NE Runner dev site
2014 NER Pub Series XVII Manifesto & Schedule:
The
All-Important Rules of Engagement:
Anyone and everyone is encouraged
to participate in the Pub Series. For those wishing to be scored, to be
eligible for $ and other swag at the Series’ end, the party at Doyle’s
(guaranteed to those who have completed all the races or are receiving awards) as well as the New Balance Pub Series jacket for doing all six
Series’ races (or New Balance running shoes for just doing five; no, you don’t get a jacket and shoes for doing six) you
need to be a paid
subscriber to NER so click here no later than May 18. If you’re married or living in sin, one per household will do (just let us know). To be scored you need to
participate in five of the six races; hence, “Five to Stay Alive.” “Miss one,
have your fun; Miss two, you’re through.”
Also, if your name is misspelled or missing from the list we
post on our website of participant’s attendance at races (along with a
write-up on the website, usually 1-2 days post event), Michelle has that thankless task so let
her know asap (as opposed to the end
of the Series) at Mick. Yours truly (Fitz) has the thankless task of
scoring the races, so if there’s a point discrepancy, likewise, let me know asap at
Fitz
IMPORTANT: On
the homepage of this website you can sign up for our free bi-weekly
newsletter, crucial to staying up to date with Pub Series news. Don’t be
one of those people who emails us at the end of the Series asking why
we didn’t email you for a jacket size before the deadline: No. 1, we
don’t have your email; No. 2, the info was in the e-newsletter.
Beginning in 2011, Boston-based
athletic sportswear giant New Balance signed on as the the multi-year sponsor of the NER Pub Series.
Gender specific New Balance Pub Series jackets will be awarded to
everyone who runs six of six races. For those who complete five of six races
there’s a pair of New Balance running shoes in the offing.
End of Series swag: Along with a new pair of New Balance running shoes to
the top 5 Open men & women, as well as age-group overall winners, the end
of series cash payouts for the top five men & women this year are: 1st, $200 – 2nd, $150 – 3rd, $125 – 4th,
$100 – 5th, $75. Divisional winners from Masters through 70+ also win a new
pair of New Balance running shoes and $50, with merchandise going to places
2-3.
IMPORTANT
Jacket Info: Your lifeline to the Pub Series is our website NER and free
bi-weekly enewsletter as well as the mag. Take advantage of all because that’s
where the notice asking for your jacket size will appear after the fifth race
in the Series. If the deadline is missed (and sorry, but this is your fault,
not ours), men’s sizes default to ‘large’ and women to ‘medium.’ No whining
allowed.
The top
overall 50 places for men and women are based on cross country scoring.
Win the
race, you get 50 points, come in 50th, you get one point. Everyone of
any age
is eligible to score here. Age group scoring goes 10 deep for Masters
& Seniors (50-59), 8 deep for Vets (60-69) and 5 deep for 70+.
Example: If you’re
the top 40-49 runner in a race, you get 10 points in your age division.
If
you’re 10th Master, you get one point. New for 2014, The Octogenarian (80+) division, 3-deep for men.
Balance shoes, you can take your certificate to any of 14 (& counting) Marathon Sports stores and pick out your shoes the same day. This
beats (by far) having to send a certificate with your shoe size to a
warehouse and waiting for delivery.
breeze…or is it the spanking clean and fresh fragrance of WIN
detergent, specially designed to get the grime, grit and lingering stench out of endurance athlete’s
clothing. This stuff works! Check out WIN at Doyles. The NER tent will be handing out free
WIN packets at Pub Series races in 2014 and bottles will be
awarded to overall and age group winners at the Pub Series
party in Dec. and who knows where else.
April 13 – 18th Annual
Doyle’s Emerald Necklace 5M, Jamaica Plain, MA
of Publican purvey and the Cornerstone of the New England Runner Pub Series. Remember
the girls dancing on the bar in the movie “Mystic River?” That’s Doyle’s. The
young bartender in the Sam Adams commercials? That’s Publican Gerry Burke, Jr.
standing in front of the bar at Doyle’s (but we digress).
The certified course is run almost entirely in traffic-free Franklin
Park; it’s rolling and tres scenic with bagpipers at the mile. A seismic party
follows, inside and out, with a DJ outside, the Finnian Sons inside,
Interactive Simon Says outside, food and free pouring libation inside and out.
This race started in 1995 and became a Pub Series event a
year later. In 2010 there was a record field of 2,106 finishers. The Pub Series
Awards night is held in the Fitzgerald Room at Doyle’s each December.
A success story here as this race blends a fundraiser (Foundation for
Autism) with a great race for runners. A Pub Series event in 2010-2011.
There’s also a 10K (and it’s been the Pub designation in the past) but
the
certified 5K is this year’s official distance. Those who choose to, or
inadvertantly (because they didn’t read this) run the 10K will get
credit for attendance but won’t score. Age-division awards go through
70+.
Online and downloadable applications (and a lot more info) are available at http://www.evansrun.org/
Having run the course, the first mile is fairly flat.
The second mile features a nice downhill, followed by a left and an
uphill around a cone, followed by a downhill and an uphill as you
retrace your journey to the finish. The grounds across from Norwell High
School make for a secluded staging area for vendors, runners and
families.
There’s a tent for food, and another for a band and the awards ceremony, which goes off fairly quickly after the race. Why? Because it’s time for the post-race party at McGreal’s Tavern two miles (or so) down the road off Norwell Center. An outdoor bar-b-que
is in full swing here and the proprietor’s put on a great job. McGreal’s
is located at 690 Main St. in Norwell (781-659-9303).
Featuring one of the more pastoral staging areas and post-race meeting
spots, Billings Field in W. Roxbury, hard by the Corrib Pub, is the
setting for copious post-race hops and malt with a full-scale barbeque
to boot. If Ol’ Sol helps out, it can’t be beat! Plenty of room for the family and vendors, not to mention the keg corral.
The first mile is pretty flat, then you’ve got up & down in the
second mile and then a “Big Up” in the third as you climb past one end
of Billings Field only to descend the ‘screamer’ on the other side to the finish line.
There were over 2,000 entrants and 1,951 finishers in 2013.
winners, music, food and drink for all (And What Food!). Music and vendor’s
tents in the parking lot across from Paddy’s greet the day’s first registrants. There are always new twists to the Paddy’s proceedings (ala the instant photo booth below right) and in 2013 a Beer Garden was inaugurated in the lot across from Paddy’s, closed to traffic and justly coined, “Blocktoberfest.”
organizers originally looked at making this a 5K, but there was no way to do it
without a succession of 90-degree right and left hand turns, so what you have is a very
flat, very fast, USATF certified (MA07030JK) and chip-timed 3-Miler (how many of those are
there, huh?)
Series division leaders wear the maillot jeune before striding along Newton’s
Champs D’Elysee. The race shirts are cult classics and New Balance
supplies prizes (shoes, merchandise) going 3-deep starting at 14-under and
extending through 70+.
There’s a DJ playing outside and a live band playing
upstairs at Paddy’s. The Irish artifacts collected by Publicans John and Karl
O’Hara are, by themselves, well worth a leisurely tour of the pub.
Last year saw record entries of 2,172 with 1,809 finishers. RD Mark Kelly does
superlative work behind the scenes to provide the Series with a suitable
bookend to Doyle’s.
lots more info, visit: Paddy’s
last reminder: Notice is given and jacket sizes are turned over to New
Balance before the sixth race of the Series, so check our website NER and sign up for our free
bi-weekly enewsletter to keep track of all Pub Series proceedings.
Good Luck & Have A Great Series!
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