Sunday Run

Last Week – The SLR took to the streets of Hopkinton and ran through Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, and Newton to finish up at Boston College. While we plan out every piece of the day on how to get about 30 people and 7 cars from Melrose to the starting line, on to Boston College, and back to Melrose, each year there are curveballs tossed into the mix to make things even more challenging. Thank you to Lois for taking command of the day and dealing with the logistics of executing the plan. Great Job! Thanks to Tom, Audrey, Hank, Liz, Sheree, Lee and Brian for being the drivers for the day. The task of getting people back and forth from the course is important, and the work done keeping the caravan moving along the route so there is food, water, and clothing in the right places at the right time is critical to making the run a success. Most of you have been doing this for several years and it is very much appreciated that we have an experienced team of dedicated people. Thank you! And to all the runners that signed up, read the instructions, followed the instructions, and made the day go as planned, thank you! I hope you enjoyed the unusually good weather and got some good training miles behind you as you head in to your halfs and marathons. And thanks to Mark the bartender and Lois the hostess for what appeared to be successful post run party. If you have any feedback on how to improve the big 22 miler, please feel free to send me an e-mail.

This Week – For those running Boston it’s time to taper. The mileage goes down while the intensity remains steady, giving your body time to recover from the big run as you sustain your fitness level. We’ll be running Swains Pond and then the long runners will head out to Farm Street.

Start 1 – The run will start across Main Street in front of the Y, and turn immediately left on to East Foster Street and up a hill to Melrose Common. Turn right on 6th Street at the Common Market, and follow that straight as it becomes Swains Pond Ave. Make your way to Swain’s Pond, turning right at the stop sign by the ponds. Follow Swains Pond Ave to the end where it intersects with Lebanon Street. Turn right on Lebanon, left at a set of lights on to Forest Street, and finish the first section at Citizens Bank in Malden at the corner of Main Street and Forest Street.

Full 2 / Half Finish – Leave the water stop on Winter Street and pass the Oak Grove T stop into a 5 way intersection. Cross straight over to Glenwood Street. Follow that to Highland Ave where you’ll turn right and quickly turn right again on to the Fellsway East. Ride the hills of the Fellsway to Grimsby’s. If you’re running the half distance you’ll turn right on West Wyoming, left on Main, and finish at Brueggers for 7 miles. Long runners will continue straight past Grimsby’s on to the LynnFells Parkway to Melrose High School where they’ll hit the next water stop.

Full 3 – Taking the LynnFells Parkway into Saugus, turn left at the lights at Main Street in Saugus, running along Main Street until it becomes Farm Street in Wakefield. Turn left on Nahant Street, which will take you over to Nick’s Pizza where there will be another water stop.

Full Finish – Head south on Main Street, to Melrose, to Brueggers, and finish up your run.

Water Stops – Lois and I have them covered. Anyone else who wants to help is welcome.

Roll Call – Who’s in?!

Here is Sunday’s plan!

boston2019

If you have any questions post them here and Lois will answer.
Have a great run, enjoy the weather, let Lois know if you’re in for post-run pizza, the KofC bar will be open!

It’s time to plan the Boston Course Run which will be on March 24th this year. For those new to it, or those that have forgotten, three weeks prior to Boston we leave Brueggers at 7AM, carpool out to Hopkinton, people get out and run, others move cars from water stop to water stop along the whole course, and in the end we all wind up at Boston College around lunch time. After that we head back to Melrose and maybe we have lunch. To make this all happen without a hitch everyone must follow my elaborate plans.

(1) Cars? I have a handful of drivers already volunteering, and each of them has a car. As runners sign up we’ll need a seat in a car for each of them. Most cars fit four comfortably, so if you have a car with many seats and don’t mind someone else driving it, we could borrow it. If you are running the full or close to it, you can’t drive the course (you’ll be running and your car won’t magically appear at the finish). If you volunteer your car be prepared for it to be in use between 7AM and 2PM.

(2) Drivers? Again, note that its very difficult to run and drive at the same time. I know you all can drive from Melrose to Hopkinton, I’m more interested in who can drive the car along the race course from Hopkinton to BC. People who want to run only half of the course can switch in Wellesley and drive the other half… if they have someone that can drive the other half. If you’re driving be prepared to be needed between 7AM and 2PM.

(3) Runners? I assume somewhere between 1 and 50 people which makes it hard to plan. Let me know you’re running by THIS WEDNESDAY, last minute additions are not easy and frankly make me very angry. If you don’t let me know by Wednesday I probably won’t have a seat for you. Also let me know how far you plan on running (full or half, of somewhere in between). If you’re running the half indicate a preference of first half (flat to downhill) or second half (flat to hilly). I’ll try to fit you in to your preferred part of the run. Again, if you’re running just a bit of the run still be prepared to be with us from 7AM to 2PM.

(4) Buts? If you have a special case (I want to run but I need to….) consider the impact on everyone else before you ask. This isn’t simple to plan and the equation gets more difficult with each request. I’ll do my best to make things work but not all variations can be accommodated.

OK, who wants in? Again I have to know you’re coming to have a seat in a car for you.

What I have so far:

Drivers
————————–
4 Lois Parker Carmona
4 Tom Gorman
4 Audrey Paradis
4 Hank Murphy / Lee Romprey
4 Liz Tassinari
5 Sheree Wheeler
4 Brian Walfield
————————–
22 Seats for Runners

Full Runners
————————–
1 Nicole Jacob
2 Matt Kerton
3 Marian Sales
4 Marianne Chmielewski
5 Jessi Marquardt
6 Freddi Triback
7 Jeff Rushton
8 Judi Chiavetta
9 Dan Slattery
10 Thuy Dang
11 Chris Hancock
12 Audrey Recupero
13 Regina Curran
14 Julie Smith Galvin
15 Bob Cosman
16 Andy Nagelin
17 AJ

Half Runners
————————–
18 Yvonne Liu-Constant
19 Michele DeAngelo (2)
20 Marty Hergert (1)
21 Mary O’Connell (1)
22 Sarah Pilcher

Right now things just fit, please no last minute additions!
Tomorrow I’ll put together the detailed plan together, but please confirm your inputs.

Last Week – I hear was miserable! While most were off running races, a few trudged through some of the Sunday Long Run in wind blown snowy conditions. Congrats to Black Catters, Malden Lap Runners, and the SLR troopers.

This Week – Start your St Patrick’s Day off with some miles. I assume the hilly side of Breakheart is unrunnable, but the flatter side is. If it isn’t Tom and Audrey are in charge of setting you off in a different direction. But I think the plan will be to run Swain’s Pond, head to Breakheart, run the flat side but skip the hills and pop out at the Voc and run back Farm Street.

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’?

Next Week – Time to start planning next week. I won’t be around, but I will be planning the Hopkinton to Boston College Run. I would like you to not just IFTF and IFTH for this week, but if you can not whether you are planning on running all, half, or none of next week’s run let me know now. I also would like those driving to let me know. Starting after tomorrow’s run there will be a daily post about what will happen next week. Thanks!

Last Week – We finished February with a beautiful, upbeat run to Winchester for 20 miles and 10 miles. The temperature was in the mid-30s, but the bright sun and lack of wind made the day feel like the warmest of the year. As they tackled the longest run of the season, runners were up beat at the water stops manned by Hank, Lois, Tom, and Audrey.

This Week – Then came March like a Lion! With a large snow fall, lazy shovelers, and consistently freezing temperatures, running this week has been abysmal. If you do find a stretch of shoveled sidewalks it tends to end at a 4ft snowbank on a corner. As the days warm, the snow will melt and then form into slick patches of ice by morning. Needless to say, we won’t be running Breakheart this week with snow and ice covering its paths. We will run Lake Q and return to Melrose for a trip around Breakheart. With Black Cat today and the Malden “Block Party” Half Marathon tomorrow, I suspect the crowd will be light at the SLR.

The Route –

Start-1 – We’ll be running up Main Street, past Ell Pond, all the way in to the Wakefield, stopping at Nick’s Pizza for a water stop.

Half-2 – Continue up Main Street through Wakefield Center, bearing left onto Common Street, turning left on Church St at Lake Quannapowitt, and then turning left at the traffic lights at North Ave. This will bring you back to the water stop at Nick’s.

Half-Finish – Run back Main Street to Brueggers to finish up your 8 mile run.

Full-2 – Continue up to Lake Quannapowitt by taking Main Street through Wakefield Center, staying to the right of the lake. Turn left on to Lowell St and then a quick left on to Lake Quannapowitt Parkway. Run through the parking lot to a left on North Ave and take North Ave straight back to Nick’s for another water stop.

Full-3 – Next we’ll run along Nahant over to Wakefield High School. Since Breakheart is snowed in, we’ll turn left on to Farm Street, left on Water Street and left back on Main Street in Wakefield Center. Return to Nick’s Pizza for another water stop.

Full-4 – Return to Melrose along Main Street, passing Brueggers, passing Marathon Sports, and look for a water stop on the left in the parking lot at Sullivan Tire (Formerly Montvale Tire) for a quick water stop.

Full-Finish – Continue on Main Street up past Pine Banks Park. Enter in to Malden, turning left on Forest Street. Forest will take you over to Lebanon Street. Run on Lebanon taking a left on East Foster. When you get to Main Street you’ll take a right to finish at Brueggers for about 16.7 miles.

Water Stops – I’ll be gone this week, so Lois Parker Carmona will lead the way this week. With the change in route there will be two stops, one at Nick’s you’ll see several times, and one at Sullivan Tire for the Full runners. Thank you Lois and your band of water stop helpers!

Roll Call! – Who’s in?