Happy holidays!

Happy Holidays and New Year to all!

That Warm & Fuzzy Feeling

If you're still feeling warm after last night's workout, it may be more than just your love for NBB...

Basking in a Workout's Long, Mysterious Afterglow

Mettle to be tested at Club XC Nationals

New Balance Boston heads down this morning to Charlotte, NC to test their cross country prowess at the 2010 Club XC Nationals hosted at McAlpine Park.

The women are sending two teams for the first time and the men have a full roster to score. Competition will be stiff with more talent arriving at the yearly event.

Stay tuned for results.

Groupon for GBRC

For those who use Groupon, you'll already see this in your email box. For others not in the Groupon-know: Today's Groupon is for the 50% off at the Greater Boston Running Co. Check it out.

Fresh Pond followup

Some people have asked about further information on the Fresh Pond meeting. The October (Meeting 2) meeting minutes are here.
There is a 3rd Meeting to followup on the Shared Use of the reservation. The flyer is posted here, to be held on November 30th.

For more information, visit the Fresh Pond Reservation Shared Use website.

Daylight Savings Ends

This Sunday is the 2010 USATF New England Cross Country Championships at Franklin Park.

10:00 a.m. Men’s Masters 8 Km
10:50 a.m. Women’s Open & Masters 6 Km
11:30 a.m. Men’s Open 10 Km
 
Remember to turn your clocks back for the end of Daylight Savings before going to bed on Saturday.

Fresh Pond debate

Tonight, there is a meeting to discuss the shared use of the Fresh Pond Reservation. Undoubtedly, there will be a discussion of the runners versus walkers/dogs. Meeting 2 will be held tonight at the West Cambridge Youth Center (680 Huron Ave) from 6:30-9p. Here is the meeting agenda.

Interesting to read is the Incidents Report. It is recommended that if any of you have any run-ins with dogs and their owners to report it to the Ranger Station. It will be help shed light on the unleashed dogs issue.

If you are unable to attend the meeting (as many of us will be at practice tonight), you can send your comments/suggestions to fpr@cambridgema.gov. Remember to be polite and cite specific facts, you are a representative of New Balance Boston and New Balance.

Shop NB - Free Shipping thru 10/16

FYI, use your discount and combine with FREE SHIPPING through tomorrow at shopnewbalance.com.

Bohlke voted VP of USATF NE

At the Annual Meeting of USATF New England, Joan Bohlke, formerly an Athlete Representative, was voted as the Vice President.
The first Board Meeting was held last week, and are held monthly.
The year's agenda was discussed with plans for how to spend the USATF NE budget a major topic of discussion amongst the other board members and Athlete Reps.

2010 RTB results

New Balance Boston won the Co-ed division at the 2010 Reach the Beach relay. For 208.95 miles in a time of 22:07:17, the co-ed team still showed dominance amongst the entire field, finishing 9th overall out of 430 teams and competing with some very talented men-only teams.
The weather was perfect for the entire event. Cool, crisp fall temperatures kept all comfortable while battling NH's rolling climbs and descents. The night time hours provided the most moonlight in many years and the rain backed off for the NBB team before their 4pm start. At the much sought after finish in Hampton Beach, the sun shone strong, providing a perfect way to celebrate a long racing event. After a quick dip into the ice-bathing ocean temperatures, the team feasted and enjoyed a good time at the beer tent.

Here are the raw numbers for the number crunching geeks:
Official Results
NBB 2010 RTB splits


Photos are being uploaded and video is to come:

NBB's RTB WMDs

With 1 week to go, let me introduce NBB's RTB Weapons of Mass Destruction!


Ryan Carrara
aka Poliwrath
Favorite stinky smell: Hydrogen Sulfide
Color I hate most: Vermilion - U-G-L-Y you ain't got no alibi. You are not red, you are not orange, you have no idea what you are! I hate your lack of direction as much as your appearance! (227,66,52) Seriously? You call that a color code! I hate you Vermilion with all my heart!
Someplace I'd like to travel to: Pompeii, I think I could do a lot of good there
Best running achievement: 1996 Greek Relay Champions - anchor leg


Tom Szumita
aka Uncle Fire
Favorite stinky smell: Wet Kittens
Color I hate most: Whatever color the Jets are wearing this Sunday
Someplace I'd like to travel to: Hampton Beach (OK, been there but want to go again)
Best running achievement: Not being booted from the 2010 NBB RTB team by Carrara


Justin Lutz
aka The Long Pole
Favorite stinky smell: Bud Mud
Color I hate most: I love all colors equally
Someplace I'd like to travel to: New Bedford, Massachusetts
Best running achievement: 74th place in the 2001 UMass Dartmouth Invitational

Justin Maloney

aka luvs2eatkittystu

Favorite stinky smell: Sweaty running clothes stuffed in an airtight plastic bag and left in a dark place for two weeks, then opened in my face.

Color I hate most: Burnt Sienna

Someplace I'd like to travel to: A repeat visit to first-place-at-reach-the-beach land

Best running achievement: Successfully hitting the interior of a heckler's car with three consecutive snowballs, tying my PR of pooping in the woods three times on a single run. I'm all about the threes.

Jeffrey Caron

aka J-Cizzle

Favorite stinky smell: Powerbar scented farts with a hint of coffee
Color I hate most: Rust Orange
Someplace I'd like to travel to: Kenyan training camp
Best running achievement: Falling 3 times in a cross country race and still setting a PR. Having a 40m lead with 200m to go at the conference championships and then losing by 40m in the same race. Successfully creating a 2 mile beer relay around my house.
 

Avery Bouchard

aka Bouchi Mane

Favorite stinky smell: rotting leaves (probably mixed with a small animal carcass or two)

Color I hate most: No colors really bother me, since I am, in fact, color blind.

Someplace I'd like to travel to: I'd like to someday make my way to the top. Never been there. I hear it's nice.

Best running achievement: My fondest running memory, quite coincidentally, has to do with a deer (which was not yet a carcass). I was run over by said deer while doing a workout in the woods of the Community College of Rhode Island. It came out of nowhere and put it's head down, full force into my thigh while I was on my 9th (and last) 3:00 repeat - about 1:30 in. I did finish that repeat, but did no extras.

Yvonne Green

aka Mrs. Gui Lo

Favorite stinky smell: Any blue cheese

Color I hate most: Yellow, it's too cheery

Someplace I'd like to travel to: Hell, because only sinners have fun

Best running achievement: Surviving RTBs since 2005 without any GI issues. That's right, I've got a colon of steel.

 

Lara Johnson

aka
Favorite stinky smell:
Color I hate most:
Someplace I'd like to travel to:
Best running achievement:

Nicole Mauro
aka
Favorite stinky smell:
Color I hate most:
Someplace I'd like to travel to:
Best running achievement:

Sasha Varanka
aka
Favorite stinky smell:
Color I hate most:
Someplace I'd like to travel to:
Best running achievement:


Megan Proulx
aka
Favorite stinky smell:
Color I hate most:
Someplace I'd like to travel to:
Best running achievement:

Amber Gibney

aka Ambchops

Favorite stinky smell: I LOVE the smell of skunk. Seriously. I know it's gross and I am ashamed.

Color I hate most: Mauve, gross.

Someplace I'd like to travel to: Egypt, Greece, the Moon

Best running achievement: 1. My last collegiate race. It was the conference championship in Virginia, it was about 95 degrees out and no shade. I ran a PR to qualify for the 800m final and I set another PR in the finals and ended up placing second overall. I did this all on a severe stress fracture in my tibia and as I crossed the finish line I threw up all over the place, including on my boyfriend. We're talking violent, projectile vomiting in front of a lot of people on a hot hot day. It was awesome. 2. Recently ran a mountain race, Race to the Top of VT. 4.3ish miles up, relatively nice weather, decided to put a sweet fake tattoo of a wolf on my bicep to intimidate everyone. I ended up doing horribly, and I even got OWNED by a 68 year old woman. Talk about humbling.

Our team dropouts:

Mark Larosa

aka Mucus

Favorite stinky smell: vinegar soaked koosh ball

Color I hate most: Hello Kitty pink

Someplace I'd like to travel to: a Wendy's in northern California

Best running achievement: diving handoff in college in a relay which resulted in a 3 man collision, but our team made it out alive (although didn’t win)

What's his story: During my 2 days off a year, I decided to take a quick relaxing trip to a remote little key off the coast of Australia, where a chopper dropped me into a wave breaking 11 miles off the coast. After successfully surfing the wave and photographing the entire thing myself, I quickly hopped back on the board and started paddling in when I was attacked by a ferocious great white shark and a sea lion at the same time. Luckily I was able to quickly best the sea lion, filet him, and whip up a nice sushi platter to hold off the shark while I get free, but not before dropping my camera in the water and rendering it destroyed, and contracting a nasty case of swimmers crotch from some unruly actions by the sea lion.

Wait, I mean I hurt my back picking up my kids and can’t run for several months due to some surgery nuisance.

Chris Lowe
What's his story: (Injured)

Christine O'Donnell

What's her story: I am a competitive person, and didn't want to be out-done by anyone on our team who might have gone so far as to have surgery to avoid RTB. So, I got myself a bad back too involving a likely Spondylolisthesis on top of a scoliosis and a leg length discrepancy, all causing a disc/nerve problem. (At least this explains my ugly running stride). Or maybe I'm just trying to use all my PT jargon to throw off Hello Kitty?!?!

I wasn't sure if the back problem would be quite enough to get me out of running this year, so I decided I should pick up some GI problems. This quickly got me off the team, as no one wants to be in a van with me! I would have definitely violated the "no going in the woods rule" and been kicked out of the race anyways.

I am really good at running easy, infrequent, and in circles around my neighborhood (never can be too far from a bathroom)! So, if there is a run/walk relay race around Charlestown or a pool running competition -- Hello Kitty better watch out!

Liz Turner
What's her story: (Anemic and immune system malfunction)

Laura Kennedy
What's her story: (The never ending injury)

Meggie Sullivan

aka The Columbian

Favorite stinky smell: Irony

Color I hate most: The black in "little black dresses". Why not "burnt sienna dresses"?

Someplace I'd like to travel to: A finish line that requires a passport.

Best running achievement: When I first learned to walk.

Calling all women!

Our NBB Reach the Beach relay is still down a woman. Please let us know if you're interested in joining us or know of anybody who'd be interested.

It's a pretty nice deal and a kickass time to boot.

For crying out loud, there's a beer tent this year at the finish!

shopnewbalance.com

Just an FYI - the shopnewbalance.com (formerly nbwebexpress.com) has free shipping on most items right now.

Kitty go Boom!

Kaboom Kitty

We're into August now and the weekly count down is on.
Come here, little kitties, we're going to destroy you!

Movie invite

Anyone interested in watching Inception tonight?  I'll be at the Waltham theatre for the 8p showing. There's a small group of us for now.

Hello Kitty Crosses Line

I knew those pedophile-like mustaches had some truth to them:
Cover your children's eyes

Anders of HKAC has officially incited the 2010 RTB Blog War.

Anyone need housing?!

Hey everyone,

I'm currently looking for someone to take my room in my current house/the unofficial New Balance Boston women's team house/Marathon Monday Party Spot. I've decided to leave my comfortable and convenient Brighton bachelorette pad to live with a close college friend who is moving up to Boston at the end of August. The new lease begins September 1, 2010 and whomever moves in would sign a year -lease. Here are the details for anyone interested/or knows of anyone looking for housing:

Monthly rent: $497.50 (includes heat & hot water)
Parking available: $110 per month
Utilities: ~$60-70 per month (electricity, wireless internet & cable)
2 full bathrooms
Large eat-in kitchen
comfortable living room (that fits 29 (skinny) people as seen at the Marathon Monday party in April 2010)
Room available has the following: large walk-in closet; room for queen size bed, two dressers, desk
Apartment is on 2nd story of 3 story house
Coin-op laundry in basement
Located between the c-line (Englewood Ave stop) & B-line (Chiswick or Sutherland Rd & D line is 10 min walk away - Beaconsfield Rd)

Ideally, we're looking for a young, female grad student or working professional and if she runs that's even better ;)

Feel free to contact me should anyone be interested or know someone interested Leah.Brogan@gmail.com.

thanks for letting me spam the blog!

NBB to HKAC: Get a fresh pair of undies, you'll need them

I'm trying to decide if Hello Kitty is actually worried that we may not show up or are rejoicing that they can relax a little.

"Yvonne et al,
Yo... Hello Kitty just took a look at the team sign up page for RTB and all we saw were teams NB1-7? What the frig? You guys still running as New Balance Boston? Let us know what the deal is. Hello Kitty would be very sad if you guys weren't there as a team again. I mean...what about our arch rivalry???
C. Huggins HKAC"
 
Well, HKAC, worry not. We're coming and bringing the thunder. Trim your fur and sharpen your nails. The 2010 RTB fight is ON!!!

Rainy lake party talk

When you can't drink in the sun and go swimming, inevitably there's some good conversation drummed up about the most random things:

Exploding Whale

Reminder: Jenny Grist Mill 5k

The Jenny Grist Mill 5k is this Saturday @11a in Plymouth. Adam Stuhlfaut, the race director and one of the NBB board of directors, would greatly appreciate our help in this race, if you're not racing.  If you are thinking of racing, there is prize money available for top 3 men and women finishers.

For more details of the race, visit Jenny Grist Mill 5k.

I plan on going to help. If you are too or are racing, let me know if you'd like to carpool. Post-race there is a gathering at the nearby Run of the Mill Tavern.

Farewell to Touchdown Jesus

NBB's intrepid liaison to the Midwest, Laura Kennedy, reported some sad news today:  Touchdown Jesus is no more, after being struck by lightening storms in Ohio.

All those NBBers who participated in the 2007 XC Club Nationals will surely mourn the loss of T.J., who rose like a mirage in the night (well, early morning) to guide us toward the Cincinnati airport after a night of reveling and Waffle House going. 

Farewell, T.J.  We hardly knew ye! 

(While we're at it - thank YOU, people of Ohio, for making sure that a Google search for "giant jesus ohio" results in such gems as this:)

Furniture for sale

Couch has been sold.

The coffee table is still available. $20 or best offer.

Educate! Bar Night Fundraiser

Looking for something fun to do on Friday night?

Come support Educate!, an innovative non-profit that empowers Ugandan youth to transform their communities.

What: Educate!'s Bar Night Fundraiser -- For the Future of Uganda

When: Friday, June 18th, 6-10pm

Where: McFadden's Restaurant and Saloon, 148 State Street, Boston

Tell your friends, tell your enemies, TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW!!! And, purchase your ticket today at: www.ExperienceEducate.org/­boston-bar-night.

Help us raise $2,400 and it will be matched by an additional $1,200. The $3,600 will support 6 Scholars through the entire two-year program!

Questions about Educate!? E-mail away, check out the website (www.ExperienceEducate.org), or come to the Bar Night and ask in person!

New Balance Nationals

Hey all,

We're looking for a few workers to help out working the retail area down at New Balance Nationals in Greensboro, NC next week (June 17-19). We'll fly you down, pay for room and board, etc. Probably fly in Wednesday and back on Sunday, but that's negotiable.

Should be a great meet and we'd love to have a few track fans representing NB while we're there. Please let me know ASAP if you're interested.

thanks!

Dan

daniel.green@newbalance.com

Post Workout & Celtics

After Thursday's workout, we'll head to John Brewer's Pub in Waltham for dinner and watch Game 1 of the Celtics v Lakers. 

If you're not at Bentley on Thursday, you're still welcome to meet us.  A heads up would be nice for a reservation head count.

Beat LA! Beat LA!

National Running Day

Today is National Running Day, so make sure you get out there and celebrate! If you need a place to do that, rumor has it that the BAA is subsidizing the MIT mini-meets this week so entries are free. New Balance will also be hosting an associate run from the building in Brighton at 4:30pm for anyone looking to drop by and run from there.

Whatever you decide, enjoy!

Dan

USATF NE's - Prize Money

The USATF New England Outdoor Track and Field Championships is offering prize money this year for the top winners of four men's events aand four women's events.

Details can be found here.

NBB Team Quotes

Think you've got a quote relevant to the team that should never be forgotten? Submit it here and it will be logged in the NBB Team Quotes.

Looking for Roommates in Lexington

As many of you already know, Paul Rupprecht and I have moved into a new house in Lexington, MA (you can see pictures below). We are pumped to have such a nice house in such a nice area and are looking forward to having many of you come visit!

Paul and I are all moved in and the place is looking great! ...but now we need roommates. Please pass the word along to your friends that might be interested and keep us in mind if you have any interest yourself.

The house has 4 large bedrooms and a finished basement, so there is plenty of room to have 4-5 people living here. Rent is $2250 a month, so $562 for 4, $450 for 5. There are 4 bathrooms with 3 showers, big living areas and so many rooms! I would say the biggest selling point is the yard - 2 acres of space and next to no neighbors. We have a big barn and a small shed in addition to the garage that is attached to the house. We've already had some cookouts in the backyard and have had the fire pit going just about every weekend. There is a nice washer and dryer included and we pay electric and oil bills, but with 4 people that split becomes very manageable.

We would love to here from anyone that might be interested in living with us. We are looking to get someone in here as soon as we can, but can be flexible around different situations. We may be able to accommodate short term as well as long term, so if someone is just interested in the summer, let us know! If you know Paul and/or myself, you know that we are both pretty easy going and get along with just about anybody. However, with such a nice place, we want to keep it nice and make it even better by taking care of the yard and keeping the house clean. We would love to get people that have a similar lifestyle to our own and take pride in taking care of this great property.

As for location, we are located on Woburn St at Marshall Rd, 1.5 miles away from Lexington Center. It takes about 5 mins to get to I-95 going north (Rt. 3) or south (Mass Ave). Rt. 2 is a couple miles away and it generally takes about 15-20 minutes to get into Cambridge/Downtown. For runners, we are about 8 min from Battle Road, a few minutes from Great Meadow, Willard Woods, and about 15 min from Lincoln Woods.

Please contact me directly if you have any questions regarding this or if you just want to come over and visit.

Thanks for your interest!

Jeff Caron
207-577-4292

Twilight Meet #2 - Post Race Gathering!

In an effort to fill the void of Andrea's B-Day celebration last week, Jeff and Paul will be opening their house and yard on Saturday night for post race festivities. All team members and friends are welcome! There will be burgers and a few side dishes for anyone that comes hungry. As for beverages, we will be limited. Please feel free to pick up a case of your favorite selection! Marshmallow roasting is a strong possibility so either bring a roasting skewer or be prepared to whittle your own. No chickens yet, so don't get your hopes up (maybe by meet #4).

Last event is scheduled for 7:45 PM, so once the meet is completed and everything has been cleaned up, we'll caravan over to Lexington and all are welcome to tag along. The address is 509 Woburn St, Lexington, MA and it is about 6 Miles from the track.

Contact Jeff or Paul with any questions and we hope to see you Saturday!

Oh Karina

http://www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage/view_video/237092-new-balance-boston-twilight-meet-1/334831-karina-johnson

NBB featured in 2009 RTB video recap

Summer's arriving. And instead of thinking about beaches, vacations and relaxing by the pool, the New Balance Boston crew are looking ahead to the 2010 Reach the Beach Relay in September. It's never too early to think about the roster and taking down Hello Kitty, after we were not able to defend our title from 2008.

Pixel Wire Media put together 6 videos that recap the 2009 Reach the Beach Relay. New Balance Boston is featured in some of the videos.

Check them out at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHDXwfbaUGk

You can provide comments to the media guy, Jack, on youtube. He did a great job.

NBB Twilight Meet setup for strong races

Over 250 athletes are expected to compete tonight at the opening of the 2nd Annual New Balance Boston Twilight Series.
The meet will take place at the UMass Lowell Track and Field. Field events start at 4:30p and track events start at 6p. Under the lights event will be the first for this Series.
Spectators are encouraged to come and witness some amazing races: from attempts at NCAA qualifying times to podium finishes for prize money.

nbbtwilight.com

Joan Bohlke runs a new PR in 800

Bohlke competed at Atlanta in the 800m and posted a new PR of 2:05.97!Results posting to come.

Entries open! (for New Balance Boston Twilight Meet #1)

The Prize Money Qualifying Standards have been announced for each of the New Balance Featured Events.

The pre-meet online registration for the first Twilight Meet on May 15th is now open. Pre-meet entries will be accepted until Thursday May 13th at 5:00 pm ET.

Jenney Grist Mill 5k

On June 26 @11:00a, the First Annual Jenny Grist Mill 5k will take place in Plymouth, MA. Please visit the website for race details. Adam Stuhlfaut is the race director and can be contacted at info@baysiderunner.com for more information.

There will be prize money for top 3 men and women finishers ($150, $75, $50). Also, age group winners receive gift certificates to Bayside Runner. There is a post-race party at the Run of the Mill Tavern.

Team Photo Session

At Saturday's practice (5/1) we will be doing a team photo session. The team website needs some photo updates and the weather on Saturday looks decent. If you can't make it, maybe we'll add another day to get additional photos for the website.

Please bring your most current NB uniform and gear for the photos. If you don't have the newest kit, that's ok. Also, please avoid competitor gear. Otherwise, you'll hear me griping about doing lots of Photoshop work, and no one wants that.

Thanks in advance!

Race photos and videos

I gathered up some race photos from other sites (so please consider before redistributing).

New Bedford Half photos
James Joyce Ramble photos

Penn Relays OD Men's Steeple
Penn Relays OD Women's 5k
Penn Relays OD Men's 5k
Penn Relays OD Men's 10k (run with CM), the finish
Penn Relays OD Women's Mile

Furniture for sale

Anyone looking for furniture? My brother is getting new furniture for his condo and is selling a cloth loveseat, a white leather couch and possibly a coffee table. I'll post photos and prices, when available. Just a heads up.

Huskies and Patriot's Day

It's cold and raining. It's New England outdoor track racing.

Tomorrow, several NBBrs will be at Northeastern's track in Dedham for the Solomon Invite.
Philip Mainwaring, Steve Stewart, Roland Lavallee and Yvonne Green are in the 1500. Stewart is returning in the 400m for a double. And Pete Foote is debuting as an NBBr in the 5k.

If you don't know that Marathon Monday is in three days, then you need to reevaluate what Patriot's Day means to you.
Ryan Carrara, Mike Maceiko, Liz Turner, Chris Voce, and former NBBr Cherie Charbonneau will be toeing the Marathon line in Hopkinton on Monday.
Across the race course and across the city itself, NBBrs will be out cheering for them and the thousands of others that have taken the challenge that is the Boston Marathon.

Speaking of Disney...

(Philip don't start crying.)

If you were a Disney character, who would you be? You can submit your suggestions for fellow team members.

No Pixar and definitely not Dreamworks, strictly old school Disney.

Weekend racing

Many NBBrs are racing this weekend. (Let me know if I missed anyone.)

At the UMass Lowell meet:
Kevin Alliette, Dan Hocking, Joan Bohlke, Jenn Deal

Road racing:
Anna King, Nicole Mauro, Sasha Varanka

Good luck and run fast! Think like Hercules!

New Balance Boston Twilight Series

The 2010 New Balance Boston Twilight Series includes four meets:
May 15, May 22, June 5 and June 12

The first meet of the series will be held at UMass Lowell with an under-the-lights 10k. The other meets will be held at the Bentley University.

This year prize money will be offered for top three finishers of the New Balance Featured Event, that finish under a qualifying standard.

For more details, visit the Series website: http://www.nbbtwilight.com/
Help spread the word! Advertise by word of mouth, Facebook, Twitter, Letsrun, etc.
There will be fast times and great races.

NB in the news

New Balance is in the Globe about its prep for the Boston Marathon.

Roommate Search

My brother is looking for a new roommate for his condo. His current one is moving out at the end of May. The condo is a 2 bedroom in Waltham on Walnut Street (right off of Moody St). This is really close to Bentley track and right in the heart of the Moody shops and restaurants.

The condo itself is newly renovated. There is a coin-op laundry room in the building. The condo building is near the top of the Moody St hill, so no worries about the Charles River flooding.

If you are interested, let me know and I will forward your information along.

Bentley warmup loop under water

Who's ready for Thursday and Saturday Bentley practice? This is on our warmup loop. Looks like I'll need to bring goggles and get some cross training in.

Here's the article that this photo came from.

Day 2 @Raleigh Relays

Results
Joan Bohlke wins the the women's 1500m in a time of 4:24.65, nearly two seconds ahead of the rest of the field!
Jill Kerr finished within a tight group of 4:35 women, at her NBB debut outdoor race.

Great job!

NBB Day 1 @Raleigh Relays

Results

Andrea Sorgato and Roland Lavallee competed in the 5k yesterday at the Raleigh Relays. Both finished top ten in what seems like a very solid field.

Great job and good luck to the women today!

Dromgoole @Standford

Results
Erin Dromgoole competed in the 5k yesterday at the Stanford Invite. It looked like a tight race with Erin finishing at 16:43.36 and 8, 9, 10 finishers within a second ahead of her and 12, 13 close behind her.

Great job! (btw, remember to stretch before your flight back!)

Fairwell Reggie...

... well, for now. Tuesday March 30 is our last indoor practice. And just in time for this morning's snow! Have faith though, yesterday was in the 60s, so the typical New England weather is doing its thing.

In order to give Reggie a proper sendoff (and also Jeff Boyd who is heading out to California soon), we are doing a Take Two on the Border Kong event.

After Tuesday's practice, we'll head to Border Cafe and the Hong Kong in Harvard Square for food, drinks and to reminisce how nice it was to be away from the elements. Then we can drink to the misery of the first few outdoor practices that will likely be in some kind of raw, windy snow storm!

Let me know if you'll be joining for a reservation head count at Border Cafe :)

Outdoor track travelling

The outdoor track season begins with various NBB members boarding flights to race at the Standford Invite (Erin Dromgoole) and Raleigh Relays (Andrea Sorgato, Roland Lavallee, Joan Bolhke, Jill Kerr).

Have a safe flight and good luck!

GLRR sponsoring 5k, benefitting Tewksbury HS

Greater Lowell Road Runners is sponsoring a 5k race and a kids' 1 mile fun run.

Tewksbury Run a Pleasant Mile 5k race and 1 mile kid’s fun run is to benefit the Tewksbury Memorial High School Scholarship fund. The race takes place Sunday April 25th at TMHS. There are prizes for top three age group winners. Fees: $15 pre register-$20 race day and $10 for students.

Race information and registration form can be found at
http://www.glrr.net/races/Pleasant_mile_5k/2010RaceApp.pdf

Female Fit Testers Wanted

New Balance is looking for some female fit testers to try on some shoes and give feedback. Must be women's size 7 or 8.

- Must be willing to drive to Lawrence and have flexible schedule (24 hr notice for testers)
- Must sign confidentiality agreement
- Likely 2 to 5 shoes per test
- $20/hr for testing

For more info, contact Matt LaFleur (matt.lafleur@newbalance.com).

Border Kong

New game? No, these are the activities scheduled for next Thursday night (3/25).



Jeff Boyd wanted to announce going out to Harvard Square's Border Cafe and the Hong Kong after Thursday night's practice.

Even if you're not working out, please join us afterwards.

Border Cafe is at 32 Church St Cambridge. Hong Kong is at 1238 Mass Ave Cambridge.

Who's in? (A prelim headcount will help with reservations at Border Cafe).

Daylight Savings Reminder

Turn your clocks ahead an hour on Saturday night before going to bed. It's that time of year again where we lose an hour of sleep, but get more daylight at the end of the day.

For those racing on Sunday, take extra care to not sleep in and good luck. Enjoy the bright sunny beach day.

Celtics tickets

Anyone interested in a pair of Celtics tickets to tonight's game against the Grizzlies? The tickets are in section 314 and are going for $70 for the pair. They are not in my hands but a friend of a friend.
Email me directly if you are interested.

Post-season fun

NBB was seen in various locations enjoying their downtime after an indoor season of racing.

Some were spotted at Broomstones, trying out the Olympic sport of curling. Here are Erin's photos.

Others were in the Bahamas soaking in some sun. Here are my photos and videos.

USATF NE's women 1500 video

I was only able to film the women's 1500m from the 2010 USATF NE's at Havard.

http://www.flotrack.org/videos/play/308916-2010-ne-champ-womens-1500m

Filiming started when the gun went off. There was such a long delay to the event that I was caught off guard when it did start.

Mayall shares his musical "leftovers"

Earlier today, NBB's own omega wolf Mark Mayall shared his five song selections on 101.7 WFNX's "Leftover Lunch." Each Friday a listener-submitted list of classic alternative tunes is chosen and that listener introduces their songs on-air. Mayall's selections:

Fugazi "Waiting Room"
Berlin "Metro"
U2 "Out of Control"
David Bowie "Changes"
Depeche Mode "Enjoy the Silence"

For having his songs chosen, Mayall received a pair of tickets to...House of Pain, appearing March 20th at the Worcester Palladium.

On a related note, if you or anyone you know of would be interested in purchasing two tickets to see House of Pain on March 20th at the Worcester Palladium, please contact Mark at your earliest convenience.

Curling!

Ice Dancing? Alpine skiing? Admit it: the real reason you watch the Olympics is for the marquee sport of CURLING! In honor of Vancouver 2010, I'm proposing an NBB outing to Broomstones, the curling club in nearby Wayland. Normally the club is closed to the public, so their Olympic Open House on March 7th is our chance!

The details:
- $10 each (so affordable!)
- 1.5 hours, give or take
- group slots available every 20 minutes between 1pm & 4:40pm

More info: http://broomstones.com/

Who's in?!?

p.s. As the photo above proves, there is definite potential for a costume contest here.

National Pancake Day 2/23

National Pancake Day at IHOP this year is on Tuesday 2/23. We happen to have practice that night.
Per tradition, we'll make our way to the Brighton IHOP after our workout and feast on a free shortstack of pancakes (and make a small donation to support local children's hospitals).

In past years, there have been discussions of a pancake relay race. Is it going to happen this year? Can we recruit Karina to lead us in this? Can we please get a video camera to record this?

Attn Marathoners: American Cancer Society charity opportunity

This is an FYI opportunity:

Training for a marathon, triathlon, cycling race, or other endurance event is a huge commitment. Make it mean more by joining the American Cancer Society DetermiNation endurance event program. ACS will provide the support and training to help you achieve your personal victory. And you’ll have the extra strength you need to endure miles and months of training because you’ll know you’re helping save lives. With every step you take and every mile you conquer, you’ll be helping create a world with less cancer and more birthdays.

Several races across New England have become part of the DetermiNation endurance event program, allowing athletes to turn their participation into a chance to make a difference in the fight against cancer. Athletes who choose to join the DetermiNation program commit to a fundraising minimum (much lower than other charities), and in return, enjoy many benefits that DetermiNation has to offer: training tips from experts, an exclusive DetermiNation racing shirt, a personal Web site, race-day amentities, and the knowledge that they are helping to save lives.

Here are some of the upcoming events:

Sunday, February 28 - Hyannis Marathon, Half Marathon 7 10K
Monday, April 19 - Boston Marathon (qualified runners only)
Sunday, May 2 - Cox Sports Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K
Sunday May 30 - Boston’s Run to Remember (Half Marathon & 5 Miler)
Sunday, May 30 -Key Bank Vermont City Marathon & Relay

To learn more or register online, please visit their website: www.cancer.org/meaningfulmiles

Women's Indoor 1000m American Record still stand

NBB's Jen Lincoln's indoor 1000m record was barely at risk at the Boston Indoor Games last night. The meet was held at Reggie Lewis in Boston, where many NBBrs attended to spectate the evening's amazing performances.

Anna (Willard) Pierce and Erin Donohue made no real attempts to follow the pace rabbit, who ran 600m at the perfect American record breaking pace. Oh so sad, as we cheered to make sure that our own team member's record still stands.

The best race of the evening took place with the men's 5000m. Bernard Lagat ran a great race to break Galen Rupp's previous indoor American record by 7 seconds, finishing in 13:11. After the pace rabbits stepped off at an AR pace, Lagat led much of the middle mile, where the pace slowed slightly to make for an exciting negative last mile split where Rupp attempted to take the lead with 1000m to go. Lagat made it seemily easy by changing gears in the final laps and blasting away a great last 200m to win. Congrats to the new American record holder.

In unrelated track news but relevant to the NBBrs night out. The DJ at An Tua Nua's destroyed a perfectly good party by playing some rather lame music during the last 45 minutes of the evening. I consider him to dead to me while I still try to send an evil stare his way, wherever he is now.

What do the President, a squealing pig and kung fu have in common?

On President's Day, a group of NBB'rs are planning on going to the Squealing Pig for dinner and old kung fu movies.

Amber can provide additional details (time, etc) but it sounds like a good time will be had.

BIG fun

Boston Indoor Games (BIG) is this Saturday. I hope you've purchased your tickets, as a whole night of track fun is in store. There are NBB'rs in Sections 10, 17 and possibly others.

As tradition, NBB spectators will celebrate post-BIG. I'd like to get reservations in. If you can RSVP, it'll help with the headcount. We're thinking Game On or Boston Beerworks in Fenway. Alternative suggestions are welcome.

Even if you're not watching the meet, you're welcome to join us afterwards. The last event is at 8p, so we'll aim to meet at 9:15p.

Marathoners: NB Research Lab opportunity

The New Balance Sports Research Lab has another opportunity for NBB to help the development of shoes.
They are looking at the mechanics and needs of high level marathon runners. More specifically they are looking for runners who finish the marathon in approximately 3hrs or faster.

Testing should take about 2hrs and participants would be compensated with a pair of shoes.

If this sounds like you and you are interested, please contact Pedro Rodrigues at Pedro.Rodrigues@newbalance.com.

NB provides one-on-one chat with Jenny B

Tomorrow at 1:30p, there will be a live feed of Jenny Barringer being welcomed by the New Balance family as she retours the Lawrence facility. After the welcoming, there will be an opportunity to have a one-on-one live chat with Team New Balance's newest athlete. You can ask her anything from her exciting decision to be a part of such a great company to her wedding plans to how many bowls of vanilla ice cream she had this weekend in NYC.

The live feed and live chat is being provided by Flotrack.org. The live feed link. More flotrack.org Jenny B info.

Jenny B is NB

Jenny Barringer has signed with New Balance. The press release is today at 12:30p at the New Balance Track and Field Center at the New York Armory.
You can watch the press release on FloTrack.
Many had speculated that the Colorado athlete would sign the with Swoosh, with a FloTrack poll giving Nike 60% of the votes and New Balance only 4%.

The press release will also kick off the New Balance Games at the Armory. Joan Bohlke will compete tomorrow with other elite NB athletes in the women's mile. The race and other NB games this weekend can be viewed live at the Armory website.

Dear RLTAC

I emailed Reggie Lewis Track in regards to their website. I'll let you know if I get any responses.

Dear RLTAC,
I've been a user of the Reggie Lewis Track center since my high school days (15+ years). The facility has been an amazing addition to the community and to the city. It's provided indoor track usage for the high schoolers, local colleges and post-collegiate athletes, as well as development activities for the youth of the city.
I feel that the website should be greatly improved to give the Track its due recognition for being a world class facility. The appearance and contents should be redesigned. Up-to-date information is key to keep fans and users of RLTAC aware of events, schedule updates, cancellations/closings, community opportunities, etc.
The New Balance Track and Field Center at the Armory in NY had struggled with this and has since upgraded their website. Although there can still be improvement, it provides a goal for RLTAC to achieve and possibly surpass.
I hope my comments will be taken in earnest as I continue to support the growth of RLTAC.
Regards,
Yvonne Green

Harvard Invite - updated schedule

This weekend's meet at Harvard has had it's race schedule drastically updated, with events possibly starting up to 20 minutes ahead of the below times:

Running Events
10:55am Women’s 5,000m
11:15am Men’s 5,000m
11:35am Women’s Mile
11:50am Men’s Mile
12:15pm Women’s 400m
12:30pm Men’s 400m
12:50pm Women’s 500m
1:00pm Men’s 500m
1:10pm Women’s 800m
1:15pm Men’s 800m
1:20pm Women’s 1,000m
1:25pm Men’s 1,000m
1:35pm Women’s 200m
1:50pm Men’s 200m
2:10pm Women’s 3,000m
2:25pm Men’s 3,000m
2:45pm Women’s Mile Relay
2:55pm Men’s Mile Relay

Boston Indoor Games

The Boston Indoor Games will be upon us before you know it: Feb. 6! In past years, NBBers have gathered to watch this awesome meet at Reggie, then headed out for dinner and some "team bonding"/night out on the town action afterwards.

Use the promo code BIGCHARLIECARD to save 10% on your tickets. The meet sells out every year, so don't wait! Rumor has it that the cool kids are sitting in section 17....

NB Web Express coupon

I happen to see a web ad for nbwebexpress.com (NB's e-tailer) "Save up to 50% off Closeouts", "Free shipping on orders over $50" and there is a coupon code "NBNEWYEAR". I'm not sure what the coupon code is for but thought I'd let people know it's out there.

Maria Martin Carrara

Introducing (for a second time)

Maria Martin Carrara

She has signed on with Mark Steinberg and believes NBB will be an excellent fit for her. Asked to comment on the pressure of being the first 2 week old to sign with the super agent Maria replied:
"I don't feel pressure, I apply it. From the front, the entire race."

Time will tell if the young harrier can back up those tough words.

NB Research Lab

The NB Sports Research Lab is currently conducting a study and are looking for participants. Some of you already know Pedro as the weartest rep.

The study is looking at how ankle flexibility affects the mechanics of the entire lower extremity and how this may contribute to overuse injuries such as anterior knee pain or "knee cap" pain.

To study this relationship they are looking for runners who:
1. avg 8+ miles per wk for the last 6 months

2. heel strikers

3. healthy or have anterior/knee cap pain when running

If interested please contact Pedro Rodrigues MS PT at pedro.rodrigues@newbalance.com.
Thank You

Post workout dinner

Anyone interested in doing dinner together after Friday's workout? I was thinking Fire and Ice in Harvard Sq?

Any suggestions are welcome.

BTW, Happy New Year, everyone!