeats two weeks ago so the hairpin turns on the hill today actually felt like piece of cake]. Another phenomenal performance by Martin."

Martin said, "It was a perfect day to race. The temperature was cool up to the run when the sun finally got bright. This race was a great fit leading up to Cranberry with a bike and a run leg that were a bit longer than what I will face there. The water for the swim was nice and cool. The race started and I pulled out in front. The way that the swim course was laid-out, I had an opportunity to see where the pack was behind me three times. I grew the lead each time I saw the pack. I had a relatively quick transition with no issues and was off on the bike. Two riders came blowing by me during the first lap which got me a little concerned. There were 4 laps for the course of a little over 7 miles and I feel that I improved on each. One other rider came by me during the bike leg, which happened at the end of lap 2 - it turned out that the first two were doing the race as a relay and the 3rd was the only individual who came by me.

I had a quick bike-to-run transition but had a bit of a snafu leaving the transition - the exit forked left for the sprint run and right for the international. I went left and got confused for a second. I corrected, back-tracked and was out on the run course - this probably cost me 20 seconds. At this point, I thought that there were 3 people to chase down and I was a little worried about catching the first two. It took me a little over 2 miles to make contact with the last guy who passed me on the bike. By mile 3.5, I had passed him. It was around here that a race official told me that I was in the lead. There was a very challenging hill at mile 4 but after I got through it, I felt good and pushed on to the finish trying to put as much distance between myself and the guy that I had just passed. As an interesting footnote, this was my first ever win for triathlon."

Frank decided to the do sprint distance this year and that turned out to be a good decision. "I ended up taking 3rd overall and fastest Master with good solid splits all around - in fact I had the fastest run split off the day and the blisters to proof it. Greenfield triathlon might be a small race but the venue and relaxed atmosphere makes it a real treat and worth the drive. Thanks to Chrissy for coming out to support and take pictures."

But that's not all! Meanwhile, up in Lowell, three Mini Ponies were stomping around at the Lowell Triathlon with some very strong results. Here's Karyn MM's report:

"We had a areat day in Lowell today! Eri, who chose to participate fully clothed, finished his first Olympic distance triathlon and looked very strong at the finish (we don't have any of the results yet, so we have no idea whether we scored NETT points).

I was doing a relay with Mary. My swim was fine, about the same as last year's I think (maybe a few seconds faster) but somehow (???) I managed to take about 10 minutes off my bike ride (43 last year, and according to my watch, a little over 33 this year, with another minute or so to walk to the transition area). Mary of course flew through the running leg, despite the fact that her timing chip was engraving her initials deep in her achilles."Congrats to all! That's the way to represent NETT out there in the field.

NETT take the beach at Cohasset

2010-06-30T08:22:00.004-04:00

A few Mini Ponies were down at the Cohasset tri recently. Martin Bures has been really ripping it up this year. Here's his report:

So Jim and Katherine and I did Cohasset this past weekend. It is an Age Group Nationals Qualifier Race and it was filled up. There were 804 competitors. It was a perfect day - sunny, the ocean was glass and it was not windy. The water was cold so a full wetsuit was in order.

I lined up for my wave and waited for the gun to go off. There was some jostling at the start but I sprinted for the open, dove into the water and took a few strong strokes to put me in the lead. I kept the lead through the swim and ran up the beach to the first transition.

I was a little winded from the swim and had a slow swim-to-bike transition but was still in good shape. Only a few people passed me during the bike leg which went surprisingly well despite a few shifting problems due to some cable stretch. We had driven the course the previous day and it didn't seem too bad but we missed a hilly
section which was an unwelcome surprise. All-in-all, the bike went well and I have definitely improved this season thanks to Frank.

T2 was a bit faster and I was out for the run. It felt sluggish at first and there were a few challenging hills but I was able to take back a few places that I lost during the bike. I was empty at the end but it was a great effort. I finished 2nd in my age group, 22/804 for 1:00:25 with some strong competition."

Nice work Martin!

Despite the top-notch competition at this race, Katherine still managed to win her age group by less than a minute in a gutsy performance.

Jim De Zutter put in a super strong swim as well and finished in 1:14. He credits his strong race to his unusual habit of inspecting every grain of sand on the beach prior to the swim.

The Inside Scoop on Sisters Smith Success

2010-06-22T20:30:00.006-04:00

Sisters Mary and Clare Smith did so well at their first 50K recently, the NETT news team decided to pick their brains on it. (Note the picture here includes their "adopted" sister Janelle Smith.) Here's what we found out from Mary:

• The Mantra for the day was "Stay upright & keep moving forward", which we both followed.
• We enjoyed our day on the trail, stopping at 2 lookouts to look down the valley & take in the scenery.
• The aid station volunteers were extremely friendly & helpful. The watermelon was our best friend!!
• Mile 1-20 were tough, lots of steep climbs (both up & down).
• Miles 21 - 25 Both Smith Sister were plagued with nauseau (thankfully one of us lost the feeling at mile 25)
• Miles 26 - 30 one of us learned that nothing calms nauseau (not water, not gatorade, not ginger candy, not gum, not walking, not running, not nothing.....)
• Mile 30 - We FINALLY found the cure!! One Smith lost their cookies - "I mean Gatorade" all over the trail!! Afterwards - she felt GREAT & wished the "incident" had occured 10 miles ago.
• Miles 30 - 31.2 The Smith Sister rolled toward the finish (finishing together as the 2nd & 3rd Women).
• No major injuries to report (just some heat rash & expected dehydration).We're also pretty sure having a rock-solid sibling to run with is a BIG advantage in a long race like that. Congrats again!

MiniPonies out in force at Webster Lake Triathlon

2010-06-21T10:48:00.007-04:00

NETT was well represented both in quantiy and quality at the Webster Tri this weekend, with three relay teams and an open competitor taking the race by storm.

In the relays, the big showdown between Dream Team II (Nicholas, Doctor Ron and Little Skittles) and Frank, Adrienee and Crazy Dave was uniquely handicapped at the last minute. Little Skittles had to pull out with an injury, so Tina subbed in. Crazy Dave did his own version of handicapping the race by showing up to the starting line...out of sorts as many of you can attest to.

But at the end of the day, it was a win-win-win for NETT. Frank and Nicholas were both phenomenal in the water (I'm not sure who made it to the beach first, but when you factored in the run across the parking lot to T1 it was basically a dead heat). Dream Team II was slowed slightly when an overzealous race official decided to lecture Dr. Ron on the finer points of triathlon and being such a big proponent of education, Dr. Ron listened and took notes before heading out on the bike.

But that wasn't the rookie mistake that cost him. It was his decision to pass, and taunt, Adrienne early in the bike leg. That woke the beast and AC just stomped the pedals and shot off like a rocket before coming into the closely scrutinized transition area yet again (I'm pretty sure the race officials at Webster were trained by the KGB because they were watching everyone's moves). All kidding aside, Ron's performance on the bike in his FIRST EVER race of any kind was huge. According to one report, he was about one minute off Adrienne's time, which is phenomenal. This guy's going to be a secret weapon in some relays coming up!

Meanwhile, at T2, still in a haze of sorts, it took Crazy Dave three attempts to properly attach the chip to his leg while a race official literally stood over him and watched. With Frank and AC having done the heavy lifting, there was only one relay team to run down which they did easily to capture the relay team title.

Dream Team II, however, produced the most impressive run leg of the day on its way to fourth overall and with Tina and "company" churning out something like a 22-minute run leg (results are a bit messed up). Now while we want to give her praise for this performance, we DO NOT want to encourage such behavior in the future. A 30 or 40 minute stroll would have sufficed there speedypants Wang, so next time we WILL pull you off the course for non-compliance to the very strict rules in the NETT Future Stars development program. (We've already contracted some of those ex-KGB guys that FIRM has!)

Not to be outdone, the third NETT relay team of Eminem, Eminem and Daniel produced some pretty staggering results of its own. For example, what would you give to shave, say, three minutes off your swim time and a couple more off your bike in a year? Well that's pretty much what Karyn did yesterday before Daniel uncorked the third-fastest run leg in the relay competition. Consider they had two people and Dream Team II had four on their (I'll let you do the math!) I'd say they can all be proud.

Despite the whirl of chaos and paparrazi surrounding the relay competition, our sole individual competitor, Eri, was his usual calm and collected self on his way to a 6th place finish in his age group. While we all know he's a very strong swimmer, I'd point out that comparatively his run split was ranked higher than his swim in this race...good sign for this guy's development.

And perhaps the most fun part of this father's day event, is the family affair that is has become for NETT. Last year it was a swarm of De Zutters out there. This year the families were also very well represented in many ways. Great great to see and, I think, a great illustration of what NETT is all about.

Having a Great time at the Lincoln Steeplechase

2010-06-15T08:57:00.006-04:00

Several NETT members made good impressions at the Great Lincoln Steeplechase on Sunday and it wasn't all in the results.

Crazy Dave ran the race for the fourth (?) time in 13 years, finishing second in 41:17. Chris Smith took it out hard and held on for fourth overall and top masters' honors. Marshall Randolph won the 60+ age group in 49:17 and Wendy Johnecheck was sixth woman overall thanks to some pacing help from the Youngstah.

But it was Frank KJ, who showed up mainly to take these great pics, that deserves the biggest kudos. While hanging out waiting for us all to finish, Frank was asked if he could help call out numbers at the finish and, true to form, he took to the job with gusto. SO much so, the race organizers gave him a special word of thanks at the awards ceremony
Just the kind of folks we are...

Sisters Smith finish second in their first 50K

2010-06-14T09:32:00.004-04:00

Teamwork! That's what helped Mary Smith and sister Clare not only survive, but thrive in their first 50K at the Laurel Highlands this weekend down in Pennsylvania.

It was hot and humid on race day--not the optimial conditions to run any race, never mind your first 50K. For those of you thinking Pennsylvania is flat, think again! According to the race web site, the point-to-point course begins at elev. 1200 ft. and ends at elev. 2760 ft. The 50K race saw only 83% of starters actually finish the race this year. Oowwwwccch.

But as we've come to expect Mary and Clare handled what came their way in stride. They ran together to manage the challenges and finished together in 7:14 as the second and third women in the race. That gives you an indication--7 hours for the second place woman to run a 50K course is clearly a brutal race.

Big congrats to Mary and Clare. Great work out there!

NETT relay teams to duke it out at Webster Lake Triathlon

2010-06-13T18:58:00.003-04:00

Let the smack talk and the side-bets begin!

NETT has two very strong relay teams set to go at the upcoming Webster Lake Triathlon and we're taking bets on who's going to win (you can post your vote on the poll on the NETT meetup page).

The first NETT trio has Frank doing the swim, a day post-half-iron, Adrienne on the bike and Crazy Dave handling run duties. At full strength, this is a very solid relay squad for the Mini Ponies.

But as strong as that first team is, if they want the crown, they're going to have to wrestle it from the Dream Team II, which has Nicholas "the fish" in the water (I swear this kid has gills!), Dr. Ron hammering the bike leg and the always speedy Little Skittles on the run (You really don't want to have to kick the last 200 against this kid!).

A third Dark Horse team has Eminem, still recovering from injury, doing double-duty in the swim and bike, and Daniel throwing down the run. With all her cross-training lately, Eminem could make it close enough to give Big Dan a chance to open up those monstrous ground-eating strides and make a run at it.

There is already some controversy surrounding the race, as the NETT News Room, which is fully impartial in such matters, has obtained this photo clearly showing two of the three teams plotting some kind of underhanded doings. Frank's team is clearly a trio of marked men..uh..athletes.

No matter who wins, with those teams it's sure to mean a good day for NETT all around. But just for fun, log into the NETT MEETUP GROUP and post your vote today!

Mary tunes up at her own hometown 5K

2010-06-07T09:21:00.002-04:00

With a big race coming up this weekend, Mary Smith decided to tune up by running a 5K in her newly adopted hometown of Norwood. Here's her report:

"I did a little seret racing this weekend! I couldn't resist, it was a 5K in Norwood (less than 1 mile from my house). I felt like a little bit of a Crazy Runner as I ran to the start of the race, ran the race, & ran home.

The St. Catherine of Sierra School 5K was a pretty flat 5K & probably would've been fast except it was so humid & sticky at race time. Plus it was to benefit the St Catherine School, so there were tons of little kids crowing the front of the starting line (but no one there would discourage any of the youngsters from getting into running....so we all patiently took a back seat to the kids).

It was just around some of the streets in Norwood. About 2 miles into the race I contemplated if I'd rather be running a 5K fast or a marathon!?!? I ran a 20:20 (no chip timing....it was quite low key), but I ended up being the 3rd women overall & 1st in my age group - I could see the 2nd women ahead of me the entire race....but just couldn't catch her. The best part was there was a cash prize ($100 for 1st, $50 for 2nd, & $25 for 3rd), which was nice because it paid for my registration fee.

It might not have been the smartest thing to do a week before a 50K, but it was a 5K in my newly established "hometown" so I couldn't resist...

Unfortunately no major politicians at the Norwood race (no governor or mayor).

NETT celebrates in style at Corrib 5K

2010-06-06T20:50:00.017-04:00

There's nothing better than a surprise, is there? Weather holding out when it was supposed to be a washout. A friend offering to run with you just to keep you company. Shaking the Governor's hand on the street. Those were just some of the pleasant surprises for the extended NETT family on Sunday at the Corrib 5K race and post-race cookout.

The race itself saw some very gutsy performances by NETT runners. Chris Smith was his ever-consistent self, churning out a 17:42 on the hilly course, good for 15th overall and 8th master--yeah, it was a pretty stiff field, especially in the 40-plus group. Crazy Dave benefitted from the stacked master's field by finishing 3rd in his age group in 17:15.

The gutsiest performance of the day came from Little Skittles, however. As you can see he was all business on the course, kicking like an absolute demon to finish in 21:24. And just for good measure, the kid jets off to a soccer game after the race while the rest of us had a nap.

"Geez, where ARE those slow old people? I've been done for like 20 minutes!"

On the woment's side, Deb Robertson tested out her racing speed and produced a 23:16 for her efforts. Look for big things later this year from Deb, as she's on a new program with a very elite new coach guiding her training.

Doris had a surprise racing partner when Tina showed up and generously offered to run the race with her. Misery loves company, as we at NETT love to say.

After the race it was back to Dave and Doris' for a cookout with some special guests. A couple members of the extended NETT "family" even got to shake hands with Gov. Deval Patrick, who was attending a party in the neighborhood.

"M...A....R...yes, that's good."

Adrienne even treated folks to a demonstration of her "index finger hypnosis technique." "Now Chris, I want you to touch your chin with your index finger...."

Doris and Dave still have plenty of leftover food, so feel free to stop by any night this week for a hot dog!

NETT takes two podium spots at Black Bear duathlon

2010-05-24T11:18:00.004-04:00

Some great multisport results from up North this weekend. Here's Frank's report:

Martin took 1st place in the Black Bear short-course duathlon and Frank repeated his 2nd place finish from last year in the long course. And NETT friend and fellow Minuteman swimmer Keri Boyle won the women’s long course. And thanks to Chrissy for coming along to cheer.

This year the short-course and long-course were on the same day. The short-course started at 8am and Martin took the lead right from the start – so much that he actually overshot a turn and had to backtrack. Martin had great bike leg and held the lead into T2 and he could then pretty much cruise the last 5K to victory. To be things in perspective he matched the time of Patrick Dwyer from last year and Pat is a very good duathlete by my standards. Congratulations to Martin and I am sure he will be at the top of the podium many more times.

I had to work hard for my second place this year as I had another guy chase me the entire last 7.5K. In fact so hard that I ended up with the fastest run split for the 2nd run leg. My first run was a repeat of last year and put me in 3rd place going into the bike leg. On the final uphill section of the bike leg l I passed the guy and second and was able to put some time between him and me. But another guy had also passed him and he closed in on me a little more than I liked forcing me to run beyond my comfort zone on the second run. Buy hey “pain is temporary, pride is forever”.

Unlike last year, we had beautiful weather this year and I have the sun burn and red neck to prove it.

Black Bear duathlon is a great race but unless more people show up it likely won’t stick around. Hopefully more NETT’ers will be able to put this race into their calendar next year. Even if it means I will drop from 2nd place to my place in the pecking order."

DimaD becomes DimaDad!

2010-05-18T13:45:00.005-04:00

Great news from across the pond. Our pal Dmitry Drozdov and wife Venus had a son! Yes, Dima's fast genes and Venus' good looks were passed on to Baby Drozdov (name is still being decided).

"We’re really happy with this occasion," Dmitry said. "Look, he has long legs and big feet. He’s 6.9 lbs and 54 cm long. He’s gonna be a runner or a mountain biker for sure. We’re ecstatic to have this baby."

Big Congrats to them from all of us back here in the Boston area, still waiting for their return to the states. "Hey when can we head out for a run dad?"

A day of surprises for NETT at Soapstone Mountain Trail Race

2010-05-18T07:38:00.009-04:00

It was a day of surprises at the Soapstone Mountain Trail Race this weekend for NETTers. Mostly pleasant surprises, but at least one mini pony got an unwanted surprise, to say the least.

Soapstone is a fan favorite among the trail running faithful in New England. You don't stick around for 26 years without doing something right. In fact, it looked like this year might have seen a record number of entries. Getting better with age.

But without a doubt, the MOST pleasant suprirse of the day came from BIG LEO FAHEY! It was a surprise when Leo said he was going to run this race. He's never done a trail race this long and has been in semi-seclusion for much of the past year, so his fitness level was a real unknown. But Leo's a guy full of surprises and quieted the skeptics when he came galloping up the grassy hill to the finish on Sunday, completing probably one of the toughest races of his career. Big Congrats Leo. Despite his raving about the veggie burgers after the race, Leo treated himself and Shereen to dinner at the Capital Grille later that night. He certainly earned it! BIG CONGRATS to BIG LEO. This might top his performance at the Skyline Trail race a couple years back....the legend grows.

Unfortunately for Chris Smith, it was a less-than-pleasant surprise when, well into the race, he came into the second aid station for the second time! It seems he and a couple other runners went off-course and, after wandering for a bit, found their way back onto the course, but at a much EARLIER portion, so they had to re-run a pretty lengthy section. Testament to Chris' toughness, when they did get to aid station two, the second time, the other two guys with Chris chose to drop out and hitch a ride back to the finish. Chris, however, sucked it up and continued running and was one of the last runners into the finish.

As he trotted toward the finish line, more than three and a half hours after he started, Crazy Dave asked him..."Are you okay? What happened?" To which Chris replied, "I got a little bit lost" making that "little bit" sign with his fingers. Gotta love this guy's attitude. No tantrums. No blame game. Take it as life brings it and keep on running.

It was a small but very pleasant surprise when Doris said she was interested in running the Soapstone Sampler, a 6K handicap race they hold in conjunction with the 24K race. And it was a surprise to Doris when she found out that she had to run a massive sand hill as part of the Sampler. But, no surprise, she tackled it without much effort and was all smiles by the end of the race (in fact she was in such good shape, she was mugging for the cameras here).

It was also a pleasant surprise to have Mary Smith come along to Soapstone as well. She's a kickass trail runner and this is a kickass trail race, so it was a perfect match. And no big shocker that Mary handled Soapstone's steep climbs, rocky descents and long stretches of streambed running perfectly in stride, finishing as the 7th woman overall in 2:27. While there's just a hint of strain on her face at the finish, clearly we still haven't found anything that will break Mary. Heck, she barely even got her new shoes muddy!

Crazy Dave had a less-than-surprising race, finishing 6th overall in 1:49, the exact same finish he had last time he ran this race in 2006. And he ran much of the race with trail running cronie Keith Schmitt, two veterans of the trail running circuit putting in another race. "It's just like the days of old," Keith yelled over his shoulder as he pulled away in the last mile. Yup, just like the days of old, Dave thought to himself.

It was also no surprise that the Shenipsit Strider crew put on a great event with tons--I mean tons--of volunteers involved. After years of successfully guiding this race through some choppy waters, trail legend Jerry Stage missed his first Soapstone this year, but it's in the capable hands of Deb Livingston full-time now, so Jerry can rest easy with that knowledge. Thanks for the years of service, Jerry and keep up the good work Deb.

To see more photos go here.

FULL RESULTS OF THE 24K posted here.

Photos courtesy O'Shannon/McGillicuddy Productions.

NETT Male Dominance at Sudbury Sprint Triathlon

2010-05-09T20:14:00.004-04:00

The NETT male relay team of Nicholas, Dave and Frank battled the horrendous winds Sunday morning at the Sudbury Sprint Triathlon and took home relay gold in convincing style. With an overall time of 36:46 the team was light years ahead of all other teams. Here's Frank's report:

Since it was a pool swim, Nicholas luckily did not have to deal with the wind; if this had been an ocean swim the waves would have been 6-9ft! Nicholas continues to make big improvements in the water and chopped 15 seconds off from last year’s time in the 400m. His time of 5:17 was roughly the 25th best time out of almost 500 participants!

After a quick and cold transition (Nicholas had to run out of the pool into about 40 degree temps), I set out on the bike course. The bike course is fairly sheltered so the wind was not as big a factor as feared. But just 0.5 mile into the bike course, an elderly driver got nervous about the all the cyclists on the road and decided to stay behind a slow cyclists resulting in me being boxed in for 300 yards. Just bad luck and probably a loss of 15 seconds. In the end I ended up being a bit slower than last year.

Crazy was ready in T2 to unleash a massive attack on anyone still ahead of us on the course. He blasted through the 2.18 mile course in about 12 minutes – likely the fastest the run split of the day. We started as number 39 but thanks to Dave’s high cadence he crossed the line as the 10th person. Nice work.

Also racing were Big Al and his wife Judy. Despite being haunted by back pain recently, Big Al cranked out a great race and finished fifth in his category, 31st overall. Attaboy! Judy was immensely patient waiting for her start time in the pool and finished 12th in her category!

Finally special thanks to Tina for spending her mother's day morning cheering us on, giving Dave a guided tour of the run course, making sure we were all where we needed to be and taking pictures.

Results at www.firm-racing.com

NETT chips in at A Cure is Coming

2010-05-04T14:46:00.005-04:00

Race Director Jerry De Zutter put on another successful event on Saturday at the A Cure is Coming 5K with the help of a long list of Mini Ponies.

The race and walk are fundraisers for the ALS Therapy Development Institute and together raised $40,000.

Among the NETT volunteers out on the course included Youngstah, Sister Mary, Crazy Dave, Doris, Frank, Tina and Nicholas, Paul Miller, Toledo Joe, Rod and I'm sure a few others I can't remember. ANd there were plenty of NETTers racing as well: Chris Smith (3rd), Marshall Randolph (9th), Adrienne Cyrulik (2nd female!), Katherine De Zutter (3rd female), Jim Dezutter and a host of new and old friends like Cecile, John Kinnee, Steve Peckinonis and a bunch of others we're forgetting. Heck, there was even a Sean "Hannan" out there.

All in all, it was a very good day for running, fundraising and hockey (Go Bruins!!).

Jail Break! Martin successfully Escapes from Alcatraz

2010-05-04T14:42:00.003-04:00

Martin lived out a dream of his this weekend and kicked some major arse in the process at the Alcatraz triathlon. Here's his report:

Escape From Alcatraz has been a race that I have wanted to do for a long time. I remember seeing it on television years ago and thinking "What is that?" It was not until later that I started doing triathlons that I remembered the race, realized it was a triathlon, and signed up. I entered the lottery last season and got selected on the first round. That was when I figured out how much the entry was - $400.

We got into San Francisco on Friday and had a rental car. Hindsight 20/20, I would take a van to and from the hotel next time. We thought that we were going to sightsee a bit but we didn't have the time. Parking was very expensive at all of the hotels. Saturday was the triathlon expo, sign-in, marking, orientation extravaganza. The expo was mainly food and unrelated services - no real gear booths or clothing booths - kind of surprising. We got our goodie bag - for the price of the entry I thought that we would have been given more gear but it was reflective of the expo. No socks or hat or anything like that and no advertisements for other races either - oh well. The day was absolutely beautiful - Chrissy and I actually got a bit sunburnt. A speaker gave us an overview of the course - what to expect and some strategies. The trick with the ocean swim is that there is a strong current out to sea - so you have to travel to cross the current before directly heading to the transition. I was a little upset that during his presentation he kept saying that unless you were a pro that you have no chance and should just not even try in the race. For the amount that I spent to get there and enter the race and whatnot - just keep your mouth shut and perpetuate the fantasy of the race.

We went back to the hotel, prepped my gear and laid low. I had to be at the transition area for 4:30am the next morning. i had two bags to pack and place plus set up transition area. One bag was handed off that contained gear for the transition from swim to bike. Between the swim and bike was a 1/2+ mile run. When you get out of the bay, you take off your wet suit, cap and goggles and place them in the transisiton bag. you then take out the shoes in there and run to the bike transition, leaving behind the swim gear in the bag. From there you take another bag with your wetsuit in it and whatever you want on the ferry and get on a shuttle - when we jump off the boat this second bag is left behind and collected. We were driven down to pier 3 several miles away where the ferry was that would take us to alcatraz and from where we would jump into the bay. We got there about 5:30 and hung out until 6am when we got on the boat. At around 7 we left the dock and started heading to the start. At 8 the pros went off with helicopter over head. We were all divided by age group and were supposed to go off in that order but the second the pros jumped, everyone crushed to the 3 jump spots and it was a mad dash to get into the water. It was a crush of people on the way to the jump spot - with the neoprene cap and goggles and wet suit on it was a quiet sensory-depravation calm. Suddenly the guy in front of me disappeared and there was the water. I jumped and was suddenly confronted with 55 degree salt water. Wet suit + salt water = super-buoyant. It took me a few minutes to get used to the cold water but finally I really put my head in the water and dug in for the swim. For the first 1/3 of the race, the water was glass - totally calm. After that there was a mild but steady chop. You could feel the current taking you as you sighted for shore. I was steadily passing people but it was unclear where the finish for the swim leg was so I was a little timid in my angle of attack to avoid overshooting the finish. They did not have the swim exit marked the previous day and just kind of pointed and said that the exit was "over there" during the orientation. The swim was so amazing. out in the middle of the bay with the golden gate on the right and land coming up in front and to the left. I paused a few times to take it in.

Finally we started funneling and the finish became obvious. I made a final surge for land and stumbled onto shore. Up a set of stairs was the swim-to-bike run transition area with bags. My bag was not in the row that it was supposed to be and it took me a while to locate it. I then stripped my wetsuit and put on my shoes. I was so disoriented and didn't want to waste time stuffing my swim gear into the bag that I just grabbed everything and ran. That was a mistake. It was a 1/2+ mile run and that stuff was heavy in my arms. I got to the bike transition, dropped the gear and put on my bike gear. The sun had come up by now and the day was perfectly clear and very sunny. I took of on the bike and as having a good ride. I was attacking the climbs and battling. The scenery was varied and hilly and stunning. Around the turn around point at mile 9 I suddenly realized that my pedal stroke was feeling shorter and that I wasn't getting power. I discovered that in reassembling my bike, I had not tightened the seatpost bolts sufficiently and the seat had begun slipping - spectacular. With 9 miles remaining and the most substantial section of hills, I gave up in total ~4" of seatpost height. Lots of standing going up hills. Burning quads.

Despite the difficulty, the bike was not terrible and I came into the transition. I had a quick transition and was out on the run. I had my best leg on the run. I had nobody pass me and was able to claw back many places. The run was 8 miles, very hilly and very tough - it wound its way along the shore, in the cliffs and down on the beach - going under the golden gate bridge. There was also a substantial sand section followed by a brutal set of sand stairs. After this was another uphill section and then it was mostly downhill and flat back to the finish.

The race was really amazing. It was an intensely-challenging course. It was a great way to start the season and I think that I have a lot of impovement ahead of me.

Of 1800+ entries, 1492 people finished. I was 75/1492 and 16/208 for my age group with a time of 2:30.32. Here are the full results.

The winner was an animal. He finished in 1:58.21. The top age grouper finished in 2:04.20 - he was in my age group.

Some ponies charge up the Blue Hills

2010-04-28T14:35:00.003-04:00

There were a select few members of the NETT stable out at the Blue Hills Trail Races this past weekend. Yes, they were the ones who remembered to register early.

Chris Smith put in another solid effort there (his third year in a row) finishing 9th overall and 4th master (yikes!) in 1:12.

Marshall Randolph won his age group (yawn) and cracked the top 20 in 1:20 over the rugged course.

But run of the day goes to Jack Burke who finished in 1:24 this year. "I was able to knock seven minutes off my time from last year," he tells the NETT news room. "Of course, if you recall it was hot as hell last year but this year the weather was perfect. But man did those trails take a beating from the rain this year. I felt like I did as much hopping and criss-crossing as I did actual running."

Let's see, Jack's done both the Merrimack Rivah and Blue Hills races but swears he's not vying to win the Eastern New England Trail Race series this year...do we believe him?

Mini Pony may have set WORLD RECORD in New Hampshire

2010-04-27T21:43:00.001-04:00

Yes, you read that right. There's a mini pony that may have set a world record in New Hampshire recently.

Want the details? READ MORE HERE

NETT's "extended family" at Boston Marathon

2010-04-21T13:41:00.002-04:00

Some of the NETT gang gathered on Route 16 in Wellesley on Monday to cheer on some NETT members and friends. Frank, Tina, Mary, Eminem, Crazy Dave, Doris, Dave Molk and others were on hand to cheer Big Ben Winther as he came barreling by on his way to a 3:07. And in the annual Battle of the Scanlans, Brian edged out his sister Claire by a nose in 3:19:14 to 3:20:04. Longtime NETT pal Tricia Grenier notched a 3:25, while Karen Mahoney-Ringheiser clocked a 3:44. Dima Feinhaus cranked out a 2:58 at 47-years young while Rick Cleary finished his umpteenth Boston in 3:54.

Congrats to all!

NETT kicks off multisport season at Wrentham Duathlon

2010-04-18T19:50:00.003-04:00

NETT kicked off the multisport season in good form today at the Wrentham Duathlon. Here's Frank KJ's report:

Despite the cold weather a record number of people showed up for Wrentham duathlon. And NETT was well represented with 6 people racing and 3 getting on the podium. The man of the day was NETT friend Barry Phelps who posted an amazing 57:05– 1st in M40-44 and good enough for 5th overall in a very strong field. Barry used Wrentham as a tune-up for next week’s national championship in Richmond, VA. Good luck Barry!

Katherine swept the F0-19 in the sense that she was too only girl in that category. Who cares, a 1st place is a 1st place and equally important she continues to get better. Jim broke his promise and raced in the Clydesdale division – Jim!!! And he lost the father-daughter challenge with Katherine being right on his tail coming into T2 and quickly passing him on the second run. Yes, Jim they get faster and faster while us parents just try to hang on to old splits.

Chrissy showed guts by holding true to her Friday decision on racing and she was solid from start to finish; looking very comfortable when she crossed the line. Martin took his new bike out for its first race and first rainy day. He was right behind Barry on the first run - 3M in sub 16:30 that is, had a solid bike leg, especially the second half, and finished off with another fast 2M split. Martin just missed the podium this time.

Lastly, I Frank continued my tradition of just missing the hour mark with another “one hour and change” time. My run splits at Wrentham continue to be very consistent, literally with +/- 2 seconds. Scary but in a good way! I was battling it out with Gary David from MRC for most of the race but I couldn’t match his second run leg. I thought I had come in 5th in my age-group but to my positive surprise I was actually 3rd.

Full results at http://www.firm-racing.com/

The original Ponyette comes out of the stable!

2010-04-12T12:20:00.004-04:00

Great news from up North. Cindy Winther has returned to racing and we're all pumped to here about her first race in a couple years. And she hit her goal time to the bloddy minute! Here's her report:

"I did the Great bay 1/2 in Newmarket, NH. My goal was to hit 1/2 of my fastest marathon time (3:38) so I needed to hit 1:49. Ben's advice was to go out easy for the first 8 and then if I felt good to push it the last 5. So I ignored that and went out hard the first 5 and just stuck it through for the last 8. It was like running in Henniker, a little hilly with some dirt roads thrown in. It was a nice course.

I ran the last mile near trail runner extraordinaire Tom Parker. After the race we chatted a little. He said he had run the Merrimack 10 miler the day before and said he knew Crazy Dave. I also saw NETT's Paul Young there and he was flying as usual and super supportive.

It was good to be back - other than our local 5K in Henniker I have not run a race since I had Elsa. I think Ben and I are going to try to the Yankee Homecoming in Newburyport in August."

For the record, Cindy finished in exactly 1:49, her goal time on the nose! Don't we all wish we could pull that off after a couple years out! Nice work.

I know it's hard for some of the current NETT Ponyettes to picture it, but in the early days of NETT, Cindy was often the sole female participating in our early excursions(think Lynn Woods 2003). Even during her break from racing, she has been a big supporter coming out to races (cheering us on at Topsfield, volunteering at the Chamberas race EVERY year) and supporting us all.

AND OF COURSEshe has the distinction of coining the phrase "MiniPonies" so we ALL owe her a big thank you for that one.

Congrats again Cindy!

NETT runs wicked awesome at the Rivah

2010-04-11T20:06:00.009-04:00

(Editor's Note: The following blog post is written in the vernacular of the region where it takes place, the Merrimack Valley, circa the late 1980s, a region and era this reporter knows all too well).

Oh my Gawd you guys, you shouldah been theah!

That frickin rivah race? It was soo awesome. I mean it was totally awesome. I thought there was like gonnuh be some mud, but oh my gawd it was wicked muddy and people were like wipin' out and stuff everywhere.

You know that chic Adrienne or whatever? So she like thought she did bad, but she did wicked good you guys. Her time was like 1:23 and I'm like oh my gawd that is awesome. Jack was wicked good too and did like 1:25 and he says he's going to Doyle's with his brothuh tomorrow cuz they have free beah and I'm like I'm theah, Burkey.

It was so cool to see guyz pukin theyah guts out and stuff at the finish with mud and stuff. Fricking Smitty was theah too. I guess he like rode his bike or something queer and I was liks Smitty you shoulda run it was soo awesome. That Greek guy and his hot wife were theah too just watchin. I was like tellin his kid he should be a runnah cuz you can get muddy and stuff and no one gives you crap about it.

It was soo cool. Petey and Dunham did such an awesome job you guys. Petey's frickin' nuts. His like watchacallit awahds speech at the end was soo funny. Tommy get outta heah. Okay my little brothah needs the computah to like talk to his stupid friends, but you guys shoulda been theah.

(The author clearly enjoying a typical day in the The Valley circa 1989.)

Rivah pics courtesy Steve Wolfe. More pics and videos here. Last pic courtesy of bad haircuts and misspent youth.

Chrissy strikes a pose

2010-04-06T17:04:00.002-04:00

If you've been to CitySports lately you might see a familiar face up on the wall! It's our own Chrissy Durden looking all fit and friendly in a new full-wall sized CitySports ad. Take a look (photo courtesy O'Shannon, McGillicuddy Productions)

Multi-Brick gets multisport season off in strong fashion

2010-04-03T21:58:00.004-04:00

Frank and Tina helped NETT tune up for the multisport season by organizing and hosting a multi-brick workout at their place in Lincoln. Here's Frank's report:

First of all the weather was phenomenal making it feeli more like racing a duathlon in June than do a workout in early April.

The usual suspects included Joe, Bruce, Martin, Jim, and me. Martin showed up on his new ‘Felt’ (see photo) which he had literally picked up less than 24 hours before and thus never had a chance to ride. Talk about a serious way to break in a new ride! Barry joined the action and showed incredible strength and speed. After missing the peloton of Joe, Bruce and Frank on the first bike leg he single-handedly closed the gap and then steadily increased his lead on each laps thanks to some very fast run splits. Ed (swims with Minuteman Masters) got my email around 8:15am in the morning, packed his gear and biked from Burlington to Lincoln, then did all four laps looking relaxed and smooth

Joe looked strong overall; Bruce substituted a couple of the run legs for chatting with the local residents; and Jim was kind of “now you see me, now you don’t”. I, myself, had a good workout thanks to drafting behind Joe and using Barry as motivation for the run. Coffee and bagels on the porch afterwards - not bad for a spring day in New England.

Hopefully the calendar allows for another multi-brick later in the spring.

Looking for a new challenge? Try orienteering!

2010-04-02T13:55:00.005-04:00

Getting bored of plain old running? Using a trail just too mundane for you? Maybe it's time to check out something new?

Well that something new might just be orienteering. That fun sport where you run through the woods with a map and try to find "controls" and complete a course. It's a lot of fun and it's a great way for runners to get a workout in. But to give you a bit more information on orienteering, the NETT News Team recently sat down with Andy and Kristen Hall, NETT's resident orienteering experts, for a quick Q&A on the basics of the sport.

Q: How long (time-wise or distance wise) is a typical orienteering event?

A: It depends on the type of event. Sprint courses like the CSU Park Series are typically around 2km. How long it takes you depends on how well you navigate - winners will be about 12 minutes, those who have to stand still to read their map/ get lost/ run way past the control before realising that they should have stopped after 100m will take a lot longer.

Weekend events normally have a wider range of courses, varying from 2km to 8km (shorter ones have easier navigation, based around trails; longer ones are more technical for the navigation and may rely on you not running on trails to be fast - there will often be trail routes but they will take you a long way around). Winning times are, of course, longer (expect the fastest to be around 8 min/km)

Q: Do you need any special equipment to participate in an orienteering event the first time? (Fancy compass, shoes, GPS?)

A: No, but it helps to have a compass. Compasses are sometimes available to rent at the registration. GPS are not allowed. If the sun is out, it is generally in the south, so you don't necessarily need a compass

Q: What advantages would I have as a runner in an orienteering event?

A: Fitness is the runner's biggest asset.

Q: What disadvantages would I have as a runner?

A: Runners tend to run faster than they can navigate, meaning that when they make mistakes they are really big. Dave Dunham took a long time to realise this fact. He now tends to run slower when orienteering and therefore orienteers faster!

Q: Any other advice or words of wisdom you give to first-timers?

A: Go slow and make sure you know where you are on the map AT ALL TIMES until you are confident with your navigating abilities. It is a great way to get out in the countryside, in places that you wouldn't necessarily go otherwise.

UPCOMING ORIENTEERING EVENTS
Cambridge Sports Union has a great weeknight series of shorter races. See the 2010 Boston Park Orienteering Series here that has events in familiar places like Fresh Pond, Arnold Arboretum, Cat Rock Park and even Boston Common on Thursday nights starting April 15. http://csu.attackpoint.com/series

Another great resource is the New England Orienteering Club, which has events coming up in Westwood, Nashua and even Prospect Hill in Waltham (April 18).
http://www.newenglandorienteering.org/

NETT Travelogue: Taiwan

2010-03-16T12:38:00.012-04:00

Frank and Tina recently took a trip to Taiwan and were gracious enough to provide us with a review of their trip!

Tina and I just returned from a trip to Taiwan, Indonesia and Singapore so I wanted to share a few photos with you. This time I borrowed a mountain bike and thus was able to venture a bit further up into the Yangmingshan mountains. I have created the route I took up here it is 8.4M all uphill for a total of 2500 ft and an average grade of roughly 5.5% (very similar to the Kanc) but with some very steep sections that it was nearly impossible to ride.

This was taken about halfway up with Mt Datun (1077m in the background

Folks practicing tai chi at sunrise.

These are the sulfur pits at Mt Cising (seven star mountain) – it is still an active volcano!

As I crested the top I can see the clouds on the other side below me rolling in from the Pacific Ocean.

The view from Mt Datun towards the sulfur pits and with “Bamboo Lake” in the foreground. It used to be a lake long time ago but it is now dried up and very fertile because of the lava soil.

Refueling at the local 7-Eleven.

There are no moose in Taiwan but apparently I need to watch out for low flying owls! Good to know.

We spent 3 days at a resort on Bintan Island in Indonesia. It is located right above the Equator so the temperature was a solid 90F when I went for a run around the resort.

Tina chose to ride the elephant instead of a bike this time!

Last stop was Singapore where I went out for a run in the morning and swung by Raffles Hotel.

JD speaks to WBUR about Haiti

2010-03-09T12:34:00.003-05:00

In an effort to remind people that the devasation in Haiti will take years, not days, to rebuild, Jean Dany spoke with WBUR this morning. It's something we all can keep in mind in the months ahead.

NETT ladies take bronze at Hyannis

2010-03-01T11:55:00.006-05:00

Fresh off Canada's winning the gold in hockey, a downright giddy Eminem sends her report from Hyannis, where the NETT ladies' relay team took home the bronze, and a host of other NETTers posted some top-notch results.

"Now that the pandemonium at my household has subsided momentarily, I'm ready to write about the OTHER important athletic event today--the NETT women's relay. Our team of me, Chrissy, Mary and Karen ran very strong this year, beating our last year's time by a little over 3 minutes (we finished in 3:16) (official results here). The field was very strong this year though, and that time (good enough for first last year) landed us the bronze medal this year. Everyone ran very well and the weather cooperated beautifully. Have to crack open a few beers and light a cigar now like a true female Canadian hockey player!"

But it wasn't just all about the women down in Hyannis. There were a few of the NETT men out there putting in their best efforts as well. For more on that we go to Frank KJ for a report:

"Yeah - Go Canada!!! What? Oh yes Hyannis. We were there. It was pretty good day for NETT. With Youngstah going easy on us in the 10K, I was fortunate enough to take 1st place in the Masters and 4th overall in 38:45. Paul took 2nd and 6th in 39:19. Martin (1:19), Ali and Dima all had solid 1/2M races. Karyn, thanks again for driving the team van."

For the record, Martin ran a 1:19:33 in the half, good for 5th in his age group and Ali was just 20 seconds back in 1:19:56 good for 4th master. "Dimo" Feinhaus as he's referred to in the results was 1:22.

Congrats to all! Even those with the Maple Leaf on their sweaters. (And in case no one noticed, our poll on Meetup actually predicted Canada's gold medal!)

Poetry festival submission: Bear in there!

2010-02-19T11:46:00.003-05:00

Almost forgot, here's Chrissy's favorite that brought the house down!

Bear In There
Shel Silverstein
There's a Polar Bear
In our Frigidaire--
He likes it 'cause it's cold in there.
With his seat in the meat
And his face in the fish
And his big hairy paws
In the buttery dish,
He's nibbling the noodles,
He's munching the rice,
He's slurping the soda,
He's licking the ice.
And he lets out a roar
If you open the door.
And it gives me a scare
To know he's in there--
That Polary Bear
In our Fridgitydaire. There's a Polar Bear
In our Frigidaire--
He likes it 'cause it's cold in there.
With his seat in the meat
And his face in the fish
And his big hairy paws
In the buttery dish,
He's nibbling the noodles,
He's munching the rice,
He's slurping the soda,
He's licking the ice.
And he lets out a roar
If you open the door.
And it gives me a scare
To know he's in there--
That Polary Bear
In our Fridgitydaire.

Poetry festival winding down

2010-02-19T11:43:00.002-05:00

For those who didn't get to attend the in-person poetry festival, I thought I'd post my last submission here. Still open to others, but we'll be returning to regular non-poetic, programming here on the blog soon.

My friend the poet

I have a friend
Who speaks in verse
In iambic pentameter
Without need to rehearse

He came from an island
To visit a friend
And found a new home
In which to spend

The next 20 years
Learning to teach
Others to share
The value of speech

La Camisa Blanca
He wears a white shirt
And converses with dogs
In language diverse

From Creole to French
From English to Spanish
His relaxing tones
Make stresses vanish

And on days when he chooses
He runs like a deer
One moment away
The next moment near

But there’s a part of my friend
I find most admiring
A simple habit
That’s simply inspiring

He puts forth an effort
(As all of us should)
To always remind us
That “Life is Good”

NETT jams out at poetry festival

2010-02-13T14:03:00.008-05:00

It was a great time at the first annual NETT Poetry Festival/Haiti Fundraiser/Olympics viewing party. We enjoyed some great food, some fun and thoughtful reading and a jam session by the NETT all-star house band. Special thanks to Jean Dany for reading and talking to us a bit about how we can help Haiti. Also, huge thanks to the Miller-Medzons--what a generous and talented family, huh? Imagine if the Patridge Family could run and play hockey and you get the idea. If you didn't get a chance to donate, you can text Haiti to 90999 to give to the Red Cross or text "world" to 50555 to donate $10 to the "we are the world".

Click the "play" button below to check out the video of the NETT house band jamming away!

Submission #2 from Jerry

2010-02-12T13:51:00.002-05:00

This one goes well to the tune of "Graceland" by Paul Simon.

The Massachusetts forecast was calling for heavy snow.
I am weaving along the city streets towards the campus of MIT.

I'm going to track, track – down at MIT – I'm going to track.
NETTers, GBTCers, all runners with OCD, and we are going to track.
My traveling companion is Crazy. He longs to be in the Castleton Hall of Fame.
I've paid dues and like to blow out the tubes so I believe we both will be received at indoor track.

Bruce Bond writes out the workout.
As if I didn't know that. As if I didn't know what he said.
As if I never noticed the sweat on my forehead.
Bruce said 200 meter ovals is like a burning in your quads.
Everybody sees you're running fast.
Everybody sees you're working hard.

I'm going to track, track – down at MIT – I'm going to track.
Geno, Eri, Jack, Crazy and me, and we are going to track.
And my running companions are NETTers and GBTCers.
I'm looking at their sweaty backs.
But this is expected so we all will be received in track.

There is the select group from NETT, and we look at the splits we are running.
And sometimes when we’re running – 3K pace or LT – whatever the tempo, I say Whoa, so this is what Bruce means.
He means we’re training to get to race land.
And I see track is like a burning in your quads.
Everybody sees you're running fast.
Everybody feels you're working hard.

Indoor track, track, I'm going to indoor track.
For reasons I cannot explain, there's some part of me wants to see the 200 meter oval.
And I may be obliged to sprint on cold Wednesday nights again and again.
Or maybe there's no obligation since I’m more of a cyclist now.
Nevertheless, I've a reason to believe we all will be received at track.

Whoa, indoor track, indoor track.
I'm going to MIT track.
I'm going to MIT track.

Poetry festival submission: They Tried to Make me Go to Indoor Track

2010-02-12T13:47:00.003-05:00

Oh, this one is fecking brilliant, from Jerry the Tick. Sing it to the tune of "Rehab" by Amy Winehouse.

They tried to make me go to indoor track
By Jerry De Zutter

They tried to make me go to indoor track but I said 'no, no, no'
Yes I had an eating injury but when I come back you'll know know know
I got better for my workout time and for the others track's just fine
They tried to make me go to indoor track but I won't go go go

I'd rather be out on the trails with NETT
I ain't goin' nowhere today
Cause there's no way
There's no way you can reach me
And make me circle that way

I dread weaving in and out of the MIT track running mass
Maybe just stay at home drinking from my beer glass

They tried to make me go to indoor track but I said 'no, no, no'
Yes I had an eating injury but when I come back you'll know know know
I’ve avoided injury on the 200 meter oval, not gotten dizzy and haven’t gone out of my mind
But meet me at CAC and we’ll run over to Beacon Hill that’s where we’ll go go go

Crazy said 'the track is very near'
I said "I like the river path my dear"
I'm gonna, I'm gonna lose my cool
so I'll just keep my legs right here
He said 'don't get yourself depressed,
just tell that story to the rest

They tried to make me go to indoor track but I said 'no, no, no'
Yes I had an eating injury but when I come back you'll know know know

I don't wanna run 200 meter circles again
I just ooh don't care that they're my friends
I'm not gonna spend ten seconds
have everyone think I'm on that trend

It's not just my pride
I just want to run hill repeats outside

They tried to make me go to indoor track but I said 'no, no, no'
Yes I had an eating injury but when I come back you'll know know know
So I’m better for my time but keep going and I may whine
They tried to make me go to indoor track but I won't go go go

Q&A with Marshall up on the ENETRS site

2010-02-11T17:09:00.001-05:00

Folks, we interrupt our poetry festival coverage to bring you some "creative writing" of another kind. The organizers of the Eastern New England Trail Race Series have just posted the Q&A I did with Marshall Randolph after his tremendous performance in winning the series this year. For those interested, it's posted here.