Release Your Inner Moose

Time for the annual Moose 10 mile relay at Nashua's Mine Falls, where as any regular reader of this blog knows, some of the greatest E Streeter victories in the annals of running history have occurred.
In case you forget, or in case you're folks who try to blot out the crushing defeats of years gone by, you can recap here:

Days of Moose Gone By

and here:

Revenge of the Moose

Alas, this year, some of the past victors were unable to return to the trail to mark their territory again, so it was time for a new E Streeters foursome to emerge.

And we held our own quite nicely, thank you.

Here we are pre-race, from left to right, Captain Awesome, Tom Hickey, Andrew, and an 11th-hour pinch runner, Stephanie Finn.

The next generation of Greater Lowell Road Runners brought a veritable ARMY to the outing

Complete with Moose ears

Waiting for the race, Andrew, Stephanie, and Tom size up the competition

Under the shelter of the Dunham Running Club canopy local running legend Dave Dunham and his team

What happens when you find out you're racing head-to-head, mano-a-mano against one of the greatest and fastest runners the Merrimack Valley has ever seen?  You'll have to ask Dave.

Seriously, what are we even doing in the same picture?  Maybe I have a chance....

As always, the Moose relay features the craziest running togs to be found anywhere - and this guy did the ENTIRE 10 miles!

Here's Dave finishing one of his laps.  Notice he's not looking over his shoulder to see where I am.

In case you haven't been up Mine Falls way, it's definitely worth checking out.  A great network of trails, and some serene vistas

The trail less travelled

With Steph taking the first lap and passing the baton, I stepped in for my throwdown with Dunham

And came back a LOT sweatier than I went out

And passed the torch on to Tom

Who took off like a cannon

Leaving the final loop for Andrew the Anchor, though truth be told, I think I was the anchor dragging the team down.

And he's off for the final leg!

And of course, he finished strong.

We came in at a respectable 1:14, or a 7:40 pace for the foursome on a blistering hot Sunday morning.

Here Stephanie swaps out the after-picture with her sister Alyssa, along with the rest of Clan Hickey.

And with a fourth place finish, and a cumulative age nearly triple that of the teams that bested us, we once again came home with the hardware.

That means medals, and of course, the wondrous Moose mugs - much coveted, hard to win.

So while they couldn't join us today, this mug's for the Moose of Years past - Donna Corbin, Mary-Jo Griffin, Caitlin Campopiano, Rebecca Newell, Scott Spence, Carlos Borges, Barry Scanlon, John Piekos, Jonathan Crockett, and Nate Tenczar.

REMEMBER THE MOOSE!