NETT Women and Men both put in strong showings at Topsfield XC Race

It was a great fall day for XC in New England and NETT made the most of it. Both men and women put together full teams for the Topsfield XC Race on Sunday, making a strong showing.

It looks like the NETT women finished fourth among an extremely strong women's field, while the men finished fifth in their race. The competiton was fierce on both sides, with the USATF-New England XC Series bringing in some top-notch competition.

The ladies ran first, and NETT was led by Adrienne Cyrulik who put in a very strong race, finishing 15th overall in 22:22. She was followed by Tina Wang, who claims not to like trail running, but continues to impress off-road, finsihing 24th overall in 23:25. Laura Wieland and Dawn Mampremian ran together to clock a 24:35. But the best performance of the day on the women's side came from Marina Shirokov, Dima's daughter, who only started running XC this year but finished the VERY TOUGH 5K course to help the ladies complete a team and win $50!!!
Women's team scores
1. GBTC
2. SISU
3. Naval Academy Prep
4. NETT


On the men's side, NETT had some very solid performances, also finishing fourth (results not updated yet?). Dave H led the men in 17th place, finsihing the 8K course in 28:03. Young John Kinnee was 28th in 29:53. Ben Winther unleashed a vicious kick to finish in 31:26, Dmitry Shirokov ran very well just behind Ben in 31:52. Frank KJ toughed it out running semi-injured for the team in 33:52 and Oona Chamberas ran maybe his third XC race since college to finish up 37:13.

Men's team scoring
1 CMS 27 1 2 4 6 14
2 SISU 57 3 5 7 18 24
3 GBTC 62 8 10 11 13 20
4 NAP 86 9 12 17 21 27
5 NETT 124 16 23 26 29 30


Afterwards, it was the annual trip to Woodmans in Essex for fried clams!!

Special thanks to the NETT cheering section of Doris, Paul,  Cindy and Thomas.


SEE THE PHOTOS IN THE NEW NETT ARCHIVE

Mr. Young takes 4th at New Hampshire Marathon

Paul Young continued his fall race blitz this weekend, taking 4th place in the New Hampshire Marathon in Bristol, NH. Paul finished up in 2:55, second master, and seemed no worse for the wear on Sunday when he came out to cheer us on at the Topsfield XC race.

Full Results posted here.

Rick eats hot dogs and drinks beer--WHILE RACING!

NETT's "roaving reporter" of sorts Rick Cleary took part in the annual Big Man Run this year, the unofficial Clydesdale Championships in Somerville. Here's his report:

Saturday I ran the “Big Man Run” for the second time, the five mile race (I get 5.25 when I map it) for runners 190 pounds and up. A few skinny guys who respond early get in too, but aren’t eligible for prizes. It pretty much does a perimeter of Somerville with stops at a number of bars (there were four in 2006, just three this time) where competitors must eat a hot dog (with roll) and drink an eight ounce draft beer before continuing. It’s really just the ticket for me, combining running and gluttony, my twin passions.

I finished 12th for the second year in a row, but I think this year’s was a better performance for several reasons:

-The more bars, the better for me. I pick up a lot of ground in the eating/drinking portion of the event. So to finish in the same place with more running and less consuming was a good effort.

-I did it almost four minutes faster (40:26 vs. 44:05) and there’s no way one extra bar would have cost me 3.5 minutes, I was in and out of the others in less than two minutes each.

-I weighed in at 196, still safely above the cutoff but well under the 202 I registered last time; perhaps a sign that I’m getting in some sort of shape. (The organizers are kind, you weigh in with your running shoes and race outfit on … one guy weighed in at 188 and they let him go chug a couple of pints and try again and he made it the second time.)

-Last year I went alone but this year the family came along. This was mostly a plus as I enjoy the support, and they enjoyed the spectacle of 250 fat guys trying to run through Somerville, and Eddie had some great in-race commentary. (“Mom, when I grow up I could do this race because I’m a boy but I don’t think I will because I don’t like beer.”) It does start in a rather dicey neighborhood, but they found a nice school playground to use while I was running. The only drawback was that having Ann and the kids there made me realize how genuinely terrible the post-race food was. (A buffet of more hot dogs, greasy burgers and little deli sandwiches). The year before I’d consumed some happily without thinking that it might be awful.

Only downsides:

-I did not win my age group this time, after a 13 minute win in the 50 and over last year. This time there was a 51 year old from Houston, Texas in front of me but the way the results are split up I can’t tell his weight … maybe he was a skinny? In any event I can claim to be the fastest fat old glutton on the East Coast.

-I still miss the fourth bar, three just doesn’t seem as hard somehow. I had a great post-race conversation with another guy that went like this:

Me: “Too bad there were only three bars this year.”
Other guy: “Yeah, I was pacing myself thinking we had to stop once more, I would’ve kicked it in sooner.”
Me: “I’m not talking about strategy, I just wanted another beer.”

-It didn’t bother me, but apparently the first bar wound up with a long line for the food. It’s over a mile from the start, and up a huge hill, so I would have thought that the crowd was spread out enough to handle 250 runners … but I guess that is a lot of people to serve in a short time!


Here’s hoping that next year I have to drink a lot in the car to make the weight limit on race day! Full results POSTED HERE

Next up for me: Marathon in Newport, RI on 10/20 to try to qualify for Boston.

Mr. Young Starts his Fall Racing Blitz

Well it’s that time of year again...if it’s Fall on the calendar, it’s time for Paul Young to do an insane number of unusually long races. And it’s starting early this year!

Mr. Young finished 4th overall in the Pisgah 50K in a personal Best of 4:26.
“I had run a 5K in Pelham,NH on saturday in 90 plus heat and it probably hurt me at Pisgah,” he said.

Then to top things off he hit the Nahant 30K this weekend. where he finished 5th overall, top Master.

Look for at least one more marathon-distance run from this guy this fall (smart money's betting 2 or 3 more!).

Race Time in Douglas, Mass.

While most of us never heard of Douglas, Mass. this weekend, it became a hotbed of NETT racing! Early on Sunday, Jerry D, Toledo Joe and Crazy Dave toed the line in the sand at the 5 Star Triathlon in Douglas. After waiting a long time in cold water before the start, we got off...here’s how Jerry reports it:

"The race abruptly started ~1min after national anthem (no raft of pre-race announcements)! Joe ended up with nice clean water out in front while I was totally unprepared and off to the side and got 1-2ed by an arm backswing and then a kick which rearranged my goggles (been a long time since I had that happen to me). Swim was definitely short. Kind of odd to mount up the bike just behind Carmen who was near/in front of, behind
and then finally in front of Joe. I was thinking that with a good effort we could both stay near Carmen (Monks, the race winner) and I knew there was a few other guys up the road. But I could see, even before I passed Joe, that Carmen was pulling steadily away from us. Oh well. Anyways, a lot of hills packed into that little course. I think the
young kid that finished 4th actually put up the fastest bike split. I was kind of surprised to see only the young kid and then Carmen run out of the transition as I was coming in. I didn't look back but heard some sort of sounds that didn't sound like a normal bike dismount, apparently Joe sacrificed the body to save the bike.

Crazy had a good race even though they have him listed as Vinny Aguiar (#4). (Editor’s note: Race officials accidentally gave Crazy Dave the wrong race number—it was of a guy who registers for a lot of races, but rarely shows up and is like 6’6” apparently. Anyone need an XXL T-shirt?)

My dad had a good race, haven't seen his splits yet but he won his age group (Editor’s note: Jerry’s being family-modest here—his dad got the loudest applause during the awards ceremony and was congratulated personally by several top-ranked guys. Was a great site to see the Colonel getting his due after working his butt off all summer at Walden!).

Good racing Joe, you were strong and I'd be lying if I said I was only thinking about catching Carmen on that run, was keeping a keen ear out, listening for any
footsteps coming up behind.

Good work Crazy, way to race the multisport AND fly the colors. Question is, how do we incorporate our logo onto a tri suit?"

MEANWHILE on the other side of Douglas, Dave Mingori was busy cruising through the 4th Annual Douglas Family Fun Run 5K, taking second place overall in 17:29. The race was won by friend of NETT Jason Croteau in 16:56. Gotta get that guy out to a couple races for us Dave!

Frank beats Tina at Firmman

Here's a race report from Frank KJ at the FIRM Man half-iron triathlon:

Now what is this all about? Of course Frank would not a have a chance against Tina if she was crazy enough to do a half-ironman. And of course she isn't. Instead Tina smartly teams up with a great swimmer - Big Al (many of you know him) and cyclist Norm Collard - a category 4 cyclist from NEBC.

For the last 2 years it has been Frank vs. the relay team and both times the relay team came out ahead. But this year Frank had had enough left in the tank to run down Tina and beat their relay team by 1 slim minute. The team started 10 minutes ahead. Al was 3 minutes faster than Frank out of the water and Norm added another minute or two to Tina's cushion. Since it was an out/back run Frank could get some gap times on Tina and at mile 8 the deficit had been eliminated. The last 2.5 miles have little shade, two nasty hills and a 1/4 beach run to the finish so nothing could be taken for granted until one stumbled from the loose sand into the finish shute.

Tina's team did so well that they actually placed 1st in the Mixed Relay. Frank took 9th overall and 2nd in his advanced age-group. Funny enough he would have placed 1st had he still been in the youth category.

Swanzey race honors Elijah Barrett

The Keene Sentinel ran a very good story this week about the Swanzey Covered Bridges race, held only a week after its founder and avid trail runner and triathlete Elijah Barrett lost his eight-month battle with cancer at only 31 years old.

While I didn't know Elijah well, I certainly had the pleasure of watching him run away from me at more than a couple races on more than a couple surfaces over years and he was always a classy competitor. The picture here is of him winning the 2001 Weekend Before Hunting Season trail race (courtesy of coolrunning.) He put on a lot of races and events up in the Keene area for charity and supported and participate in many many others--from trail races to snowshoe to triathlons--from his shop, Endurance Sports in Keene. He'll be missed out there.

Frank KJ CLEARED of controversey at Cranberry Country Tri

A race report from Frank KJ on Cranberry Country Tri:

Okay before you all start to harrass me for getting a penalty at Cranberry let me state: I never drafted and I was surprised to find out when I saw the results last night for the Cranberry Country Triathlon.

I saw the officials around mile 3 during the race as I had just caught up to a group of people. At that time I was not able to pass (unless I crossed the double-line in front of the official) so I stayed 4-5 bike lengths behind. As I moved up to pass I realized there was a turn so to stay safe I immediately dropped back to 4-5 bike lengths again. At no time was I in violation. Right after the turn I easily passed the group and never saw them again. I sent an email to USAT last night; not that I think it will change anything.

UPDATE (as of Monday AM): I just got an email from the USAT referee. I am cleared of drafting and my honor has been restored! Here's what they said:

"From the results website it appears your number was 148. You were penalized for 5.10f - Position. This section of the competitive rules indicates athletes must ride to the right unless not safe to do so or when passing. The write up indicates that around mile 2 you rode on the left of the course for 22 seconds when the road was clear and in good condition to your right."


Other than that I had a good race. Solid swim (thanks to our Walden Pond swims), solid run (thanks to a cooperating stomach) and a so-so bike (my gluteus/piriformis came back around halfway and probably cost me about 1 min). I rode this course 1.5 min faster back in 2003 and ran 1.5 min faster as well. That's what happens when you turn 40!

Jerry The Tick's Response to the controversey:

Oh, so you're the guy I'm always having to yell, "on
your left!!" at to try and get you to move over.
They've got your number, next time they are going to
get you for dropping an empty gu pack.

-Jerry

Dave Guertin completed the event without any controversey, finishing 114th out of the field of close to 600, capping off a very strong rookie season for Dave.

Chamberas XC Race a Rousing Success

WOW!

That's about the only word to describe the day on Saturday at the Fifth Annual Thomas Chamberas XC Race. "Wow" sums up the overall turnout (close to 200 runners with a parking lot filled to capacity, making for a VERY nice donation to the CF Fund!). "Wow" sums up the performances on the race course (Ryan Carrara's blistering time of 18:22 for a two-second win on the 6Kish course and the extremely strong women's field led by Mariko Holbrook in 20:56). "Wow" sums up the above and beyond effort from our race volunteers, who were blindsided by number of entries and rose to the occasion. And "Wow" sums up the feeling most of the runners told US about the race itself.

As for the race itself, the mens race came down to a kick, with New Balance Boston's Ryan Carrara outkicking Ryan Miller of SISU Project for the $50 cash prize courtesy of Shereen Fahey at Marlboro Savings Bank. Men's masters was won by Dan "always a factor" Verrington and men's seniors title went to the ageless John Barbour of GLRR. The men's team title went to CMS.

NETT's Rick Cleary was out in the field(s) and had this report to file:
"I ran a nice 5K XC race that turned out to be 3.5 miles at Great Brook Farm Park in Carlisle, MA 10 days ago. It's actually sort of a hybrid race, half what I would consider classic XC (wide trail mowed through fields and dirt roads in pretty good condition) and half trail run (single lane, in the woods, rooty and rocky and hard to follow.) Both parts were hilly. It was a very strong field, or I ran very slowly (two minutes slower than 2005) or both. I only made it into the top half because some local high schools sent plenty of kids who aren’t in shape yet. The race had 60 people in 2005 and 2006 and grew to almost 200 this year but the organizers did a good job adapting to the bigger field and it went off smoothly.

Wow, upon reading above, that's the dullest race report I've ever filed. I think other interesting things happened at this race, but I've been so busy getting freshmen into the right courses, and our day care center closes the week before Labor Day, and I even did a couple of training runs that I was too busy to write until now. I think I'm going to try to get my Boston qualifying time in Newport, RI on 10/27. I did a 13 mile run on Saturday, my longest run without a number on in two years, so maybe I mean it this time!"

For a full collection of photos go to Jim Rhoades' site.

To read Ryan Carrara's review of the race on his blog Easy Gait click here.

To read BAA's Josh Gordon's review on his blog, click here.

On the women's side the top three were split by a mere 30 seconds, with BAA's Mariko Holbrook taking the win, followed by Christy Mae Carrara and Emily Raymond of GBTC. Jennifer Rapaport of Somerville Road Runners took the masters title and SRR also took the womens senior's crown thanks to Barbara Grandberg.

And GBTC's always strong women's team walked away with the team title.


(photo courtesy of Boston Run Gals blog).





To read the GBTC's review of the race on their blog, click here as well as HERE.

But the most impressive was the performance of our volunteers at the start, on the course and at the finish. Special thanks to (in no particular order): Water stop crew Paul Young and Dave Dunham, course marshalls Jerry and Audrey De Zutter, Frank KJ, and Toledo Joe (five years straight). Leo and his sweep crew. The registration team of Anthony, Doris, Ben and Cindy rose to the challenge of a bigger-than-expected crowd with the help of Eric Bucher (RD for the Wayland XC Challenge). And the finish line crew got a big hand from Chris Benson, a college buddy who literally finished the race, turned around and started ripping off tags from the runners behind him to help get people through the shoot faster) and Tina Wang recording numbers. Bridget for her general race support at start and finish. Bill Newsham for chipping in at the race and creating the XC sereis. Jim Rhoades for his always professional picture-taking. Audrey and Alex for their artwork. John Kinnee for donations and participation. Leo and Shereen for the post-race volunteer party.

There are many many others to thank--Dave Bartel for making an unplanned water run when we ran out in the heat. Everyone who pulled the streamers off the trees on their cooldowns. George and Cynthia Chamberas for their food, help and support (and the original creators of this race).

And most of all, Thomas Chamberas. T-man was the consummate host, greeting racers and volunteers with a smile, thanking them for coming and secretly telling Dave that in five years time, he will be the man to beat in the under 19 category!

NETT has banner showing at Lynn Woods XC Relay

NETT called in a few favors and fielded three full teams for the always popular Lynn Woods Relay with great results.

In the Mens Open category, the NETT-Banana team of Dave Hannon, Dmitry Shirokov, Peter Gallimore and Dmitry Drozdov finished fourth in the category, fifth overall in an NETT course record time of 56:52. Dave put the team out in fifth place with a sub-14 clocking, Dima S ran a very competitive second leg to keep us in the mix and setting it up well for the always strong Peter who clocked an impressive 14:21 on zero speed training and Dima D took it home in a mind-boggling 12:55.

The NETT-Masters team turned more than a few heads, finishing second in the masters category to powerhouse GBTC by a mere 19 seconds! Due to some traffic snarls, one of our runners on loan, Chris Smith, took the leadoff spot and took us all out hard in the first stretch, finishing up in 14:47. The City of Cambridge's Next Poet Lauretate, Jean Dany, took the next leg running a very solid 14:54 (and basically caught the NETT open team at the end of leg 2!). JD passed off to Janos Mako, who threw down a 15:45 and left it in the capable hands of Paul Young, who ran a gutsy 15:04 to wrap up second place in the masters field (Note: For those of haven’t done this relay, it’s nearly impossible to tell who the other teams you’re racing against are. So even though our guyers were just off the Masters lead, it was hard to tell that during the event, even for spectators.) Hats off to these four guys for a VERY strong race, putting the NETT Masters name on the map with a 60:27.


On the ladies' side, the NETT Ponyettes finished fifth in a very competitive women’s open category (the women's field might have the most depth at this race). Adrienne Cyrulik put the team out very well in the first leg, clocking a speedy 17:30 on the rugged 2.5 mile course. Tina Wang took over from there and despite her insistence that she’s not a trail runner, cruised over the rocks for an 18:25. Distance queen Karen Ringheiser sped off from there, clocking an impressive 18:18 and Adventure Queen Jennifer Shultis wrapped things up with an 18:50 to close out at 1:13:03.






(The team talks strategy)
After the race, Mr. Young took us all on a long cooldown up past a lookout tower with a great view while the GBTC team fattened up by eating BBQ (that NETT sent over to them for that reason--we’ve got them right where we want them)! All in all it was a very fun event.


SEE DMITRY's PHOTOS HERE

For a great series of photos from the race, check THIS SITE.

A quick NETT history lesson, the Lynn Woods Relay was really one of the first races NETT did as a team (Banana!) back in 2002, and it always has a special place in our hearts. We’ve fielded teams there every year since and while the cast of NETT characters changes from year to year (but the times get faster!), it’s always going to be a team favorite. Special thanks to the folks who came out last-minute like Chris Smith, Jean Dany and especially Peter, who literally got the call a day in advance and ran phenomenally for men’s open team.

Say no to headphones!

The iPod boom has led to more runners wearing headphones and, most likely, more accidents while running. The BOSTON GLOBE has a good take on this issue this week and points out that in the recent Jerry Garcia race in Cambridge, "of the first 50 finishers, only three wear earphones. Among finishers 697 through 708, seven do."

Which group do YOU want to be in?

Dmitry and Jennifer nab top spots at the inaugural Hampshire 100K mountain bike race

Sunny skies, paired with moderate temps made for perfect conditions for
Jennifer, Dmitry, and Terry, Dmitry’s long-time friend and training partner
from KC (visiting for the weekend), as they rolled up to the start-line for
the first ever EFTA Hampshire 100K mountain bike race. The start and finish
of this 62.9 mile, single-loop race was Greenfield, New Hampshire. The
course began with 20 fairly fast miles of paved and gravel roads, bike
paths and railroad tracks before the real fun began. Riders who went out
too fast would feel their legs as they hit the power lines about mile 30
for the first major climb of the day. It would just get worse from there as
the climbs on jeep roads and single track from miles 30-55 felt as if no
descents were given as payback for all the hard work. The race was to
support the Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center, but Jennifer started
to wonder about mile 55 if it was a benefit or a recruitment activity.
Finally, at the top of Crotched Mountain, there HAD to be a descent…
Ironically, there was a violin player on top playing what sounded like
music for a funeral, then the Summit Trail descended off for the most
technical riding of the day—multiple rock drops, followed by a stone wall
crossing and winding, rocky tight single-track. In the end, Jennifer took
the top spot among the Expert women (although she notes she was beaten by a
sport woman by 5 minutes in the final times), Dmitry was third in his age
group for the Sport division and Terry broke Dmitry’s bike.

Paul Young takes 3rd at Savoy

Paul Young took third place at the Savoy 20 Miler Trail Race on Sunday, clocking a 2:48 on the always unpredictable course.

Here's Paul with old friend Peter Keeney before the race.

Jerry outruns Frank KJ at Timberman

It was man-o-man at the Timberman Half-Ironman this weekend with Frank KJ and Jerry DZ representing the NETT troops out there. Frank took lead on the swim and the bike but in the end Jerry pulled off a strong run to run away with the top NETT honors. "It was a very competitive field with lots of pros and some amazing run splits," Frank reports.

The REAL question was how hard did Jerry have to kick to catch the world renowned Karen Smyers, who finished one spot behind him? For more on that, let's go to JERRY's Report on the race:

Saw Frank K's and Dave's comments on e-mail/blog so
figured I'd add my perspective (since I'm on vacation
up here in NH and drinking a beer on the deck of the
place we're staying while waiting for my son to wake
up from his nap).

Timberman is a great event if you want to experience
triathlon at it's finest. The expo/festival has really
caught on and the Gunstock ski area venue adds to the
atmosphere of the whole weekend's activities.

Saturday, stiff wind pushing large whitecaps across
the water for my 73yr old father's sprint triathlon
swim. He earned his stripes just by making it through
that; he kept disappearing from sight in between
swells. Since he started in the very last wave he was
the absolute last person out of the water (as a
volunteer that day, one of my jobs was to follow
behind the last swimmer out of the water and through
the transition- kind of funny that person was my
father). The colonel (dad) moved up on the bike and
cruised one of the fastest 3 miles he's run in quite
some time (he's still puzzled how he did that esp.
since he had his knee replaced less than 2yrs ago!).

Myself and others were real psyched the next day broke
with way less wind and warmer temps. In fact I even
felt a little guilty about what the guv (dad) had to
endure the day before. Anyways, for this race I
entered myself in the ~40 person, elite age group wave
instead of my ~240 person 40-44 AG wave. So despite
the reports of a close race between Frank (and a few
other non-NETTers) in reality I was always
approximately 20 min ahead because I started 20min
ahead.

Never having had much luck previously in the distance
triathlon events I had some specific goals and ended
up reaching a 1/2 IM PR by taking a conservative
approach to set myself up for a good finishing run.
Despite calm looking waters the swim was actually
quite rough. Got through that and endured a weird
mishap on the bike where I pulled my cleat out of the
pedal and basically crashed without actually hitting
the deck. Once I got into a nice rythm on the bike I
started steadily, slowly catching other elites and a
few pros on the bike. Started to feel a little energy
depletion towards the end of the bike and ended up
swallowing 4 power gels in the last 20 miles of the
bike. Came out onto the run feeling pretty good and
did my best to find the 7min pace I was looking for.
There's no way I couldn't have a strong start as I had
a 40+ person cheering squad composed of my family and
step/family located right as I came out onto the run
course! Really helped to have them there. Toledo Joe
was out on the run course and 2/3 of the way through
the run I got a split from him that told me I was
close to target pace. Run was the first time I was
able to see and high 5 Frank K as we passed. I didn't
high 5 Karen Smyers but she's always pleasant enough
even though I'm sure that was more like a casual day
on the race course for her. Probably explains why I
caught her on the run (she started 2min in front of me
in the pro wave) Crazy Dave. Anyways, I suffered on
the 3rd leg of the 1/2M run but was able to hammer the
4th/ last leg (~3miles) of the run to acheive my goal,
1:30 run split. Real pleased with my 4:47 flat race
time.

I'm also going to lay claim, along with Joe, to a top
10 finish to the beer tent. My dad, step-mom were just
behind, definitely in the top 20.

Saw/chatted with a myriad of other NE/NY (almost elite
MM; JS ;-))area athletes who participated in what has
become a national/international level competition.

OK, son woke up, my rambling's are done. See y'all
around. -Jerry



As Jerry mentioned, Saturday was the Timberman Sprint and Jerry’s dad took top-honors in the 70-74 age-group. His goal was 2:15 but in true De Zutter style he hammered the 5K run to finish in 2:08. Congratulations Jim!

All results at

Alberto Salazar's amazing story

Here's a very good story about Alberto Salazar's miraculous recovery from a massive heart attack. Perhaps most interesting will be the effect his heart attack will have on the young runners present (including Galen Rupp) when it took place. Pretty amazing story.

Toledo Joe nabs 4th overall, top master at Lowell Tri

It seems like Toledo Joe Hardin really does "love that dirty water" up in Lowell, as he raced to 4th place overall, top master in the Wild Cat Sprint Triathlon this weekend. Joe put in a well-balanced race, with the fourth fastest bike split and 4th fastest run split as well.

Nice work Toledo Joe!

DaveM wins Masters Crown at Deary 5 miler

Dave Mingori finished as top Master in the Day Kimball Deary Hospital 5 Mile road race in Putnam, Ct. this weekend. Dave churned out sub-6s on the course to finish in 29:50 for 10th place overall.

I think Dave better get a new closet for all the master's hardware he'll be collecting!

NETT puts two in the top 10 at HERC Open

DimaD and Crazy Dave cracked the top 10 overall (and top five in their respective categories) at the Herc Open Speed Hiking Competition in Sugarbush, Vt. this weekend.

The unique race did not have a male/female scoring system to determine winners of the $25,000 cash prizes, but rather split competitors by weight--Over and under 60 Kg. Dima was in the over and Dave in the under. The race course itself was extremely difficult--6,600 feet of elevation gain in about 15 miles, all on the donwhill ski trails of Sugarbush (topping out at more than 4,000 ft at the top of Lincoln Peak).

Dima ran strong from the get-go putting in a steady effort on the uphills and making up some ground on the stacked field during the long downhills. Not surprisingly, Dave did just about hte opposite and would catch Dima on some of the steep uphills (as steep as 70% grade!) and then watch him pull away on downhills.

Dima held on to finish 4th in the over 60Kg category in 2:27:41. Dave was in the mix until a total physical meltdown (legs cramped up) on the last uphill and managed to stagger to the line in 2:32:59 good for 5th place in the skinnies category.

Friend of NETT Tricia Grenier finished 15th in her category in the short loop race.

Jennifer S also started the race, but got wise quickly and pulled out of it. I bet she can walk down stairs today!

CLICK HERE to watch a video news report on the race, including an interview with winner Paul Low.

There's some race photos here.Look for more photos HERE!

The race was somewhat controversial in the decision to award money based solely on weight class and not gender. Read THIS ONLY FORUM DEBATE will show you). Also See Scott Livingston's BLOG with his distaste for the race prize structures along with comments from some of the women in the race.

If it helps put things in perspective, when you look at the results of the top 12 without weight class, here's where they fall (O=Over 60Kg, U=Under 60Kg)

O1 Paul Low Belchertown MA 405 33 2:05:39.0 7:51/M
U1 Ben Nephew Mansfield MA 15 32 2:21:31.9 8:51/M
U2 David Vona Valatie NY 22 25 2:22:05.4 8:53/M
U3 Dan Verrington Bradford MA 4 45 2:25:39.7 9:06/M
O2 Eric Morse Berlin VT 466 42 2:26:38.8 9:10/M
O3 Mark Churchill Morrisville VT 455 32 2:27:34.4 9:13/M
O4 Dmitry Drozdov Waltham MA 468 35 2:27:41.6 9:14/M
U4 Cliff Lentz Brisbane CA 8 42 2:29:20.0 9:20/M
U5 Dave Hannon West Roxbury MA 38 36 2:32:59.3 9:34/M
O5 James Sweeney Albany NY 448 26 2:33:48.7 9:37/M
U6 Jack Pilla Charlotte VT 27 49 2:35:29.5 9:43/M
O6 Eli Enman Huntington VT 450 30 2:42:51.5 10:11/M

Here's a review of the race in the Montpelier Times Argus.
And to make sure their weekend was complete, Dmitry and Jennifer spent Sunday at the Xterra Triathlon up in Hanover NH, with Dmitry 23rd and Jennifer 52nd.

DaveB puts another Falmouth in the books

Dave Bartel made his semi-annual pilgramage to the Falmouth Road Race again this weekend to fight the usual cape crowds, heat exhaustion and other fun maladies. Here's his race report:

"First 2-3 miles came easier than expected through the hills at 7:49, 7:38, 7:55.
I picked up a side stitch around 3 miles and the brutal heat of Shore Drive (long and straight along the ocean) was tough and I definitely could feel I was losing it. 8:10. Uh oh. I gotta hang in there and finish this thing....8:13, 8:16
Very bad side stitch after the 10k mark. Holding my side. Up over the last insult-to-injury hill was extremely hard, finished off with satisfaction that I completed yet another Falmouth Road Race regardless of time."

"Don't call it a comeback, I've been here for years"

Miller 1st, Toledo 7 at Central NH Cycling Race

Paul Miller continued his summer of splendour on the bike winning his category in the Central New Hampsire Road Race in Bow, NH last weekend, while Toledo Joe finished a very strong 7th place.

Here's Paul's report on the race:

"It was really hilly, with one and a half long hills at the beginning of each lap which made it good for breaking up the field.

Right from the get-go Joe and I set a pace that reduced the field to 4.

At the beginning of lap two I reduced it to just one guy who got back on my wheel on the downhill --- unfortunately it wasn't Joe. I kept trying to shake him on each rolling hill the next time, then at the beginning of the long hill next time round I dropped him to ride the final lap alone.

Joe, after timetrialing about 2 laps alone got caught by a group and had to race it out with them, getting 7th."

Great work guys!

Photo courtesy of Velocity Results?