NETT puts its best feet forward at Boston, Wrentham

Well if you were a runner, running fan or just a sports fan in Boston, this might have been your dream weekend.

While many of us were out watching Deena Kastor provide a tutorial on how to stalk like a Big Cat at the Women's U.S. Olympic Trials on Sunday, a few NETTers were out multisporting it up at the annual multisport kickoff event, the Wrentham Duathlon. Always a perrenial favorite at this event (spring or fall), Paul Miller had his work cut out for him this year, as he threw down a very solid 55-minute time for a third-place overall finish, behind two professional (or semi-pro) athletes. Most of us could only hope for such results.

And true to form, NETT had a couple of the top masters in Frank KJ notching a PR at Wrentham to slip in the top 10 overall (second master) in 59 minutes, while Toledo Joe pulled out the old Ganges Surprise to finish 1:01 and fourth in his age group. As always, great work.

And of course, Monday was the big day for that Fun Run from Hopkinton to Boston. As a specator home watching on TV, it was one of the most exciting races I can remember. Women's race right down to the wire and men's race was yet another clinic by a man possesed.
(Note the NETT on the back of the shirt which says "Congratulations! You've just been chicked by a Mini Pony!")

There were more than a few of the extended NETT family taking part. We'll be getting more details in dribs and drabs, but here's a roundup of folks' times that I can dig up:

Frank White 2:50:05
Tina Wang 3:32:22
Karen Mahoney-Ringheiser 3:20:32
Dima Feinhaus 2:58:39 (PR?)
Rick Cleary 3:37:02
Vlad Luppov 3:06:24
Ben Spiess 2:57:59
Chrissy Durden 4:24:27

For Dima Feinhaus, it was a marathon PR by over a minute and a 9-minute improvement over Boston last year. “I might have overhydrated on Sunday, because in the morning I was 3 lbs over my usual weight and I don't recall ever being so nervous before a race,” Dima reports. (Some of the overhydrated are executing their plan at mile 1--photo courtesy of JimRhoades.com)

For Karen Ringheiser, it was a PR on the Boston course even though she felt the sun was a bit hotter than she expected.

“I had so much fun!” exclaims Chrissy Durden about her run. “I had a bit of a rocky start due to some stomach issues, so once I realized I wouldn’t be able to make up enough time I decided to just have fun with it; and as strange as that may sound, I had a blast!”

Okay, I'm sure I missed a few, but that's a start....if you've got some pics or personal stories out on the course, send them along and I'm happy to post. Or if anyone has a picture of a Montreal Candiens shirt in flames, we can post that too.

(Tina says: "Uh oh...the Coke isn't that bad, but I think I should have skipped the burrito at mile 18!")

Also, for those running geeks that JUST CAN'T GET ENOUGH of it all, I recommend checking out the Flocasts site for post-race interviews with elite athletes from the women's Olympic trials including Deena Kastor and Crazy Dave's pal Yolanda Flamino. Very cool stuff.