Bananas, Bikes, and Road Race Rage

Wild weekend on the E Streeters outdoor calendar, clocking in with not one, but two 5K races, and a slew of varying length bike rides along the scenic roads of Martha's Vineyard.  Luckily, our intrepid RunCams and CycleCams were there to chronicle all the excitement for you, our dear readers!  So let's get going, shall we?

Sue, (a very cold) Courtney, John, and Scott start the wheels rolling out on Martha's Vineyard, riding to help raise money to cure multiple sclerosis!

Apparently, helmet laws only apply to some riders.

Either Courtney is still freezing out there, or she just wants John to put the CycleCam away

John runs into ANOTHER E Streeter out there (we're everywhere!) and manages to get his pic taken with Donna, who was not only riding with her husband Tom, but was helping to register riders!  She, however, would find her way off the island to run in one of the two aforementioned 5K races, unlike the other riders seen in above pics.)

Sunday morning sees a whopper of a turnout for the No Bananas 5K on the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail in Chelmsford, and happily, the Avengers, in the throes of a record-setting weekend at the box office, were represented in the results! 

Members of Clan Cassidy represented well for the family, with Brennan and DJ showing their dad how to finish in style

Too embarrassed to be seen running with their husbands, these E Streeters were content to stay in a pack, figuring they'd be spared our inane banter.  Their strategy didn't work.

And finally, a group of stalwart runners headed down to Wilmington for another 5K race, this one in honor of Kim Forte, an MCC professor who was struck and killed by a car last year in Wilmington.  For this one, the E Streeters morphed into Team MCC, and added some new running legs to the mix.  Looking mighty snappy in our matching running tees, I must say

Jonathan is all thumbs up and smiles at the race start, because he knows he'll only have to run with us for about 10 yards because he'll be leaving us in his dust momentarily

 Pre-race, Donna is the toughest looking of the three, hands down.

 

The whole Team MCC would be out there cheering in Donna, who somehow managed to get her long-sleeve shirt off during the race, even though it was beneath her running tee!  Nobody can figure that one out.

This was the only way we could get Barry to shut up

And finally, no, we're not bragging about all the mileage we clocked this weekend.  We're trying to flash our gangsta signs because we're all wearing the same hats and tees.  Apparently, we're just not gangsta enough to pull it off. ALTHOUGH - Tommy did show some gangsta cred early on in the race, muscling his way to a better finish, albeit at the cost of an unsuspecting, smaller runner.  Road Race Rage is alive and well in Wilmington apparently, although Tommy won't be welcomed back there any time soon.

So what do you do after this kind of fast-paced weekend? Why, you run into one another at the grocery store of course!  (And take pictures in the fruit section to mortify your children.)

E Streeters Assemble!

What was supposed to be a 10 mile Cinco de Mayo run in the wildlands of Tyngsboro turned into a 12-mile sweat-soaked expedition today for a group of E Streeters.  (Some of our group were pedaling their wares out on Martha's Vineyard, you'll see more on that in tomorrow's round-up.)

Meanwhile, the group of us that did venture out onto the dark, dangerous, and deadly streets of canteloupe-free Tyngsboro did so riding on the great success of this weekend's blockbuster Avengers movie debut.  So in honor of that flick, we each adopted the roles of one of the characters for today's outing.

Happily, I had my Captain America shield at the ready to deploy.

Carlos, apparently, wanted to play the role of either billionaire playboy Tony Stark or Hugh Hefner.  That's okay, he's done so many Iron Man races, that role's a natural for him.

Here's Captain America posing with Thor, the god of Thunder (on the right, and Nick Fury, super-spy, sans eyepatch, on the left)

Early on, we had some terrific trails in Tyngsboro, made even more exciting with tales of spanish men's fashion magazines.

Our Iron Man was happy to lead the way

Scarily, we had the Incredble Hulk himself, Barry, pointing the way out of the Tyngsboro woods

Since we didn't have Scott or John with us, we were allowed to run in Tyngsboro, and that includes a run over the treacherous Tyngsboro bridge.  Happily, we all survived the ordeal.

The run did feature a town-line or two.  Any guesses as to who took this one?  Here's a clue:

At one point, Officer Iron Man offered to give directions to a lost driver.  Sadly, the man's destination was right there on his right, as Carlos instructed him to drive left.

And amazingly, I was even able to locate my very own Captain America fire hydrant along the route!  I'll use this opportunity to plug the Avengers movie.

And finally, to wrap up the morning, a visit to Larry's Comics for Free Comic Book Day with Shea and Finn!  I succesfully corrupted two more young minds and introduced them to the wonders of comic books.  My work here is done!

Avengers Assemble - Finally!

To say that I've waited pretty much my entire life for this particular day to arrive - sorta - would not be an understatement.  What day would that be?  Why, not Star Wars Day (May the Fourth be with you.)

Of course, I'm referring to the arrival of the most anticipated comic book movie of my lifetime, and therefore, anyone who's had to put up with my comic book geekdom for decades (I'm looking at YOU, Jackie Cook!) 

Finally, after years of set-up movies, the Avengers hits the big screen today!  It's one of the first comic books I ever remember buying, at the malleable age of four, and the only Silver Age comic book series I have in its entirety.  So the thought of this finally making it to the big screen, in a film featuring most of Marvel's flagship heroes, is a comic book nerd's dream come true.

Andrew, my second generation Avenger fan, took in the midnight show with his Holy Cross buddies, complete, of course, with an authentic Captain America shield.

Yes, Cap and the Marvel heroes and villains have followed us throughout our lives

 Luckily, though, we have thunder gods like Josh to protect us

But beware of Doctor Doom and his fellow villains

So go take in the movie, and check in here later to let me know how much you loved it!

AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!

Christos Anesti! (A few weeks later)

This weekend, we got to enjoy Greek easter with our favoritest Greek (and Irish) friends - delayed a couple of weeks by a pesky head cold for our chief extraordinaire Abby, as well as a Boston Marathon weekend that didn't allow for carbo-loading with feta cheese and pita.
Tremendous Greek delicacies abounded as the Vergados clan rolled out the red and white carpet for a mouth-watering feast that allowed us to happily get our Greek on for an Easter Feaster!

Here I am with my two favorite Greek For A Day Goddesses

The King himself, seated comfortably in his throne, Josh was the lord of all he surveyed.  He regaled us with songs much like those celebrated in the Greek feasts of yesterday - Bob the Builder, Let Me Call You Sweetheart, and Snoopy Come Home.

Abby didn't cast any Dark Shadows over this incredible feast, which featured an award-winning platter of pastisio, not to mention pita, salad, lamb, stifado, potatoes, and braided koulourakia!

Collinswood itself never saw such a spread!

Being an Irish dog, Brogan didn't know what to make of the whole soiree.  Luckily, he had Heather there to explain it to him.

Great times with great friends!  Sadly, Andrew was unable to join us this time around, but that would have meant at least another platterful of lamb for the menu.

And lest we forget, this Friday sees the release of a movie us comic book fans have been waiting our entire lives to see.  Yea, verily, Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor! So let's leave you with The Mighty Josh uttering the immortal words heralding the arrival of the biggest movie of 2012.  Let the call go forth!

AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!

Trailrunning 'till it Hoyts

Today's run sponsored by a machine who once again kicked some of our butts in this year's Boston Marathon.  Inspiration Squared - Dick and Rick Hoyt!

Back to the outstanding trails and adjacent roads around the Lowell-Dracut State Forest, with E Streeter Mike Cassidy returning to the fold.  We were running in Lowell, so obviously, no Scott and John today.  Here's Mike conquering the hills heading back into the woods.  Tyngsboro Police Officer Carlos wasn't in the picture because he was too busy casing some of the neighborhood homes and watching out for rogue mail carriers.

Sadly, when you've been running together for so long, you start dressing alike. Apparently we should have called one another ahead of time to avoid this social faux pas.  Either that, or three of us just want to let everyone know we were stupid enough to run the Derry 16 miler, an extremely flat course in the frozen tundra every January.  This picture gets me singing the old Sesame Street song, "One of these things doesn't belong here....."

Mike was lost at this point, just following trailblazer Tommy and keeping an eye out for errant wild animals indigenous to that pond.

Back at the Elks, an invigorating run behind them, some of the E Streeters are apparently confused, ready to pay their parking fees.  Silly boys, that's only at East Boston Camps!

A tough run for John

With the marathon behind us, nobody's afraid of running trails and twisting an ankle anymore, so we were thrilled to get back to the fabulous network of trails at Carlisle's Great Brook Farm today!  

Not everyone, though, had a great run.  Poor John.  It was a tough day for this stalwart E Streeter.

Was it because he took a Hall of Fame tumble early in the run?  No, because he recovered so deftly with a barrel roll for the ages, I wasn't able to get it on film.

Was it because he was haunted by recurring tales of a 1995 five-miler when he was bested at the finish line

by a fitter, stronger, more talented runner?  No, not that either.

So what was the problem today?

It was the realization that parking at Great Brook during peak season brings with it a nominal parking fee.  Anyone who knows John knows this development would not yield a smiley face emoticon on John's Facebook page or twitter account.

Here's where he found out the news that the parking today came with a cost

Miles into the run, and John was still ranting to Scott about the fee

.

For our part, we couldn't help but laugh at John's plight

Susan  Scott tried desperately to distance himself from John's incessant gripes, sometimes running alone just for some peace and quiet

The rest of us just tried to run away as fast as we could, to enjoy the peaceful serenity of the trails, free of the daily grind of everyday life

Finally, we had to stop to let John join us, with a promise of no more tales of trails throughout the East Coast that don't come with parking fees.

But at the end of the day, there was no avoiding the reality:  it was time to cough up.  But, in typical John fashion, as he took out his First Communion money from his wallet and made the payment, he was rewarded with an errant quarter he found in the dispenser!  The day wasn't a total loss!  And there's no truth to the rumor that John turned around and sold his parking pass to an incoming parker for double what he paid for it.

Back on the Horse

The Saturday after the Boston Marathon, it's time to hit the trails again, and see how the legs and feet are feeling, so what better way to test it than an E Streeters trail run at East Boston Camps in Westford?

Joined today, by special guest star Jill Kenny, training for her upcoming Vermont half-marathon.  Someone finally brought some running creds to the Kenny name.

L.L. Bean, Eastern Mountain Sports, take note: it may be hard to see, but that twig tucked in securely over Scott's ear is the new-found, sure-fire way to keep ticks off you during a trail run.  Scott, patent it now.

Right around here, Tommy broke open yet another of the blisters he earned as a badge of honor finishing Boston in that ridiculous temperature on Monday.  The next picture would have shown the pain on his face.

The family that runs together, has fun together.  Mysteriously, Sean and Jill were always taking a different path through the woods.  Nobody could figure out what they were up to.

Finally, back at East Boston Camps, none the worse for the wear, we're ready for muffins.  Thankfully, no residual effects post-Boston, so it's full-steam ahead, back in the groove, and any other cliches we can think of to say that we're ready to run again!