There has been interest in a club race series, and we’d love to see more people getting out and representing the club at local races, so the 2016 Narragansett Club Race Series  kicks off with this weekend’s Little Compton 4.8-mile winter road race. The series is just a little extra incentive to put on your singlet and get out there and race with your friends. Many thanks to Mike Tammaro for putting this together.

All the details can be found here – http://www.gansettrunning.org/club-race-series/

If you have any questions, contact me or Mike, and hope to see you at a race soon!

-Michelle

p.s. If you don’t have an NRA singlet, a new order will be placed within the next month or two, so stay tuned for more information on that.

ICYMI – the Gansett Half made this list of 11 Gorgeous Oceanfront Marathons!

This year’s race – the third annual – will take place on Sunday, October 23, at 11am. Online registration will be opening soon, so save the date and stay tuned for more details!

Hello Everyone! As usual the club had a great showing at the Blessing of the Fleet 10 Miler on Friday, July 24th. Many fantastic performances and age group winners. Well done and congratulations! For the month of July, the Runner Spotlight goes to Lisa Garzilli. Lisa crushed the Blessing of the Fleet 10 Miler, running 1:18:54 @ 7:53 pace (first sub 8 min blessing!) This put her 10th in her age group out of 243. Congratulations Lisa! We hope to see everyone at the Battle of Stongington 5K on Tuesday, August 18th at 6:00pm. You can register here. Home – The Battle of Stonington 5k. The group will car pool leaving from Camires around 4:30pm and then stop for dinner on the way home. It is a fun race and a guaranteed good time! Stay tuned for a follow up email.

Happy running, Nicole

MA – Jul 3: Harvard Pilgrim finish at the 50 – 10k Overall
110   Michael Scott             17/101  M5059 7:36 23:07

RI – Jul 4: Glocester Road Races
31    Mike Scott                          41:28.6

NH – Jul 5: Loon Mountain Race | NE Mountain Championship
293   Patrice French                      1:58:06.3   17:54
317   Gene French                         2:08:37.8   19:30

NH – Jul 5: Loon Mountain Race | NE Mountain Championship – Female Finishers
86    Patrice French                      1:58:06.3   17:54

NH – Jul 5: Loon Mountain Race | NE Mountain Championship – Male Finishers
218   Gene French                         2:08:37.8 19:30

RI – Jul 11: Little Compton 4.8 Miler
66    Terri Martland            1 60-69   36:04.0 7:31/M
221   Elise Hedglen             12 50-59  44:40.0 9:18/M

VT – Jul 12: Mad Marathon & Mad Half
2     Brian McNeiece             M4044 2:59:11 6:51

RI – Jul 12: OceanState Duathlon
5     Angell, Warren                      1:03:09.00

MA – Jul 19: Level Renner 10k
63    RICK COTA                 17/25     45:50 7:23

RI – Jul 19: Narragansett Bay Half Marathon & 5k – East Providence
97      ELIZABETH MARCHETTI            1:45:52.7 8:04/M/M

RI – Jul 24: Blessing of the Fleet
46    Glen Guillemette        1/246  50-59 1:00:30.0 6:03/M (1st in age group)
63    Kaela O’Neil               1/273  30-39 1:02:24.0 6:14/M (1st in age group)
67    Chad Straight             25/250  20-29 1:02:47.0 6:17/M
84    Brian Sweenor           6/317  40-49 1:04:30.0 6:27/M
101   AJ Fournier               30/250  20-29 1:05:46.0 6:35/M
105   Jeffrey Vuono            4/246  50-59 1:05:56.0 6:36/M
110   Barbera Peter             5/246  50-59 1:06:14.0 6:37/M
112   Diane Senecal            2/243  40-49 1:06:19.0 6:38/M (2nd in age group)
161    Kyle Johnson             40/250 20-29 1:08:46.0 6:53/M
162   Tom Sinotte               17/317  40-49 1:08:48.0 6:53/M
215   David Tetreault           15/246  50-59 1:11:16.0 7:08/M
221   Claire Gadrow             5/243  40-49 1:11:31.0 7:09/M
231   Sadie Gillett Madison 14/273  30-39 1:11:47.0 7:11/M
249   Adam Durant               57/282  30-39 1:12:20.0 7:14/M
298   John Brindamour          65/282  30-39 1:14:16.0 7:26/M
344   Elizabeth Marchetti       18/273  30-39 1:15:38.0 7:34/M
359   Alfred Garceau              36/246  50-59 1:15:57.0 7:36/M
405   Michelle San Antonio    8/243  40-49 1:16:56.0 7:42/M
410   Nicole Rattay               26/273  30-39 1:17:02.0 7:42/M
436   Jim Sullivan                 46/246  50-59 1:17:42.0 7:46/M
455   Pat Ferrigno                5/56   60-69 1:18:04.0 7:48/M
472   Mary D’Arcy               9/243  40-49 1:18:24.0 7:50/M
488   Lisa Garzilli                10/243  40-49 1:18:54.0 7:53/M
493   David Heskett             56/246  50-59 1:19:08.0 7:55/M
496   Steve Wright              58/246  50-59 1:19:10.0 7:55/M
556   David Porcello            64/246  50-59 1:20:30.0 8:03/M
561   Amy Rice                    4/129  50-59 1:20:40.0 8:04/M
765   Susan Russell             61/273  30-39 1:24:15.0 8:26/M
767   Mike Bush                  94/246  50-59 1:24:19.0 8:26/M
836   Flynn Sullivan             75/103    1:25:23.0 8:32/M
887   Jennifer Davis            45/243  40-49 1:26:18.0 8:38/M
937   Linda Hurteau             18/129  50-59 1:27:12.0 8:43/M
1021  Sue Bush                   56/243  40-49 1:28:40.0 8:52/M
1174  Melissa Nathaniel         75/243  40-49 1:31:00.0 9:06/M
1185  Joe Behl                         2/5    70-98 1:31:08.0 9:07/M (2nd in age group)
1216  Diane Adams               31/129  50-59 1:31:42.0 9:10/M
1315  Tammy McNeiece        95/243  40-49 1:33:27.0 9:21/M
1458  Ken Straight                 30/56   60-69 1:35:32.0 9:33/M
1581  Teresa Eagan              51/129  50-59 1:37:17.0 9:44/M
1754  Belinda Maltz              4/12   60-69 1:40:30.0 10:03/M
1841  John Peabody            40/56   60-69 1:42:23.0 10:14/M
1914  Rob Wilson                248/282  30-39 1:44:03.0 10:24/M
1915  Alison Pudjunis           294/374  20-29 1:44:03.0 10:24/M
1939  Elise Hedglen             79/129  50-59 1:44:39.0 10:28/M
1997  Michelle Smith-Morgan     215/273  30-39 1:45:52.0 10:35/M
2023  James Griffin                   212/246  50-59 1:46:34.0 10:39/M
2104  Jennifer McCaffrey        192/243  40-49 1:49:09.0 10:55/M
2130  Nicole Zelenak            196/243  40-49 1:49:59.0 11:00/M
2367  Victoria Guy                 239/243  40-49 2:16:15.0 13:38/M

Also check out the 2015 Run with the Beaver’s Trail Race. A few NRA members and NRA friends ran this race. https://ultrasignup.com/results_event.aspx?did=31265

 *Additions to Blessing Results. If we missed anyone else, please let me know. Thank you.

We have a lot of stuff: Flags, vests, tents, cones, mile marks, tables, chairs, signs, water jugs, water bottles, shirts, awards, frisbees, a banner, buckets of rocks, and so on. We keep our stuff in a 10’x20′ storage unit, and yesterday we moved our stuff from such a unit in Wakefield to one in Narragansett. Thanks to Fred for taking the lead on securing a new storage unit and terminating our contract on the old, thanks to Peter, Mike, and Dan for building storage shelves in the new unit, and thanks to Pat, Brian, Dan, Fred, and Mike for helping with the move. Pictures of the move are below.

The Rhode Island Desert is a complex of sand dunes located just off of Division road in West Greenwich. In running lore, The Desert was the training ground for more than a few legendary Providence College runners. It’s no surprise, then, that Brian regularly takes his teams to train in the desert. The Desert looks innocent enough from the roads, but after a few miles of up and down the steep dunes, you get it.

Not content with simply running in The Desert, Brian designed a 5K course, which was then professionally measured. Due to a slight change in the course, a new measurement was required, and the pictures below show elements of the measurement.

Brian taking sights at mile 3.

Mike rolling the wheel down a hill near mile 1.

A counter is attached to the front wheel of the bike, which must be calibrated before (and sometimes after) a measurement. For this measurement, the bike was walked the whole way. Rolling the wheel up some of the steep dunes required both Mike and Brian to hold onto the bike. The likelihood of slipping was so great that it was important that a second hand was on the bike to keep it in place.

The men who learn endurance, are they who call the world, brother.

-Charles Dickens

Running in groups engenders camaraderie; more so when we train for the same race; still more so when that race is a marathon; and even more so when that race requires several nights away. Indeed, as we speckled Burlington—one, two, three, and four at a time—our anxiety was soothed by the knowledge that we would soon see our friends. Thus, Dave, Jess, Kyle, Rich, Diane, Kaela, Brian, and Mike competed together in the 2015 Vermont City Marathon. Great race, great course, great town, unforgettable experience. It’s a beautiful thing when you can fall short of your goal (as most of us did), yet reminisce over it with a sparkle in your eye. Let this not be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Just a quick picture from the long run in Coventry. Three runners attended, two of whom are shown here running down Narrow Ln, about 5 miles into the run.

Narrow Ln

“A good long run requires more time to plan than to execute.” –Anonymous

Long runs can be boring, but they don’t have to be. To combat boredom, the runner has two primary weapons in his arsenal: company and variety. It is a bitter irony, though, that the implementation of the latter diminishes the former. It is a simple mathematical fact, then, that THE MOST INTERESTING RUN EVER will have zero attendance.

Flying in the face mathematics, however, Brian organized THE MOST INTERESTING RUN EVER, and three people attended: Brian, Mike, and Mark. (Mark deserves special recognition for making THE MOST INTERESTING RUN EVER his first run with the club.) These three runners boarded the 11-a.m. ferry in Pt. Judith, bound for Block Island, and enjoyed a not-so-bumpy ride to the island. What follows is a short picture-narrative of the run.

Click HERE to see the route.

One logistical concern dealt with the question of where to stash bags. (Mark boldly embarked on this 8-hour adventure in running singlet, shorts, and shoes, with no luggage.) The Visitor’s Center was open, but was to close at 3:00 p.m., so the runners made use of the nice rack behind the building.

Outdoor rack

The run began in Old Harbor and ran toward the north end of the island.

Early in the run: Mark running north

At about three miles into the run, the route turned right onto the Clay Head Nature Trail. It was a beautiful day and the views from the high bluffs were spectacular. (Mike and Brian were, at this point, ahead of Mark. The two groups didn’t meet again until after the run.)

The trailhead

View from the Clay Head Trail

Running along the Clay Head Trail

Exiting the trails, the runners turned again north and followed the road to its end, at which there is a good view of the North Light in the distance.

The North Light

Mile 6 through 11 took the runners back south and through the middle of the island, past the airport, taking a right onto Cherry Hill Rd. at Rodman’s Hollow. The left onto Lewis Farm Rd. began a fascinating and breathtaking three-mile journey through Ireland-like fields and stone walls, then onto and along the rugged south beach that is towered over by high bluffs.

Ireland I

Ireland II

Running along the south beach

The beach run was about two miles of slow going to the Mohegan Bluffs at Southeast Light. To get off the beach and back onto the roads, the runners scrambled up to the steep stairs, and (in a quad-burning burst of adrenaline) ran every step to the top.

The bottom end of the stairs

Once on the roads, the quads eventually recovered enough for Brian to push the pace for the last three miles (all of which were close to six-minute miles). The Visitor’s Center and bag rack were a welcome sight after the 18-mile run, and the runners enjoyed hearty refreshment at the Mohegan Cafe.

Mohegan Cafe (with one of the three runners menu-browsing )

With 30 minutes to kill and $8 of change, the runners found an open candy store. The sign in front advertised free fudge, but it was not free, so an $8 bag of random chocolates (including a piece of chocolate-covered bacon) served as dessert.

The warm ferry ride home was smooth and uneventful, and thus ended THE MOST INTERESTING RUN EVER.

Registration for the second annual Gansett Half is now open. The race will be held on Sunday, October 25 at 11am.

REGISTER

Now through August 15 = $55

August 15 through Sept 15 = $65

Sept 15 through Oct 25 = $75