The Hills Were Alive, the Runners, Not So Much

So this morning was the Boston Prep 16 mile road race in Derry, N.H., and a bunch of us headed north to give it a try. For years, we've been hearing about how tough the course is, how many hills are in it, how bad the hills are around miles 9-13.

Turns out nobody was lying to us.

Don't they hold races on flat courses anymore?

Bad enough the weathermen were all wrong. It WASN'T warm, though we were able to get away with shorts. But apparently when you run on isolated back roads of New Hampshire, surrounded by snow-covered trees, fields, and meadows, the temperature tends to reflect the landscape. Brrr!

In the end, Tommy didn't need to protest Barry's designation as a Clydesdale runner, because apparently there are some Clydesdales who are pretty damn fast and took all of us out of the running for any hardware (which in this case was maple syrup).

Fun race, well organized, nice post-race event, great tee-shirt. But I'm still not convinced we'll be making a return trip in 2011.

First Run, First Scandal

Continuing a New Year's Day tradition that dates back decades, the E Streeters took to the streets on Friday for a New Year's Day jaunt, this time around the streets of Pawtucketville with 800 of our friends for the First Annual First Run 5K and 10K road races.

A good time had by all, especially the group that ran together and freaked out many of our fellow runners. Whether panicking them with threats of projectile vomiting, regaling them with screeching choruses of AC/DC songs, or egging on a Presidential candidate to take on a new running mate, there were lots of laughs to be had.

Here's a look at the wild, the not-so-innocent and the E Street shufflers, with photos courtesy of race photog extraordinaire Jim Rhoades. (Check out his website at http://www.jimrhoades.com/)

Here's Andrew, taking 24th place out of 400, third in his age group in the 5K, with a time of 21:14

Scott kicked ass for the 10K stretch, coming in 15th out of 404, at 39:46, second in his age group:

Then there's the group of five (Carlos, Barry, Pat, Tommy and John) that ran the 10K together - well at least four of them did. Here they come on the first pass around:

By the second loop, though, one of them had inexplicably disappeared. Here's four of them coming in to the finish. (You figure out which one was missing.)

So where did that fifth runner disappear to? Here's a clue: take a look at this runner, Tom Hildreth. Note his number, 376, as supported by the race results:

84 TOM HILDRETH 60 M 376 25:35.31 25:44.69 8:19

So then how did John manage to get captured on film a short time later sporting the same number?!?

Put this one down as the first running scandal of the New Year. And John, thanks for the fodder. We'll get a ton of mileage out of this one...........

Thanksgiving 2009 - the Turkeys Run

Huge turnout for this morning's Thanks4Giving 5K run in Lowell, and an outstanding showing from the E Streeters!! Here's just a few of the dozens of pics taken by the intrepid course photographer. We always run in a fog, but today that was especially true.

Here's the obligatory starting line pic:
Here's Carlos, telling us that there's no way he's letting Andrew (in the green hat) finish in front of him, despite what the 16-year-old might believe:
Here's me beating Scott and Carlos for a portion of the race. (The pic is blurry because I was running so fast.)

Andrew in the home stretch:

Carlos with his secret devil sign that he and Scott feel obligated to flash every time they're on camera together:

Not quite back of the packers, but definitely packers:

Running in a fog:

And of course, the obligatory after race pie shot. (Everyone who ran a solid race is holding one.)

And yet another pie shot, with a couple of different E Streeters thrown in. (Again, good race = pie holder.)

And that's a turkey wrap!

Thankful for family and good friends, thankful that we're all healthy enough to keep running, and thankful that for part of today's race, I was beating Scott and Carlos! Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Night of the Living Heather

Halloween 2009, just a memory in the rear view mirror, but one that will go down in history as the year my daughter took her first foray into the world of George Romero. So to speak.

So here, without any further ado or dialogue, is a look at what Heather had to eat whilst trick or treating this year.

Us4 at U2

Didn't get a chance to post earlier in the week, but Dublin's fab four rocked the house this weekend at Gillette Stadium!

U2 put on a great show, complete with a somewhat bizarre and ginormous stage set that really took away from any chance of interactive play among the band. Thankfully, the weather cooperated to provide a positively balmy night, always a plus for any outdoor show at Foxboro.

Lots of stuff off the new album, No Line on the Horizon, mixed in with a healthy dose of their catalog from the past 25+ years.

But Bono, the Edge, Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton aside, the real highlight of the night for me was taking in the first rock concert ever with my own version of the Fab Four - me, Jack, Andrew and Heather! Andrew and Jack were naturals because they're diehard U2 fans. In Heather's case, though, it was more of a challenge, since her concert diet usually consists of the Jonas Brothers. But she was a trooper, holding her own with the other 50,000+ fans. The tailgate, the crowd buzz, the greatest hits - just the overall experience of taking in a U2 show with my own bandmates was more than worth the price of admission.

Truly, a Beautiful Day.

Best. Race. Ever.

So, Andrew took a quick jaunt around Shedd Park today with the rest of the Lowell High School XC team against Lawrence High School, and lo and behold! He posted his best finish ever for cross country, a personal record of 17:49!

His goal entering today's outing was to best his previous time on the course of 20:55. I'd say a 3:06 improvement on the trails around Shedd would count as an upgrade!

Clearly, dragging his butt out of bed every summer morning for the daily runs throughout Belvidere with his friends and teammates made a significant difference. But for those of us who've been running with him all along, PARTICULARLY for those long runs every Saturday a.m., we all know the real secret to his success: town lines. It looks like all those mornings he outgunned Carlos and Scott racing for the town lines really paid off.

And while we're at it, congrats overall and good luck to LHS Coach Phil Maia and his entire team, looking at a damned good XC season on the horizon!

A Walk of Life

Big hero cheers today for Jackie and Heather, her sister Annie and son John, and about 8,000 other walkers who took part in the inspirational Jimmy Fund Cancer Walk in Boston. Annie was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemis in September, 2001, but thanks to her hard work and the help of Dana Farber and Brigham and Women's Hospital, she has been in remission now for seven years and is doing wonderfully!


Jack and Annie did the 13.1 mile loop, from Wellesley to Boston, tracing the Boston Marathon route. Heather and John jumped in at Boston College to do the final five. (Heather, btw, according to the PA announcer at the Finish, won the prize for the coolest socks of the day!) Gorgeous weather and an unbelievable turnout helped raise $6.6 million for cancer research!


Here's some photos of my favorite walkers, along with a photograph by Boston Globe photographer Suzanne Kreiter to remind everyone exactly why they do the walk in the first place.