NETT finishes third in FIRM Grand Prix!!!

Great news from Frank on the FIRM Grand Prix final standings:

New England Track & Trail had tremendous success in the 2009 FIRM Grand Prix Series. For a relatively small team we scored often and high putting us in 3rd place overall. We had 21 mini ponies participate in at least one race.

In each race in the FIRM Grand Prix points are awarded within each category as follows: 1st place 8 points, 2nd place 5 points, 3rd place 3 points, 4th place 2 points, and 5th place 1 point. Across the 10 GP races we had 40 entries and scored a total of 248 points. The maximum potential points we could have scored is 293 points resulting in a “utility rate” close to 85% - that is an incredible achievement that truly shows the quality of NETT. In fact every single member who entered a race scored points.

This year the "next generation" of NETT emerged on the scene and the 5 teenagers showed lots of talent. Katherine was perfect in her 4 races adding up 32 points in the spring. Jim III, Daniel, Noah and Nicholas all scored in relay teams at Wrentham and Webster. At Webster Crazy Dave crashed the Kids relay and did the bike leg in gut wrenching style when Jim III had to opt out.

Eri, Karyn, Martin and Jim were the newcomers on the multisport scene. Eri surprised us all by showing that he's a fantastic swimmer and great bikeer in addition to being a strong runner - and no wetsuit for this powerhouse. Karyn simply surprised everyone on at the beach in Webster by popping out the water like a submarine; and in both races she used her fast run to pass a multitude of people in her age-group.

Martin was a great success story this year, getting better for each race he did this season putting down some amazing swim and run splits. The other guys in his age group better start getting used to see the NETT coyote pull away from them in that final leg.

And then there is Jim--our Clydesdale monster swimmer and cyclist; the guy looks like a low-flying missile on the bike.

On the relay side Big Al, Ali and Martin truly showed the colors at the FIRMMan race by winning in convincing style. And Big Al, Bruce and Dave won the Old Colony in equally impressive style. Al has done many relays with us over the years so thanks again for coming out and giving it all on those swim legs.

And finally there are the multisport veterans. Although unrelated to the FIRM GP the biggest achievement no doubt goes to Jerry who completed his first Ironman race – congratulations. Jerry still found time to score in 3 FIRM GP races as well and to no surprise won his age-group each time. Tina smartly built up her training and came out and with two strong performances in August and September. Bayside was Tina’s first ever ocean swim.

Lastly, there were the old pros Paul, Joe and Frank in the M40-44 that all did very well in their races. At the TDD triathlon we for once got our calendars synchronized so that we could race against each other. We used that opportunity to sweep the podium by taking 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in our age-group.

In the individual age-group standings the quality came through as well. We have 5 people winning their age-group in the series (Jerry, Jim, Katherine, Eri and Frank), two second places (Karyn and Martin), one third place (Paul), one 4th (Tina), one 5th (Chelsea) and one 7th (Joe) place finishes. Last year FIRM had the Grand Prix ceremony at the Wrentham Halloween Duathlon with awards to teams and age-group winners so you may want to consider blocking October 25 in your calendar.

All details about the FIRM Grand Prix at http://www.firm-racing.com/grandprix.asp
Congratulations to everyone for who made 2009 a stellar year for New England Track and Trail.

Editor's Note: A VERY special thanks to Frank KJ who did a lot of organizing to get our teams lined up and did a LOT of fact-checking on the scoring to make sure we got credit for all our efforts in this series. We're all very busy people and this is a 100% volunteer organization, and it takes folks like this to make these things happen, so thanks Frank.