Sunday Run

This week, due to Easter, the SLR will be held on Saturday. Sunday is also April Fools Day… so maybe I’m just tricking you. Either way, show up at Brueggers at 8AM on Saturday and find out.

Also note that on Saturday there is a 3 hour parking limit in downtown Melrose so run fast and avoid the temptation of patronizing Melrose businesses because you have to leave by 11am. Also after you leave don’t come back to downtown Melrose until after 6PM because you could get a ticket even if you parked in the lot for non-consecutive hours.

Last week we had a good showing out on the Boston course with most runners completing all 22 miles in stellar fashion. Check out the Melrose Running Club group on Facebook for some photos from Matt Sazama.

This week March will go out like a lamb as we sneak in one more run before April begins. This is the start of taper time, or as I call it “Don’t do anything stupid” time. As your miles decrease there will be a lot of temptation to do some things with your new found free time. Resist! If you question whether an activity is stupid, pick up your phone and call me, while you’re dialing realize that if its close enough to actually ask then it is indeed stupid the weeks before your marathon. Stick to shorter runs, sitting, and sleeping.

This Week’s Route

Start 1 – We’ll start across Main Street as we’ll turn immediately onto East Foster, run up to Melrose Common and turn right onto 6th Street, which will become Swains Pond Ave. When you get to the ponds you will run up to a stop sign, turn right to stay on Swains Pond Ave. At the end of Swains Pond Ave you’ll turn right on to Lebanon Street and at the first set of lights turn left onto Forest Street. Follow that to the end, cross Main Street in Malden and find a water stop in the parking lot of Citizen’s Bank. Note its Saturday so the bank is open, we might be tucked in with parked cars.

Half Finish – The half runners are keeping it to 7 this week, so they’ll head off with the long runners along Winter Street, straight through a 5-way intersection to Glenwood Street. At the end of Glenwood you’ll turn right on Highland and an immediate right on the Fellsway East. Go through the hills to Grimsby’s, turn right on West Wyoming, left on Main Street and finish up at Brueggers.

Full 2 – The full route will follow the half route along Winter, onto Glenwood, right on Highland and Fellsway East, but continue past Grimsby’s onto the LynnFells. This will bring you over to Melrose High School where there will be a water stop at the knoll.

Full 3 – Continue along the LynnFells Parkway to Saugus, turning left on Main Street in Saugus. Run along Main Street as it becomes Farm Street and turn left at Wakefield High School on to Nahant. Follow this to Main Street and have a drink at the water stop.

Full Finish – Take Main Street back to Melrose. Finish at Brueggers. Bask in the glory of finishing your second to last training long run!

Water Stops – Tom and I will be there, probably Hank too. We got you!

Roll Call – Who’s in?

Here is the plan for tomorrow. Review it, make sure you’re name is on a car list. Not everyone indicated whether they would be coming upstairs to the Knights. Feel free to, even if you don’t eat what I’m serving (pasta, pizza, and caesar salad). You guys deserve celebrating!

Boston2018

And the route…

Remember this is a training run, not a race. Winning only gets you a longer wait for your car to leave.

Drivers please show up at 6:40 to get your supplies and people’s bags. Everyone check in with your driver. I’ll be counting full cars before we leave.

Thanks to all the volunteers. The car count is low so it might be tight getting out there. Matt will meet us in Hopkinton so when you’re stinky there will be a little more room on the way home. Please mark your bags with your names so we can find it at the finish. It will be cold, maybe a little snowy at the finish so bring warm clothes, you may be waiting a bit before heading back to Melrose.

The Knights will open around noonish, I’ll have lunch (pasta, salad, pizza) at about 1:00. Let me know if you’re interested.

Here’s your chance to return the favor!!! This Sunday is the SLR from Hopkinton to Boston. So far we have 8 cars heading to the starting line that can hold 26 runners and counting. One car needs to return early, another one is coming from west of Hopkinton, and I need seats for 27 so far. I need at least 1 more driver, maybe 2. Let me know if you can help.

Below is the initial tally of runners, I’ll be adding columns for lunch and gu count later. Some have expressed interest, but you don’t count unless you respond on this blog. Let me know if I missed you!

DRIVERS + seats for runners
Jim Carson +3
Lois Parker Carmona +3
Hank Murphy +4
Tom Gorman +3
Audrey Paradis +3
Sheree Wheeler +4
Matt Sazama +3
Liz Hecht +3

TOTAL SEATS FOR RUNNERS: 26

FULL RUNNERS (or darn close to full)
1 Cynthia Berger
2 Dan Slattery
3 Roy Mournier
4 Jeff Rushton
5 Johan Keller
6 Carly Rose
7 Katie Sinnott
8 Nicole Jacob
9 Jenny Boshco
10 Deb Reppucci
11 Rachel Bandi
12 Thuy Dang
13 Mary O’Connell
14 Greg Mastrangelo
15 Lee Romprey
16 Paul Whitelam
17 Brian Walfield
18 Freddi Triback
19 John Egan
20 Andy Nagelin
21 Mike McLaughlin
22 Jessica Crispin
23 Christina DeCalogero
24 Ashley DeAcetis
25 Judi Chiavetta
26 Amanda DeRi
27 Jessi Marquardt

HALF RUNNERS
(28) Liz Hecht

It’s time to start organizing next week’s 22 mile Hopkinton to Boston College run.

Wanted: Drivers – Qualifications include a valid Drivers License, a free Sunday (3/25), ability to pour water and Gatorade and hand to a runner. Must be capable of arriving at Brueggers at 6:45am, follow direction, and be available to at least 2pm. Payment will be in smiles, hugs, and deep appreciation from weary runners. Please indicate your desire to volunteer and the number of seats in your car (including your drivers). By Thursday I’ll notify you whether you’ve been accepted.

Response Required – Runners interested in running a portion or the entire 22 mile route, please respond and tell me how many miles you are interested in running and your approximate time you expect your run to take.
Please indicate whether you are interested in being part of an early bird start, we haven’t done this in the past, and I am not committing to actually doing it because it can make water stops harder to coordinate, so I’m toying with the idea to try to get people to the finish in a tighter time period.
The cost of the run is still a minimum of $2, or $2/Gu you plan on eating. Please indicate how many Gu you will need so I bring enough for everyone. If you don’t ask for Gu, please be aware runners behind you may be expecting that Gu you see so don’t have more than one Gu.
Note, in case there is more runners than car seats, preference will be given to runners that regular attend the SLR. Runners should also bring a few dollars for their driver, they’ll be driving well over 50 miles and paying tolls to help you run.
After the run we will be heading upstairs to the Knights of Columbus for a celebratory lunch. If interested I’ll be collecting $10 per person join in on the party. The bar will be open for cash purchases as well.

Please respond before Tuesday Night. Wednesday we’ll start putting together the plan!
Thanks,
Jim

Happy St Patrick’s Day to you all! Today is traditionally full of drinking and dancing, which I hear was practiced at last week’s water stops as well. Thank you Lois, Hank, Tom, Audrey, and Jen Elise for helping everyone get through their run hydrated and well fed. Congrats to all that ran the Black Cat, and those venturing off to places like Virginia Beach to run races this week. For the rest of you, keep focused on what’s ahead of you, there are only a few weeks left to your adventures.

So while I was away Mother Nature obviously thought you had it too easy this winter and decided to challenge you with more snow and wind. Part of your Boston training is toughening you up for whatever race day brings. There are no short cuts to that and the weather will always be there to let you know you need a little more toughening. With that said, I was hoping for some rain to come in and wash this snow away so I didn’t have to change this week’s route. No Luck. Not even on Luck of the Irish day. We will run through the paved side of Breakheart, but we will skip the hills and pop out at the Voc to Wakefield High School and run Farm Street back instead.

The Route

Start-1 Everyone crosses Main Street and turns immediately left on to East Foster. Run up to Melrose Common and take a right onto 6th Street. Continue straight as this becomes Swains Pond Avenue. Swains Pond will take you up to Turners Pond where you’ll turn right at a stop sign to continue on Swains Pond Ave. There will be a point where you meet Lebanon Street, sometimes people just follow left and end up in Malden, don’t do that, instead take a sharp right onto Lebanon, then a left at the traffic lights on to Forest Street. At the end of Forest Street you’ll hit Main Street where you’ll find Water Stop 1 in the parking lot of Citizens Bank.
Start-2 Everyone continues together onto Winter Street, past the Oak Grove MBTA stop to a 5-way intersection. Cross straight across to get on Glenwood Street. This will take you through some hilly roads over to Highland Ave where you’ll turn right and then immediately turn right onto the Fellsway East. Continue on to Grimsby’s where you’ll go straight on to the LynnFells Parkway. When you get to Melrose High School look for a water stop at the knoll on your right.
Half-Finish If you’re running the half route you’ll continue on with the full runners down the LynnFells Parkway until you get to the stop light at Main Street in Saugus. Turn left, and immediate left onto Howard. Take Howard back to a left on Green Street. Green Street will merge with Main Street which will take you back to Brueggers with 11 miles under your belt.
Full-3 If you’re running the full you’ll continue along the LynnFells Parkway until you hit the Saugus Breakheart entrance. Head up to the headquarters and look for a water stop.
Full-4 Run the flatter side of Breakheart by entering to the left, keeping right at the beach and popping out at the Vocational School. Run down to Wakefield High School and turn left on Farm Street. Farm will become Main Street in Saugus where you’ll take a right at the second set of traffic lights back on to the LynnFells Parkway. Continue back to Melrose High School where the last water stop will be waiting for you.
Full-Finish To finish the full you’ll take the LynnFells back to Grimsby’s, turn left on Wyoming and left on Main and finish at Brueggers with 18 miles to your credit.

Water Stops After a night of celebrating St Patrick’s Day we should have some combination of Tom, Audrey, and Hank out there to get you through.

Roll Call! Who will we see at the top o’ the mornin’?