New England Track & Trail is a small but growing running club in the Metrowest Boston area. Its members participate in running, triathlon, trail running and trail racing, cross country racing, orienteering, snowshoe racing and more! Interested in coming out to a run or finding out more about our membership? Drop us a line at Ttroll71@aol.com.
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!
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.
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.
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 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.
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).
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.
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.
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."
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)
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."
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.
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.
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!
"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.
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 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
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.
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.
