NETT freezes its arse off from Massachusetts to...Florida

It was a cold weekend of racing for several NETTers, including one that tried to escape the cold by heading to Florida.

Yes, when Chrissy Durden booked her trip to the Disney World Marathon in Florida on January 10th, she was probably more concerned with not overheating than dealing with frozen water cups. But thanks to a freakish cold spell, there she was toughing it out as always. Just seems this girl can't get a break when it comes to weather in marathons! Here's her report:

"The marathon was so fun, but it was also so cold, freezing actually! The cups of water at the aid stations were partially frozen and I think the volunteers deserve more of a congrats than the runners, at least we could run to keep warm!!

I finished in 4:09, a little slower then I wanted. But, in all I am happy with my performance. It was around mile 21 that I just felt as if I was standing still – despite giving it my all. I tried to dig deep, but I didn't have much left. It was also hard not to get distracted up in the fun of the theme park (I had never been)!"

For her troubles, Chrissy was given a medal with a big gold Mickey Mouse’s face on it.

And NETT sister Claire Scanlan was also in Florida, doing double-duty in the "Goofy Challenge," according to Chrissy (You'd have to be "Goofy to take this challenge!) Brian's sister ran the 1/2 marathon on Saturday morning in 1:45 in the freezing rain and then the full marathon on Sunday in 3:25for close to 40 miles in two days of record cold.

Closer to home, where it's SUPPOSED to be freezing cold this time of a year, a couple Mini Ponies made the most of it and race in snow-related sports. On Saturday, Chris Smith finished 8th overall at the Olde Salem Greens Classic snowshoe race in Salem, Mass.

And on Sunday morning with temps in single digits, Crazy Dave narrowly escaped complete humiliation by toeing the line in the Weston Winter Duathlon at the Weston Ski Track. "Basically this winter duathlon played out just like a summer one for me," he told the NETT news room. "After getting over the shock of an insanely high entry fee ($55 in this case), I finished the first run in the top few competitors, watched the vast majority of the racing field blow past me in the non-running portion (this time on skis instead of a bike, so that was a nice change of pace) and then just ran like hell again and tried to catch as many people as possible. Same strategy, different surface and season."

When the snow dust settled, Dave was 16th overall, but claims to have been first in the self-calculated "classical" skiing division.