New York City Marathon

How great is it to see an American win the NYC Marathon? In a USA shirt to boot.

 I get a kick out of how they played up Ryan Hall for much of the race and Meb comes through with the win.  Of course, that has to do with some of the non-running broadcasters. Everything has to be a cliche or witty remark. Why not put Toni Reavis alone in the booth and keep the others out on the remotes? They did a good job. They just had to put up with stupid questions or idiotic observances from the play by play guy. Just my opinion, of course.

Oh well, aside from that. Great to see Americans finish 1st and 4th.

Photo at right is from Boston in 2006 at 15 miles. Meb finished in 2:09.56, 2.42 behind Robert Cheruiyot. Not sure who #19 is, he was a dnf.

Boston Mayor's Cup

It was a gorgeous day to watch some cross country racing at the Boston Mayors Cup in Franklin Park. The trees were on fire with color, the temps were low 60's and there was a bit of mud on the course, it doesn't get much better than this.

Kudos go out to DJ Principe, son of Turtle president Dave. DJ won the 10 and under race with a time of 6.40 over a 1.1 mile course.

See some photos of the races here:

Mens Championship 8k

Womens Championship 5k

All races gallery

Grog and Dog Jog

What a beautiful day for racing and eating. I headed over to watch the Turtles race the Grog and Dog Jog at the Wild Colonial in Providence. It is a relay of 1 1/4 miles X four with a beer and a dog before you hand off to the next runner. The trick is trying to eat and drink as fast as possible with out puking, because many places change during the handoff. You can also leave your eating manners home for this one.

Our Turtle team dressed up as Geeks, well, truth be told, it is not really a turtle team. Two Turtles, Bob Jackman and Ben Keefe were joined by Alan Bernier of CMS and Zak Kudlak of the Unattached TC. Alan went as far as to add tape the glasses and pens in his pocket, no pocket protector though. Also on the start line were a wench, a hot dog, runners in tux's and wigs and wings, i even saw a running clam. From the start, Zak took the lead for the defending champion Turtles, building a small lead by the time they emerged on the other side of the Providence River. At the end of his leg, Zak grabbed his beer and dog and chowed it down pretty quick, then handed off to Ben Keefe. Ben hasn't been doing any speed work this summer and it showed. He held off the second runner, clad in a tie and BC tank top, by mere seconds. This is where fast eating comes in handy, we were out first with Bob Jackman and another BC runner right behind. Bob lost the lead, but due to fast eating we got a good start on the last leg with Alan cranking out a fast mile and a quarter, but it still was close enough that they were eating for first and second in the food corral at the same time.

From the sidelines, you can look at them and wonder why they aren't eating any faster, but i guess until i run one myself i will just never know. Someone said that Keith Kelly put down his dog/beer combination in 20 seconds, hope he didn't spill any on his wench outfit. Costume of the day is a tossup between the running wenches and the hot dogs. One can only imagine what a passing motorist must think? Why is the St Paulie Girl chasing that guy down the road, is he a bad tipper?

Kudos go out to Brien Lang and the Wild Colonial for putting on a fun event.

For more photos of the Grog and Dog Jog, look here.

Link to the Wild Colonial here.

At right is Clammie the Narragansett beer mascot.

CVS Caremark Downtown 5K

I got out for an early run today so i could finish up and head over to the USATF National Championship 5k in Providence. It is nice having a top notch race as this just 10 minutes from my house. I ran this race only once, 11 years ago when i was 40 years old. At the time, i was pretty quick and managed to run a 15.25 for 5th master, that would have won todays race. That's what happens when you pull out the money for masters, it went 10 deep then and maybe 3 deep now. Aside from that, this is still a great race. You want to run a fast time and aren't concerned with place, come to this race. Don't want to run, it is still a great race to spectate at

Want to see some photos from the race, click here..

See some off beat high school runners here.

See Flotrack Video here.

ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM

Well, it is Labor Day Weekend which means one thing to me, Lime Rock Vintage Fest!  For those of you not in the know, it is a weekend of old sports cars racing around a mile and a half road course in beautiful western Connecticut. There are cars from the early thirties to the late seventies. It is NOT your popular run in circles with cars that all look the same kind of boring racing. These cars have character and history attached to them. These cars have style, grace and elegance.


Pictured is the star of the show. It is a Mercedes-Benz W154 Silver Arrow Grand Prix car last raced in 1939 as World War II broke out. It had not been on a road course since then. The sound that this car makes going around the track is like a symphony. See a video of it here .

If you care to see some photos from the event, here are 50 of my favourites.

If you are really bold, see the full 275 shots here.

Race to the Top of Vermont

The Turtle Mountain Team headed up to Stowe, Vermont this weekend to run up Mt. Mansfield. The event is The Race to the Top of Vermont.  Making the drive up on a rainy Saturday were John Peabody, Martin Tighe(why do people continue pronounce his name"teague"?) and his nephew James, Vicki and Chris Jasparro, Jackie and Bob Jackman, Zak Kudlak, Larry Walker and me. We had rented a house for the night right in Stowe and packed it tight with runners. Also staying with us was Jim Johnson, author of the world famous DoubleJ running blog.

Saturday night, we picked up our numbers and headed over to The Shed Brewery for dinner and some beers. The beers were decent but not great and the food was expensive for what you get. A vegetarian quesadilla for 18 dollars seems a bit steep and it wasn't that big either. Towards the end of dinner, the waitress came over to the table and informed us that there was a police DUI checkpoint set up down the road so we let the non-drinkers drive back to the house. Turns out the police were set up right in front of our house! After the checkpoint broke up, we picked up a few six packs and sat down to watch the 2009 video of  Mt Washington road race, good stuff. You might be able to tell that we weren't taking the race too seriously considering all the beers.

Race morning was overcast but soon burned off to produce a beautiful day. We left early to make a stop at Bingham Falls in Smugglers Notch State Park. It was a long downhill hike to the falls and was worth the walk. The hike also helped loosen up my legs for the task ahead. Now it was time to get over to the toll road and hang out for a while for everything to get started.

First off were the walkers, then an hour later go the mountain bikers followed ten minutes later by the runners. I started off with John P., just behind Jackie and Chris J. I started off real conservative seeing that the uphill started right away. I figured to run with John Peabody as far as possible, but John wasn't coming along, so i had to go it alone. The course is a mixture of steep climbs and a few flats or near flat sections to give you a chance to catch your breath. The road is also dirt, but in really good condition. I chugged along at 12 min. or so pace for much of the race, mixing in slow running and power walking, this seemed to work well for me. Once the temperature started to drop near the top, i felt even better, not that i was going any faster, just more comfortable with the pain. By half way, we were passing mountain bikers on the road. I just can't imagine riding my bike up a road like this, last week i was riding up some of the jeep trails around Mt Toby and the quad burn was intense. I passed bikers on my power walks, they were peddling and going nowhere. I finished up in 54.40 at 97th place. Not too bad for where my fitness level is right now. This summer has seen too many little setbacks, you miss a week here and 10 days there, so there isn't any forward progress. I think that is behind me now, or at least i hope so. I ran down the mountain after the race and could actually walk this morning, unlike Mt Ascutney six weeks ago. I guess that is a sign of progress.

As a group, the Turtles did well, Jackie Jackman placed 4th woman overall and first in 30-39. Martin Tighe won the 50-59 group and Bob Jackman was 3rd in 20-29.

Overall, the race was won by Jim Johnson (35.30) and Kasie Enman (40.12) New course records for both.

Eric Morse finished second.

All in all, this is a nice race. Organization was very good. The only gripes i have are with the post race. If you go to the effort to do big post race free barbecue, you might want include something to drink too. Bottled water, soda, juice, something. In this case, you had to stand in a long line at the bar to get an overpriced can of soda after waiting in a long line for food. The other thing is the award ceremony. At the start, we were told that awards were at 12.30, the entry form said 1pm. In all actuality, 1.45 they finally got underway. There was a huge raffle with some real nice stuff, but considering that we had a 4 1/2 hour drive in front of us, there was no way we were hanging that long. Chip timing was nice, so can't you get things going faster?

For a report on the goings on up front in the race, see Jim Johnsons blog.

Later

Scott

Runner Attacks Photographer

 

                 Well, I wasn't really attacked by a runner, it just looks like i was in the line of fire.


 I took a ride up to the Mt Toby Trail Run on Sunday with 5 of my Turtle teammates who were running this 14 mile trail race. Since i am in really lousy running shape right now, i went only as photographer and as one turtle put it, Turtle trail organizer. The runners were Martin Tighe, Bob Jackman, Larry Walker, Ben Keefe and John Peabody. I like the fact that more of the Turtles are getting into mountain and trail racing, only wish i was running more of them. Soon, i hope! Actually, next week i am supposed to run up Mt Mansfield @ Stowe, Vermont. Not really looking forward to that. Anyway... i did take my mountain bike with the camera in the backpack up the trail at Toby in search of a place to take photos that wasn't too dark. It wasn't an easy trail to bike on, lots of uphill, ruts, rocks and water, but i loved it. I only wish that there wasn't a race going on and there wasn't a 10 pound camera strapped to my back. Flying down the trails at breakneck speed over rocks and ruts is a total blast! I finally settled on a good place to shoot in a brief clearing where the local fire department guys had set up a water stop. We were the 12 mile mark, down hill all the way to the finish. They even offered me a beer, who am i to turn that down until i heard the choices, Bud or Bud Lite. Much as i despise both of these, i went with the Bud. I was hot and sweaty and covered in mud, the Spudweiser tasted great.

After many photos, we all headed south to Northampton for the local brewpub. The Northampton Brewery was very good. Food and beer both tasted good. The double IPA was quite tasty and the aroma from the brewing process just enhanced the whole experience.

                                     I love the smell of boiling malts in the afternoon.


                                   Want to see some photos from Mt Toby, click here .

Back in the Day, 30 & 10 Years Ago

Thirty years ago this weekend, i ran my first St Mary's Feast 5.5 Mile race. It is held at 5 pm on a Saturday and needless to say, is normally a swelteringly hot day with very little shade along the way. This was race #11 of the year for me which also make it 11th ever, seeing this was my first year racing. I started out with my buddy Richard Collard  and after pulling away from him, ended up in a battle with Darryl Simoneau from Cumberland HS, getting out kicked into the finish. I finished in 30.30 for 5.5 or 5.7, or whatever the real distance was. My friend, Roland Davide, in my opinion, the best runner ever to come out of Rhode Island, easily won the race. Roland was on the comeback trail at the time with a lot of great running in front of him. 

Along the way, i logged many long runs with Roland, which helped push me to the extreme. We would run a Saturday morning 21 miler that was back loaded with some killer hills, pushing up the pace towards the end of the run. It was not unusual for us to run the last mile in 5-5.05 after running two shitty steep long hills leading to the finish at his house in Coventry. Of course, there were days when i would just grab his shoulder and say SLOW DOWN, we always ended up picking the pace up again anyway. I remember one long run leading up to the New York City Marathon in 1982. I told him of this 20 mile workout we could do on a rolling course out around the Scituate Reservoir. We headed out on the supposed 20 that ended up being 27 miles, the pace coming in was fast. I think Roland was pissed! We were wiped out, having no water for 27 miles will do that, but back then, who needed water anyway. Because of my indiscretion in getting the miles right, Roland told me i had to double up on my races the next day so i could join him at an afternoon race he was committed to running at the PM Pub. We both ran the Warwick 10k in the morning where i surprisingly ran 32 flat for a PR at that distance, Don't remember Roland's time, but i would guess it was 30 low change. Later that afternoon, we showed up at the PM Pub and went 1-2 for the 5 mile race after an early scare from Dick Tardiff, who rocketed out at the start, and we no doubt, enjoyed a few beers after the race. The photo in the local paper had us finishing side by side and many people said i almost beat Roland, Yeah, Right. He was a sub 30 10k guy, no way i was beating him at that point of my running career. I really enjoyed my time running with Roland Davide and he is part of the reason i got as fast as i did.

Shoot ahead 20 years to the same weekend as St Mary's and we have the Wachuset to Wachuset Road Race. Like St Mary's, it was a late afternoon 5 mile race and this year, it was hotter than hell. Race time temp was about 95 degrees. I made the trek up to this race with some of the Turtle boys, Dave Larsen, Mark Mitsmenn, Ernie Valliere and Chris McDonough in Dave's 1977 Eldorado. There is more room in this car than a school bus. One of the major draws here was that it finished at a brewery with live music and beer after the race, what is better than that! It also had 40% downhill and only 20% up in this point to point race, so the course profile seemed quite interesting. The race started in the parking lot at the ski area and came screaming downhill to Rte 140 and then headed along rolling hills until you hit the 4 mile mark where it went down for about 3/4 of a mile and then flat into the finish. My last mile of the race was a 4.40 mile, side by side with Dan Johnson from Providence, not bad for a 41 year old. We came in towards the finish and realized that you had to make a sharp 180 degree turn 100 meters from the finish. At the pace we were running, we thought, who the f--- thought up this finish? Dan, with the younger legs, got me in the sprint. The last mile was electric, it had to be one of the most exhilarating last miles i ever ran in a race. Side by side and neither would give, striding like gazelles, that is what racing is all about! 

Too bad this race only lasted for a few years, your entry fee got you a t-shirt, a pint glass and a growler of beer along with music and food. Why do these races always seem to disappear? 

 Wachusett to Wachusett 5-Miler

Westminster, MA, July 17, 1999

  1   1/98   M2029   24:20  4:52 ARTHUR GILKES          25 M   774 SOMERVILLE MA           CMS
 2   2/98   M2029   24:41  4:57 DANIEL JOHNSON         26 M   956 PROVIDENCE RI           BAA
3   1/176  M4049   24:43  4:57 SCOTT MASON            41 M   576 WARWICK RI              TNT
4   1/203  M3039   24:47  4:58 MAURITS VAN DER VEEN   32 M   775 SOMERVILLE MA           CMS
5   1/19   M0119   24:55  4:59 MIKE SMITH             19 M  3034 PRINCETON MA            CMS
 6   3/98   M2029   25:00  5:00 RICHARD BOLT           28 M   862 PEPPERELL MA            CMS
 7   2/19   M0119   25:21  5:05 NATE JENKINS           18 M  3037 TEMPLETON MA            UMASS LOWELL
8   4/98   M2029   25:39  5:08 KEVIN BECK             29 M   982 CONCORD NH              CMS
9   2/176  M4049   26:49  5:22 TIM BLOUIN             42 M   607 TEMPLETON MA            GLRR/NMC
10   2/203  M3039   27:09  5:26 JASON CAKOUROS         34 M   107 MILTON MA