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Club News
Mill Cities Commentaries
Sunday, December 4, 2011
by Linda Desjardins, Michael Pelletier and Dave Sullivan
 North Shore Striders Cap Off the Year
Mill Cities Relay Addendum
Car Windows
North Shore Striders Cap Off the Year
by Linda Desjardins
THE MILL CITIES RELAY – the last race of the year in the NSS Grand Prix. What a wonderful event to share with all our “competitors,” combining the desire to run as hard as we can to best their teams, and afterwards sharing a communal repast.
We have a lot to smile and feel puffed up about. The team results are all posted on the NSS home page for you to peruse and we did great! We came in tenth overall in a field of twenty. Not too shabby! And, we improved on our previous years’ showings in many ways. First of all, our teams collected 38 points. Our previous high, 28 points, was earned last year and in 2007. We also tied our brick tally, garnering two for two third place finishes. The Coed Veterans, George Geis, Linda Fitzpatrick, and Joe Giannone ran excellent times to earn the brick in a very competitive field. The Women Veterans, Annajean McMahon, Linda Desjardins and Nancy Giannone, also took third place in a very closely contested age group.
There are several notations which should be made in this last Grand Prix race results posting for the year. Should we start with a huge, immeasurable THANK YOU to Mike and Anne Pelletier who truly are the North Shore Striders’ engine? They are two of the most selfless people on earth and we are blessed to have them take care of so many things for us…and always with a smile! Of course they not only “run” the club, they run the races, too. Often on the same day! And at race’s end, they’re frequently making sure we’re all fed and happy. How can we possibly convey to them how appreciative we are? We acknowledge their nonstop efforts and hope we’re worthy.
Krissy Kozlosky deserves a shout-out, too. Who does a better job at sending out evites and seeing that our social calendars are filled with good things? And she takes and posts pictures, as did Roger Perham, Lanse Stover, and Pattie Clocher. And while we’re name-dropping, how about all the organizing work Vicky Yee did for the Nahant 30K? She got all the volunteers recruited and assigned, and has resumed competing – even though she’s still in recovery mode. How many of us would have been up to this task? And speaking of organizing volunteers, Mary Stevens put together a most welcome and welcoming water stop at the Boston Marathon. What a treat to see those smiling faces and hear the shouts of support from them. Organizing? Gary Freedman did yeoman’s work of getting everything in order at the Lowell Vocational Technical High School exchange/sunshine start. Then he even ran a leg himself! There are times when everyone has pitched in, whether it’s by assisting at a race, taking pictures, cheering us on, schlepping things to and from cars, manning a Strider info table, bringing refreshments, transporting cars at the relay – whatever is asked for, Striders step up to the task. We do seriously work and play well together.
And let’s give a huge thank you to Dave Sullivan, our Webmaster. We all know this site does not run itself. Dave not only runs IT, but then goes out and runs for us. It’s wonderful to have this site to check out and be able to read updates and results, and thanks to Dave, we do.
Here’s hoping everyone enjoys the remaining 2011 holidays and is ready to lace up again in 2012!
Mill Cities Relay Addendum
by Mike Pelletier
Almost everybody enjoys reading laudatory pieces about themselves and Anne and I are no exception, but we need to set the record straight and point out all of the other Striders who helped make the Mill Cities Relay such a success for the North Shore Striders this year and a really fun time as it is every year.
Some other noteworthy observations are that 44 Striders ran and 3 volunteered to be at the Greater Lowell Technical School to manage the Sunshine Start and the Exchange zone. Although a number of Striders both ran and volunteered some time at the Greater Lowell Technical School, the three who volunteered only were Anne Pelletier, Denise Young, and Bernie Sexton. The North Shore Striders are indebted to all of you.
Ten team Captains made this relay race possible as their efforts helped organize the teams and ensure runners and cars were in position. Special thanks go to captains Krissy Kozlosky, Rick Johnson, Mary Stevens, Daniel Forster, Bill Kobus, Dave Sullivan, Tom McMahon, Nancy Giannone, Bonnie Hallinan and George Geis.
We had a number of first-time Mill Cities Relay Strider runners, and we’re proud to see them step up and toe the starting line. Congratulations go out to Women’s open teammates Tara Arnold, Tara McGoff and Rosie Kyes, with a special tip of the hat to Rosie for starting as a volunteer and becoming an emergency replacement at 7:15AM! Karen Batt, Rachel Stafford and Jayne Sexton’s son, John, were first-time participants on the Coed Open team.
Woman master Maureen Kelly was a first-time participant; Marisol Ficaro ran the 9.5 mile leg on the women masters team for the first time and did great. Jennifer O’Neil, in response to a sudden loss of a runner, agreed on Thursday to run on Sunday even though she was already running a race on Saturday.
Meanwhile, on the coed masters team, Kevin Ferriter ran in his first MCR as did Daniel Forster who also became team captain. Eric Jones ran just two weeks after running the Philadelphia Marathon.
Pattie Clocher and Jayne Sexton “took one for the club” by agreeing to run the two shortest legs on the coed senior team. This helped the team get 6 valuable points when they could have easily insisted that they be allowed to be the big stars on the women’s senior team. In fact, everyone who ran or volunteered had only one response to any request: what do you need me to do to make my team be the best it can be?
The plan this year was to form the strongest Coed teams at every age group. The result was our best showing as a club in years. And it was all of the Striders pulling together that made this year’s MCR so successful.
Car Windows
by Dave Sullivan
Today as I helped ferry vehicles from leg to leg in the Mill Cities Relay, the thought crossed my mind that you can learn a lot about people from their cars.
It all began at 6am, with Neil Bernstein picking me up at my home to begin the day's journey. As I got into his car, he quickly cleared the passenger seat of papers, electronic gadgets, maps, and various items of outerwear. These were unceremoniously tossed into the backseat on top of many other layers of similar items, affectionately referred to as his "snail locker." One could easily make a home back there, with plenty to read, wear and likely eat for a fortnight. It appeared he needed every square inch his Suburu station wagon offered.
Neil is a thoughtful man, and his choice of radio stations reflects his liberal interest in politics and world events--NPR. Returning with him at the end of the day, his choice of CDs also reflected this electic taste, music ranging from Israel's answer to The Beatles to The Grateful Dead.
My second ride of the day was in Martin Tighe's Acura, a sporty stick shift that boasts of marathons run and mountains climbed on decals stuck to the back window. I was not surprised that I had to move his seat back quite a bit (I may have a good 6 inches or more on him), but what did surprise me was his choice of music--the radio was tuned to KISS 108. So from NPR, I was abruptly segued into Ryan Seacrest's American Top 40, this week guest-hosted by funny man Jimmy Fallon. Driving the 9 miles from the start to the end of Leg 4, I heard the latest singles from Rhianna, Nicky Minaj, Bruno Mars and, of course, Lady Gaga. Here is a 50+ year-old who still hasn't grown up, and I could definitely see how Marisol was drawn to his childlike British charm. Martin also seems to be a big fan of Dunkin' Donuts coffee--cups, napkins and bags joined me as passengers in the ride to his meeting point.
My final ride of the day (before returning home with Neil) was in Joe and Nancy Giannone's large SUV, appropriately featuring American and Italian flags on the front license plate. Again having to fiddle with car seats and mirrors (yeah, I'm a bit taller than Joe as well), I settled in to my five mile ride to the finish. The background soundtrack to this trip was tenor Josh Groban's album, Closer, featuring both English and Italian ballads. Here is a married couple with feet in both old and new worlds, I thought.
Maybe now that I've shared these impressions, I won't be asked to drive someone's car again next year, in fear that the items in your car and your musical preferences are shared with the rest of our club! But I did take it as an honor to be entrusted with these personal items of my running teammates and was privileged to get these small windows into their owners' personalities.
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