August 2006

Both Shad Miller and 2005 Pub Champion Jason Cakouros acquitted themselves well enough to move into the 5-6 slots despite both having missed a race. Actually, Jason's wife, Eileen, had a much better race, but these are the men's standings, dammit! Hurrah to Jason, the third and final road warrior to kick Irish Village winner Kevin Gray to the curbside in the last _ mile.

Actually, it looked a lot like the Irish Village in the am with sheets of rain dissipating to rank humidity by race time. Fresh from honeymooning in Reykjavik, Iceland ("No running in two weeks") Shad never passed Gray when his wheels came off, because he was the wire-to-wire frontrunner.

Wappinger Falls Wildman Mike Slinskey took a page from SNL's Chris Farley the night before the race and slept IN A VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER, emerging to place a strong second and climb one point above Paul Hammond with the pair 2-3 above our guy (Bobby) Bligh.

Hopkinton AC ace Keiron Tumbleton maintains a 7-point lead in the Series (and Masters supremacy) courtesy of his third place showing. Rebounding from dual fractures, Chris Spinney circumnavigated Martha's Vineyard by bike for a week and thus only fell from 5th to 7th. A still ailing Mike Paglia slipped from 6th to 11th.

Senior leader Dave Wessman missed getting back on Rte. 24 from 195 and did a spin around Reykjavik in time to see Brian Byrne pull within a point of Senior supremacy.

Rye, NH's Jim McLaughlin is flush with the joy of victory after once again poleaxing Dr. Bob Hillman in the 70+ contest. Neither man could contest Providence's Dennis Brahmin, however. NER's 70-79 ROY in RI for 2005 covered the 5-mile course in 42:12 at the age of 76.

The Common Fence Point had 132 finishers last year as opposed to 292 this year. Of that total, 155 were from RI and 122 from MA. A tip of the hat to NER loyalist Mike Proto of Bristol, who donated two levels of his cooler to the parched crowd on the Community Center steps. Bravo!

Next race is the Portland "Trail to Ale" 10K in Portland, ME on Sept. 17. Plenty of info, including text and on-line registrations, maps, party news, contact info, etc. at: Sip Here

2006 NER Pub Series IX Men's Standings

OPEN (Top 50 Score)

1. Keiron Tumbleton, MA---------180
2. Mike Slinskey, NY--------------174
3. Paul Hammond, MA------------173
4. Bobby Bligh, MA---------------160
5. Shad Miller, MA----------------142
6. Jason Cakouros, MA------------138
7. Chris Spinney, MA-------------130
8. Mike Platt, MA----------------112
9. Chris Smith, MA--------------106
10. Paul Corcoran, MA------------103
11. Mike Paglia, MA--------------101
12. Ken Warren, MA--------------81
13. Jimmy Fallon, MA------------78
14. Andy Smith, MA-------------73
15. BJ Bottomley, NH------------48
16. Theo Kindermans, MA--------47
17. Brian Byrne, NH--------------42
18. Steve Houde, MA-------------36
19. Dave Wessman, MA-----------34
20. Mike Butler, MA---------------24
21. Jim Shope, MA----------------13
22. Mike Quagliato, MA------------11
23. Dave Pember, MA--------------7
24. Jack O'Connor, MA-------------5
25. Paul Bills, MA-----------------3

MASTERS (Top 10 Score)

1. Keiron Tumbleton, MA----------35
2. Paul Hammond, MA------------31
3. Jason Cakouros, MA------------27
4. Bobby Bligh, MA---------------21
5. Mike Platt, MA-----------------13
6. Jimmy Fallon, MA---------------10
7. Chris Spinney, MA--------------9
8. Chris Smith, MA----------------8
9. Paul Corcoran, MA---------------6
10. Ken Warren, MA----------------1
11. Andy Smith, MA-----------------1

SENIORS (Top 8 Score)

1. David Wessman, MA------------21
2. Brian Byrne, MA----------------20
4. Jim Shope, MA------------------9

VETERANS (Top 6 Score)

1. Dave Pember, MA---------------19
2. Tom Abbott, MA-----------------8
3. Brian Kelly, MA----------------1

70-79 (Top 4 Score)

1. Jim McLaughlin, NH-----------12
2. Bob Hillman, MA--------------9