NE Runner dev site
2015 NER Pub Series XVIII Manifesto & Schedule:
The
All-Important Rules of Engagement:
Welcome Publicans! 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 1. 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. Implemented in 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.
Gaelic for “The Great Race” this festive event features a
flat & fast USATF certified course (USATF-NE GP event in 2014) that runs from the host Asgard Irish Pub
& Restaurant at 350 Mass. Ave. in Cambridge to the border of Harvard Square
and back.
women along with age group awards. The race starts at 9:30 am with the awards ceremony around 11:00 am conducted in the registration tent outside in University Park. If it’s inclimate, the awards could move into the Asgard but that would be announced.
The
An Ra’s M’or was a solid entry into the 2009 & 2012 Pub Series
and we’re glad to have them back. Among other beneficiaries, part of the event proceeds go to support the Cambridge Rindge & Latin track teams.
a Google map on location, the course, registration and other info, visit http://www.srr.org/anrasmor/ The email contact is anrasmor@srr.org
April 12 – 19th Annual
Doyle’s Emerald Necklace 5M, Jamaica Plain, MA
of Publican purvey and the Cornerstone of the New England Runner Pub Series, Doyle’s is a storied watering hole for politicians, sports figures and journalists. Want to know why there’s a sign that says Braddock’s Cafe outside? Where the speakeasy was located during Prohibition? What pictures cover bullet holes from a bygone era? (Well, uh, we’ll let the proprietors cover the last question but NER has the first two, among others, covered).
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 (weather permitting), food and free pouring libation inside and out.
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.
clubs that’ve been on board with the Pub Series since its infancy. The
host establishment is the Village Manor
of an Irish Pub (minus the big flat screen TVs) with a mahogany bar,
stone fireplace and high topped Pub tables. As the Manor professes, it
serves “Friendship and Laughter…One Pint at a Time.” The Boston Globe describes its offerings as “family fare that’s grown up a little.”
(especially the beverage) is non-stop in the outer courtyard. The
evening before the race on Oct. 4 from 6-8 pm there’s number pick-up
available at the Manor as well as a free pasta dinner (price included in
the entry fee – $20 pre, $25 day of).
are shirts to the first 300 and Rene Rancourt (of Boston Bruins fame,
2nd from right in the photo)) sings the national anthem preceding the
race start at 11:30 am. Check out the professional video of the day’s race taken by Bob Stanley and crew, and shown in the Manor at about 3:30 pm. It’s well worth the wait.
Grand Finale of the Pub Series. Last year saw a record 2,290 entrants and an expansion of the Blocktoberfest Beer Garden.
winners, music, food and drink for all (And What Food!). Music and
scores of 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; 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 outside 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.
superlative work behind the scenes to provide the Series with a suitable
bookend to Doyle’s. In 2014 a record $62,000 dollars was raised to benefit Newton Athletes Unlimited, with all monies going toward recreation programs for children and adults with disabilities.
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.
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