Of Stew, Hats, and Irishmen

True Irishmen took to the streets of Haverhill again yesterday, for the opening salvo in the triumvirate of races that has come to be known 'round these parts as the Wild Rover Series. With over 800 competitors for the three-mile race yesterday out of J.P. McBride's, the E Streeters represented well, in more ways than one. Andrew took top dog honors, finishing 24th overall, 3rd in his age group!

Once again, the pics that follow are an amalgam of my shots coupled with those of road race photog supreme, Jim Rhoades.

Here's the obligatory starting line shot. In honor of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland opening this week, that's the Mad Hatter in the middle. Barry, unfortunately, had a shoelace malfunction and couldn't stand up in time to get in the photo before the gun went off.

Barry, before the 1 mile mark, doesn't want to be seen running with Tommy and I.

Here's Tommy, with his running mate, the Working Man's Candidate (Tommy passed him, still ticked off at the gauntlet having been thrown his way by said candidate):

Here's Barry, going downhill:

Ditto for Tommy and the Mad Hatter (who also passed the Working Man's Candidate, vowing the avenge the slight he hurled at Tommy)

Representing the Kenny family, since Sean apparently overdosed on muffins, Jill had to carry the Irish race banner, and did so with honor.

Here, though, Jill's race has gone to the dogs. Apparently, she's beating out the Wild Rover we've heard so much about.

Some folks head to the beer lines after a race. For Barry, it's all about the stew. All 12 cups of it.

Next up: the Claddagh four miler this Sunday in Lawrence, and hopefully, more stew!

Super 5K - Clydesdales, Not Colts, Ain'ts, not Saints

A familiar course, with familiar faces striking familiar poses.

This was the scene at the Super 5K at the Lowell Elks this afternoon, albeit missing a couple of the regulars. Barry was sidelined with a cold, John by the fear of running in a race with the Hoyts. Worry not, John, in your absence, we only ran the course once.

Respectable showing by the E-Streeters in attendance, but controversies abound:

A 12th place finish for Scott and he still can't capture hardware?

No defense of his trophy-taking by Tommy?

Where is Andrew going to hang all these medals he's bringing home?

How did Barry score the impressive pole position of number 6 and then how did it end up on Pat?

What was Sean thinking when he said he was going to run home?

Whither goest Carlos?

And for future reference, Mike won't run shirtless anymore, not even for $5.

Mysteries for another day, just victory photos today.

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.