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The Mill Cities Relay is unique. It is about fun and friendly competition, and has been for 22 years. This year the fun and the competition had a different dynamic-a sudden heavy snowstorm on race morning, December 4, 2005. And the fun was more so. The competition was more interesting, more challenging, and more enjoyable. In the end, the Winners Circle Running Club zipped and skated to their fifth consecutive championship. However, the Merrimack Valley Striders made it as tight as can be, coming within two points of the Dynasty with a 75 to 73 margin. The last club to win (2000) before Winners Circle's phenomenal streak, the Gate City Striders, finished in third place with 64 points. The Merrimack Valley Striders made an incredible leap from an eighth place
finish last year to a near championship in 2005. And they dominated in most
divisions, finishing ahead of both Winners Circle and Gate City in 7 of 12 age
groups. And they won the battle of the clock by an average of one minute, 20
seconds per division: Their total time of 39 hours, 40 minutes, and 28 seconds
edged Winners Circle by 16 minutes (39:56:29), and Gate City by 44 minutes (40:24:57).
But it was points that counted, and with domination in the Coed divisions, Winners
Circle was again the champ-a snow-blown champ. Into the cold dark morn The day dawned like a Russian novel. Snow fell hard and dry. The overcast painted the predawn landscape dark. If the moon could be seen through the clouds, it would be a pallid crescent, barely able to illuminate the December morn in which we gathered for the race.  In this novel I played the part of the hapless tchinovnik postmaster sneaking off in the early hours to his mistress. Our mistress this morning was not vodka and painted women, but the annual Mill Cities Relay. I and my club, greeting each other with great frosty blooms of breath at 6:30
AM in a parking lot were not alone in our madness. Across the Merrimack Valley
15 other running clubs were gathering in the predawn blur to assemble for the
great runners rendezvous that is the Mill Cities Relay. Record Turnout Despite Snow for 22nd Running  Runners gathered at both ends of the Relay well before dawn, as teams reviewed logistics and pinned on bib numbers at the starting point, the Nashua, New Hampshire YMCA. Many met for carpooling and worked backwards from the finish line at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Lawrence, Massachusetts. All wondered how the forecast snow would affect the race, especially since it traverses mostly roadways along the 28.3-mile route. And at 6:00 a.m., it began to snow. The closer to starting time, set for 8:00 a.m., the harder the snow fell all along the route. Would the record number of teams be able to run? It seemed that nearly every runner present was going to run-somewhere. Running in snow is different, okay, and often different is a good thing. No wimps here. Everyone wanted to run. In the 22-year history of the event, the relay was postponed twice for snow. The Mill Cities Relay has traditionally been held on the first or second Sunday in December. However, in 1996 the relay was postponed for two months by a blizzard. The thirteenth edition was actually run on February 9, 1997 instead of December 8, 1996. And the 20th running in 2003 was postponed from December 7 to February 8, 2004. In both cases there was a major snowstorm the day prior to the relay.  This year, the snow began falling heavily just before race time. After a brief discussion, the Mill Cities Committee decided it was a go, and the ceremonial brick was dropped, the start signal for a record 148 teams. They began their trek in heavy snow. And by mile one, most were snow-covered. Runners on the second and third legs also experienced heavy snow showers and a head wind, covering them in white. The snow eased up during the fourth leg, as roads during the second half were mostly wet and slushy. It was obvious early on that four clubs had a shot in the battle for the overall club championship. Four-time champion Winners Circle was the favorite, with 2004 runner-up Gate City Striders, 2004 third place winner, the Somerville Road Runners, given the best chances to unseat Winners Circle. Perennial contender, the Merrimack Valley Striders, although twice a past champion and a founding member of the Mill Cities Alliance, had not been in contention the last two years. All four had competitive teams in most age divisions, essential to accumulating enough team points for victory. Everyone anticipated a very close contest, and it was. MVS was the only club to compete in all 12 divisions, while Winners Circle and Gate City fielded teams in 11 age groups. MVS also had the most total teams in the contest, fielding 24. Gate City had 19, while Winners Circle put 18 on the road. Somerville fielded 12 teams, but had representation in only half of the 12 divisions.  Every member of my team was plastered in white when they reached their handoff
point. But the weather made all more determined, and everyone appreciated the
changes and fluctuations thrown at us by New England's unpredictable weather.
All were aware that we were participating in a memorable-if cold, wet, windy,
and snowy-Mill Cities Relay. The Tradition-Brick Solid
The Course
Meanwhile - Back in the pack… Back in the pack we were having fun. It was slick on the roads. There was about 2 inches of cold dry snow accumulation on the roads as we neared Nashua and the starting point. We had a little adrenal event coming over the I93 Bridge into Nashua on 111. I saw up ahead a car that had tried to take the on-ramp to 93 and gone straight into the median. While we were laughing at them, I touched the brakes and we immediately lost traction and began to drift sideways on the slick bridge. I pumped and steered while a carload of runners prayed. Good thing I had my wife's Jeep Cherokee. At the next light I dropped it into 4-wheel-all-the-time and made sure I gave everyone plenty of road room.  We docked at the YMCA and went inside to get our race schwag. The gym at the Y was packed with veteran runners all milling about, meeting and greeting each other. It sure would look like a strange herd to a person wandering in off the street for a Pilates lesson. Imagine opening that door, coming in unawares from the blinding snowstorm. First thing that confronts you is that unique "100-nervous-runners-are-using-the-bathroom-at-the-same-time" smell. Then you see all these strange looking skinny folks in tights and fleece getups. If it were me, I'd turn around and run back out into the snow screaming! Being the team captain, I shouldered my way to the table and collected the bibs and batons. In a relay race the whole team gets identical bib numbers. My team was 5 mid-pack open males. I ran the Lake Winnie with three of them earlier in the year, so we weren't strangers. We had 4 masters and a pre-master. I did my best to assure them that pace would not be an issue and to just have fun. At a 7-minute pace we would finish well down list of the male open. Our top male open team finished 3rd and won a brick, so our score didn't even count in the totals. Our high school team finished 9th running sub-6 miles. Like every good race there is something for everybody. As Skip described above, many of the club teams take it seriously! They are flying in ringers from Latvia and Ethiopia and sneaking them into the relay, well not really, but you will recognize the names on the winning teams. Basically we were the broken down pack-mules of the division, but even so, when the gun goes off, (or when the brick drops), everyone is a racer. One of the interesting things about relay races is that you have to carry and pass a baton. You'd be amazed at the different ways racers find to carry these things. I've seen these plastic tubes jutting from the back of shorts, the front of tights, under run-bra straps and stuffed into socks as runners go by. (Is that the baton or are you just happy to see me?) I feel quite pedestrian just carrying mine. I train with a bottle in one hand, so it's natural for me, but it freaks some people out. They just don't know what to do with it.  I eagerly pushed to the next table where the organizers were distributing the 'gifts'. The MCR always has an interesting gift. It's different every year. We've gotten gloves, hats, mugs, key-holders, bottle-openers and this year a gear-bag. Our leg-one guy got into his stuff and disappeared to warm up. It was still snowing and still cold - hovering in the 20's - as the race start approached. As of this year I've personally run every leg of the MCR. The first leg is a little rough because it starts early and cold. It's only 5.6 miles. By the time you warm up, it's over. We jumped into the Chase Cherokee, put it in 4-wheel and took off to watch the progress. We stopped at the first turn of the race in a McD parking lot to cheer. The runners skittered around that first turn in the snow. They looked like Curly from the stooges taking that corner. We waited for them to pass and took up the chase.  We stopped at our traditional Dunkin' Donuts use let the leg 2 person use the rest room. I got some more coffee and we stopped again to gas up the car. You have a lot of time to spare between all of the legs except the short one. Right before the first exchange point a runner in a chase car had slid off the road and the car was on its side in the woods. I guess he was ok, but it was a bit of a shake up to see that. The runners were still fairly tightly packed when they rounded the corner in the first exchange zone. I ran the leg one guy in and the leg #2 guy took off. We saddled up and drove off to the Voke School. Many of us have a personal history with that Voke School from Baystate marathons past. The exchange zone is in a concrete tunnel between the buildings. We met our leg 3 guy there. He was running the short one and had jogged up from the boathouse to run his leg. …and it was still snowing and cold. An interesting phenomenon in the exchange zones is the 'lost duckling' scenario. Many of the teams are put together with people who have never met before and there are always a few lost runners wandering about looking for 'Joe from XYZ running club'. The funniest or saddest part, depending on your sense of humor, is when the runner shows up and has no one to hand the baton to. They have two choices, wait or keep running!  It was still snowing and still cold. We got our #3 guy off and headed to the boathouse. The #4 guy doesn't get too much time to get ready because the #3 leg is only 2.5 miles. The #4 guy has the long leg, 9+ miles. Most teams reserve this for their 'specialist' or 'ringer'. Keeping with tradition we had our pre-master run this one. It's a pretty leg with a long stretch along the bike trail by the Merrimack, weather permitting. I ran the 3 guy in, handed him back his stuff that I was holding, and we jumped in the Cherokee for the last transition zone, where I would have to hang up my chauffer hat and do some actual running. We pulled off somewhere to watch the race unfold. There's quite a bit of time to wait around during the #4 leg. Even a fast runner takes a few minutes to run 9+ miles. Things get stretched out by now with the runners coming by in bunches and twos and ones. Cold as it was there were a good number of hardy racers in singlets and shorts. God love 'em. I guess the theory is that if you go fast enough you won't be cold. I shot an espresso Gu and waited for it to take effect. Is that considered Doping? It was only 8 days since I ran a qualifying marathon and I had only run once in the intervening week; a slow 10k in the woods with Buddy the Wonder Dog. I wasn't planning on racing. I really didn't even know exactly how long this leg was or where exactly it went. I figured I'd just follow the people in front of me until I saw a crowd and a clock! Somewhere during leg 4 it stopped snowing and warmed up a little. The road wasn't slick with snow anymore. The municipalities in, an effort to use their snow budgets, had spread salt. The roads were mostly wet, with a thick gelatinous slush on the sides.
Celebration The finish line was adjacent to the Lawrence Knights of Columbus Hall, and the food line and beverage line was just inside. The Relay is a celebration, and all teams gathered for the traditional awards, music, food, and post race beverages. With a DJ spinning, and stories flying, the celebration began. It was a celebration of the relay, and a celebration of running in the Merrimack Valley.  Team awards went to the top three in each division, and the top three clubs will have their name emblazoned on the famous Mill Cities Trophy. But the biggest award went to all participants-the unique (snowy), and enjoyable team experience that was the 2005 Mill Cities Relay.
The last leg of the year My 5.9-mile jaunt through the heart of Lawrence began with my usual 'going out too fast' pace and I passed a couple folks right away. The leg starts out at the exchange point in an industrial park. This is the last exchange. All the runners who are still waiting for their baton at 11:00 are sent en masse. It's actually fun for the back of the packers to essentially get a second race start. We beat the mandatory start by a few minutes as my friend Brian wheeled around the corner. I took the baton and headed out. The first turn was 180 degrees out of the parking lot. I did my best Curly turn in the snow, (Nyuck! Nyuck! Nyuck!), managed to stay upright, and as the seasonal ditty says; "was laughing all the way". The snow had stopped and it had warmed up to just about the freezing point. The roads were wet, but not icy. The road was narrowed by an inch or two of slush in the breakdown lane. The slush line meandered in and out of the road but tracked, on average, along the yellow stripe. You could see the outlined footprints of prehistoric runners in the slush. Cars that pulled over too close were throwing cold slush showers. I found myself meandering in and out of the road trying to stay out of the deeper puddles and slush to keep my feet dry. It wasn't too cold and it wasn't windy. It was actually pretty good running weather. I like conditions to be a little crazy. It makes it interesting. After about a half mile I realized that I had taken my race preparation so low key that I forgot to double knot my shoe and it came untied. After 3 hours of cheering with plenty of time to prepare, I still had to pull over and tie my shoes! What a dope. (Why do the shoe companies design laces that untie?) It didn't seem to matter much. The field was so spread out by this point that no one passed me at the pit stop. It's all relative. Unless you use your watch, you'll never know where you are in the race. I think I met 7 other runners over the 5.9 miles. I passed 5 and was passed by 2. I knew the leg was somewhere around 6 miles but had no idea the exact distance until I asked someone I was passing. Most of the time I was alone, just another Sunday run. After leaving the industrial park the leg eventually takes a long uphill over a ridge and down into the city of Lawrence. You find yourself running down old mill city streets with double-decker wooden houses built side by side for the mill workers in olden days. There are members of the new wave of immigrants standing on their stoops and wondering "who is this crazy hombre in tights slopping down the street on Sunday morning?"
As we came into the city a strong looking runner passed me. Just then, a big tanker truck passed him and pulled into the breakdown lane. The runner was stuck behind the truck and threw his hands up in disbelief at being stopped. I don't think the driver even saw him. Eventually the runner found a way around through the cars and up onto the slushy sidewalk. It was an object lesson that most drivers on a snow-filled city street aren't really expecting to share the road with us! In the city proper, old mills and canals remind you of the race's theme. This was the heartland of the American industrial revolution and the bones of that revolution lay covered in white wet all around me. There was much crossing and re-crossing of busy streets through this section and I never knew if I was on the race-intended side of the road or not. The police were nice and helpful. The drivers rolled down their windows and cheered me on with big smiles. I'm sure they were laughing with me… In the last mile I caught my last runner and asked him how long the leg was. That was the first time in the day that knew how far I had to go! As I turned the corner for the last ½ mile I could see the clock. There was no one ahead of me worth the effort to catch and no one behind me who had a chance to take me. I was all alone. The road leading up to the chute was already filled with runners who had done their work, who were stripping off wet clothes and moving towards the party. I was moving towards the party too. I finished easy with my team there cheering me in. Most of the other hundreds of runners, you could rightfully call them a 'horde', were already inside eating, drinking and merry making with old friends. I slipped into something more comfortable and joined the throng. It was warm and loud inside, with music, food and drinks. This is the last race of the year for many people and they come here to swap war stories and laugh heartily about what was and what will be in the coming year. There are awards. There are winners and honorees. But mostly there is warm camaraderie. It is the warm camaraderie of old army buddies who shared a foxhole. It is the warm camaraderie of recovering addicts who have shared a life changing addiction. Running is a sport of individuals, but the Mill Cities Relay is where those individuals come together to revel in a common bond, like a family gathered from far points at a holiday table. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
