Truly we run for days like these! 45F with a light breeze from the northeast … but even a growing overcast couldn’t take the life out of this party. After 3.3 miles over a deceptively challenging and in spots, icy and snowy course, enough to cause a bit of a steeplechase at the intersections of the bike path and Jones Road, we managed to climb the final hill to Kurt’s house where we were greeted with delicacies from here and abroad: venison from New Zealand, spiced buffalo burgers, fresh winter mussels, shuck-it-yourself cherrystones, oysters, cakes, pasta salads, and more. The fire pit in the back yard kept everybody toasty as the clouds continued to gather but rain was late coming and no one was bothered by drops from the sky … although a few were challenged by the ski slope to the fire. Many thanks to Kurt for hosting and for building the new CCAC clubhouse. We think we’ll start holding all of our races and meetings here from now on!

  Oh, the race? Joe Navas (17:54) and Dawn Varnum (22:05) took individual titles as Joe led an attempt by Level 5 to overtake Old Dogs in the men’s division … but alas, although they triumphed at this race, with one race left on the calendar, a title victory is not to be had by Level 5 this year. Happy Trails, led to the finish by new team members Paul Hufnagel and Dawn Varnum, recruited 13% of the race field to land the top overall spot by one point over Level 5 but their 10 points in the mixed division, that’s a 5th for the men and a 1st and 4th for the women, wasn’t enough to put down the Nauset Warriors as they came in with a 2nd, 2nd and 3rd for 7 points and top honors in the mixed division. The best possible score in the mixed division by the way is 4 (1st, 1st, 2nd) but we’ve yet to see a 4 recorded by any of our mixed teams thus far. The question for the finale is: can Happy Trails fend off a late series charge by Old Dogs for the overall team title? Old Dogs will need to do some heavy recruiting this week since they’ll need some spoilers in the mix to knock Happy Trails down a few places!

  Next week, join us in Orleans once more as we visit the fine home of George and Rosalyn Graeber for the finale of the 2009-2010 Grand Prix. Beautiful views, a treacherous course, fine food and wine and live music by the house band await!

[Overall Results] [Team Results] [Photos]
[Series Standings] [Series Info] [Race Directions]
[Scoreboard] [Men’s Rankings] [Women’s Rankings]