Give This Man a Medal!

Some of you know, because I've written about it elsewhere, the story of my friend and fellow E Streeter, Lowell Police Officer Nick Laganas.  Here's the pic of Nick I snapped at Mile 16 of the Boston Marathon, on the bridge passing over Route 128.  The photo has made its rounds among Nick's friends, of whom there are many.  Nick and I are part of the PT team at the Lowell Police Academy that helps train police officers to run.

This particular blog post, though, is written because of an unfortunate development that we're looking to correct ASAP, and I have no doubt whatsoever that the incredible folks who work at the Boston Athletic Association will help us fix it in no time flat.  Here he is with fellow E Streeter, and another person who helps out at the Police Academy, Barry Scanlon.

As many of you know, Nick ran in his first Boston Marathon Monday.  He's already a running machine, but this was his first venture onto the vaunted course.  Nick impressively made it across the finish line in under four hours, and was at the first water station in the finish chute, grabbing a water, when the first blast went off.  Instead of continuing down the finish chute, Nick did what law enforcement officers nationwide do - HE RAN TOWARD THE DANGER, even after just logging 26.2 miles of running!

After making sure his parents who were there to cheer him on were uninjured and safe, Nick found himself offering first aid to some of the ailing victims.  His photo can be seen in some of the news coverage of the more graphic shots of the site of the first explosion.

Anyone who knows him knows that besides being a proud Army military police sergeant, a veteran who served in Baghdad, Iraq, a great guy, as well as the Mill City's combo of the Dark Knight and Spartacus, Nick's also a pretty modest guy, who shies away from the attention.

But in this case it's warranted.

You see, because Nick didn't continue further down the chute, he never was able to pick up a medal to mark his completion of the marathon.  He hasn't been able to grab it in the days since either, when the BAA has been taking care of the many thousands of runners who weren't able to complete the historic race because of the chaos.

So those of us among the E Streeters are hard at work trying to chase down a medal for Nick even as we speak.  Fellow E Streeter and Police Academy runner and Beantown Bootcamper Joe Patuto, who ran Monday in yet another of his many marathons, already has wheels in progress to help me secure a medal for this guy.

So hopefully, within the next 48 hours, we'll be able to get Nick his medal on behalf of the BAA.  I only wish there was another medal he could get for being a hero of a different kind at this year's Boston Marathon.

Track Your E Streeters

Less than 24 hours to go, and E Streeters worldwide are busy carbo-loading, hydrating, resting their feet, and filling their heads with all kinds of doubts and question about whether or not their training over the past five months has been sufficient enough to get them through the grueling 26.2 miles of tomorrow's Boston Marathon.

Guys, trust me, you're ready.

So here's the official 2013 E Streeters Pre-Boston Marathon to let all of you get your one-stop shopping to get the information you need to track this year's crop of E Streeters running.

Here's how you do it.

Go to the Marathon's Athlete Alert program.

http://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/participant-information/att-athlete-alert.aspx

 

Then type in the corresponding bib numbers for the following E Streeters.  You'll get text alerts for the runners at 10K (6.2 miles) the halfway point (13.1 miles) 30K (18.6 miles) and the finish.

 

Heres' their names and their numbers, that's all you'll need to keep up to speed on these speedsters:

 

Running his first-ever marathon, making us proud all around, my son Andrew, number 25168

Running in his sixth marathon, Barry Scanlon, number 25015, and his brother Tommy, running in his fourth consecutive marathon, number 25167

Running in his - get this - his 28TH CONSECUTIVE BOSTON MARATHON!!!!!! - Scott Graham clocks in at number 8142

MCC's IT guru Joe Patuto, now running marathons across the country, marks his return to the Boston Marathon at number 24282 (don't get in the car, Joe!)

And finally, the debut of another "rookie" to the Boston Marathon course, Lowell Police Officer Nick Laganas.  (You got this, Nick.  Don't forget the band-aids!)

Super proud of all my fellow E Streeters, it was a fabulous season of training, with more than three dozen different communities under our belts and just about as many snowstorms.

As fellow E Streeter Victoria would say, the hay's in the barn!

And come tomorrow, sparks fly on E Street!

All About the YooHoo

It's springtime in New England, so that mean it's time to Run the Rivah once again!

The 22nd annual 10 mile Merrimack River trail race, the baby of E Streeter extraordinaire Stephen "Petey" Peterson, is as sure a sign of spring as the first robin.  This tradition is just a lot muddier.

And with a fresh rainfall on Friday, that made for some exciting footwork on the breathtaking course from Andover to Tewksbury.

Warriors come for the run.  Others come for the coffee.

Mostly, though, they come for the legendary Top 10 chili.  Happy to finally contribute to one of the coveted Rivah tee-shirts this year, thwarted for years as as I was by finishing at the back of the pack and missing out on the once-meager offerings of chili.  Luckily, the chefs behind the scenes have since increased their rations, and there's a bowl or two left over for us back-of-the-packers.  Rivah Chili: It's Not Just for the Top 10 finishers anymore.

The trailmaster taskmaster himself, flanked by the race's 21 years of previous tees, getting ready to Cuyuga the troops at the start!

Some folks just don't know how to behave as they wait for the starting gun

And they're off!

Nearly halfway through the run lies one of the most ominous, humbling, and just downright sadistic hills known to trail-runners, known to all Merrimack River Rats as simply the Power Line Hill.

Petey is apparently everywhere on this course, including waiting atop the hill to egg us all on

It's an out-and-back course, so I get to see all the runners who are faster than me coming back at me.  That includes Scott, seen here crossing one of the dozens of brooks and waterways that riddle this course.

He still manages to "high-five" a fellow E Streeter in his quest for top 25

Shortly behind him comes Sean, mystically emerging from behind this tree

Along the course, you'll find Petey providing interesting tidbits of made-up history, including here on Cuyuga Hill, where he tells runners that they're climbing the third highest hill in Essex County, founded in the year 9.  Hey, it he said it so convincingly, I believed him.

Time for some fantastic finishes, a small stretch that features the muddiest patch on the entire course.  Many, like Chili MacSpence himself, choose the path less traveled.

Others take the plank

One of the 10 fundamental rules of running:  Always Know Where the Camera Is.  A real Mudblood, live and in person

After a grueling 10 mile trek through mud, up freakish hills, and along scenic river paths, nothing hits the spot like a bowl of Scott's chili.  Many come just for the chili and don't even run.  It's that good.

Afterwards, an E Street team photo only made sweeter by the abundance of bowls of chili.  Boston Marathoners come for the chili, too, another annual tradition

This year, Scott proudly joined the 200 Club, the prestigous club occupied by the select few who have logged 200 miles during the 22 year reign of the Run the Rivah trail race!  For that level of insanity, he gets a hat.

 And in the end, like it is every year at the Rivah, it's All About the Yoohoo.

Congrats once again to Petey and his A to Z prizes post-race. Mark your calendars for next April, and in the meantime, help Petey our by starting to think of prizes that begin with the letter X.  Cuyuga!

Zimmy and Jimmy

Robert Allen Zimmerman made his return to the Mill City last night, and did what most of his loyal fans expected of him, that is, doing virtually nothing you would expect.

Full disclosure:  I've been a long-time Bob Dylan fan, but never ventured out to one of his shows until recent years.

I grew up in a household where my older brother Jimmy - the only human on the face of the Earth whose singing voice can  make Bob Dylan's sound like a dulcet Andrea Bocelli - would incessantly sing the Dylan tunes off key, tennis-racket-turned-guitar-in-hand, his massive earphones preventing him from hearing us bemoan his lack of singing ability.  Seriously, it's because of Jimmy, arguably the biggest Dylan fan I know, that my entire family spent decades cringing at the release of a new Dylan album because it meant hours of off-key caterwauling.

Blood on the Tracks in our house was how we catergorized Jimmy's coverage of any new release.

Street Legal?  Not on D Street.

It's Alright, Ma was not just a song, it was mantra we used to reassure our mother on hearing the Chimes of Freedom ringing upstairs.

Rolling Thunder Revue became a Rolling Eyes Revue in our house.

You get the point.

So naturally, who do I go to see Dylan perform live alongside?  Victoria Secret's OTHER spokesman, my brother Jimmy.

The two of us had picked up Dylan's latest, the Tempest, a few weeks back, and truth be told, I rather quite enjoy it.  But it helps to see a Dylan show alongside a walking catalogue of his discography, as Jimmy can rattle off each song's name, along with the album from whence it hails, as well as the release year and the subsequent tour details.

Last night's gig at the Tsongas Center featured a decent helping of the new stuff, sprinkled with very few of the so-called "oldies" and crowd favorites, along with a smattering of songs from throughout his storied 50 year career.

Some quick observations, and diehard Dylanites, bear with me, these aren't criticisms (well, the last one is), these are just my version of liner notes.

If you would have told me prior to the show that Lucky Wilbury himself would not once touch a guitar throughout the show, I'd have said that's a World Gone Wrong.

What was up with the mirrors scattered around the stage?

Great, subdued but solid performance from his Masters of War on-stage with him.

A challenge to any of the attendees: can you remember Dylan speaking ONE SINGLE WORD to the thousands of Infidels gathered in Desolation Row in front of him? 

Great to hear faves like Tangled Up in Blue, Visions of Johanna, All Along the Watchtower, and Ballad of a Thin Man.

 What was up with that tour bus of protesters/activitists out front?  Many thought it was Dylan's own bus, though it wasn't.  Their ritualistic circle of dance and chanting and frivolity post-show was a tad unsettling.  And seriously, to the folks leafletting everyone afterwards lamenting Dylan's diversion from the 1960s songs of protests, GET OVER IT!  IT WAS OVER FORTY YEARS AGO!

But lastly, my only gripe of the night.  It wasn't the show's duration, clocking in at one hour, forty minutes.  Cut the guy some slack, he's 71, for crying out loud.  It was the ONE SONG ENCORE!  Seriously, he kinda left us Blowin' in the Wind with that one.  Many expected him to come back out and do at least one more, possibly his anthemic Like a Rolling Stone.  But hearing what I've heard about Dylan, that's probably exactly why he DIDN'T do just that.

All in all, good times.  It's a pretty special night when you get to see a music legend in your own hometown.  And I'm not talking about my brother, Jimmy.

 

Easter Rabbits

The final "long" run of the 2013 Boston Marathon training cycle - 15 miles -  which meant it was time for one more trip back in to break a few hearts on the hills of Newton on the marathon course along Boston College and its environs.

And this time, we were joined by Scott Spence, fresh off his Hawaiian adventure.

At this point of the run, we've still got a lot of gas in our reservoir

Heading out in Brookline, the sidewalks are ours.  No sign of the camelback this year.

Andrew, pointing out the marathon finish line, which seems oh, so far away at this point

Looks like Sean's trying to reel Andrew in

Recapturing their Eastern States pace, Tommy tries unsuccessfully  to keep an eye on Andrew, that brown speck way off in the distance

Five alive

Legends of the Boston Marathon - Johnny Kelly and the E Streeters

One of these men will make history on April 15

It looks like we made a fashion boo-boo, but look closely, you'll see we're rocking the Boston Marathon swag from 2008, 2010,  and 2012

And Four Horsemen came running out of the sun

Thank God for the well-placed water stops along the course 

And afterwards, what else, but our Boston Marathon post-run training regimen - Mexican food.  For me, it was breakfast tacos

Andrew went the route of chorizo

And Tommy? He went with the Chululu hot sauce.  Barry opted for the Korean cuisine further down the block.

One more 10 miler on the horizon for us, and then it's all over but the sobbing.

Happy Easter 2013 to all!