X-C Running Team’s First Meet of the Season!
Friends of Putney,
“A race is a work of art that people can look at and be affected by in as many ways as they’re capable of understanding.” ~ Steve Prefontaine
The Putney School X-C running team had its first meet on this beautiful Wednesday Fall afternoon. If running
fast and hard–– breathlessly––over rocks and roots and rolling-hills isn’t difficult enough, there were other runners
who swaggeringly implied they could run faster than we. The race’s results suggest otherwise.
Sophie “Representing the entire female Putney population” Rodenbush was not intimidated by all the other
teams’ male posturing: she ran as fast as she could, which was faster than some of the boys on the other teams,
whose jaws had to be scraped off the ground so flabbergasted were they at Sophie’s endurance.
Evan “I only look small, sucka” Schmidt turned into a tornado when approaching the finish line. The metaphor is
apt and doesn’t need qualification.
Andy “A man’s strength is directly proportional to the perimeter of his hair” Manzanares entered the last portion
of the race behind a runner from Winchendon. This very same runner made the mistake of announcing that he’d
finish the race first; at which point Andy––and I do not exaggerate––transmogrified into a human locomotive
and sprinted the last kazillion steps, finishing ahead of the vanquished foe. This level of determination, commitment and integrity can only mean that Andy is from New Jersey.
Jack “I run this town, so I can have a hyphen in my name if I want one” Kelly-Willis took his running strategy
straight out of the Smooth Criminal playbook. Listen to the song if you need a more kinesthetic sense of Jack’s
race. He finished 8th out of 36 runners, and this after confessing that he spent most of his summer “eating donuts.” Imagine how fast he’ll be in November after we put him on the Putney Special diet?
Nate “Danger” Treacy. Many people wish their middle names were Danger. How else do you explain his unmerciful vanquishing of 29 of the 36 runners? What other reason is there that he plays music as sweetly as he runs?
Isn’t Daniel Craig now too old to play James Bond?
Kitt “Climbing tall birch trees to secure bear bags 100 feet off the ground is not my only talent” Langdell wasn’t
sure which super-hero outfit to wear today. So he settled for Catwoman. By which I mean he finished 3rd out of
36 runners. After the race Kitt whispered gently: “this was but the first race of the season. I have wonderful teammates, a fancy new running gizmo watch, tremendous hills on which to practice, and a love of nature. I will make
Bunk proud.” New England runners, beware.
Official Results for 3.1 hilly miles:
Kitt 20:26 (3rd) 6:34/mile
Nate 22:33 (7th) 7:15/mile
Jack 23:11 (8th) 7:27/mile
Andy 24:08 (11th) 7:46/mile
Evan 25:33 (17th) 8:10/mile
Sophie 27:03 (30th) 8:42/mile
Of the 5 teams that showed up, Putney finished 2nd, and a close 2nd at that. Friends, this will be a beautiful team
to watch. Special thanks to Aurea who came with us to support the team––your support and motivation made a
huge difference to all our runners along the difficult course.
Humbly Yours until Next Week,
Coach Krzys
Picture of the Week: Sophie, determined & unafraid!
Putney X-C Meet Results, Wednesday October 5th
Once I ran to you (I ran)
Now I’ll run from you
This tainted love you’ve given
I give you all a boy could give you
Take my tears, and that’s not nearly all
Tainted love (Oh)
Home Putney X-C Meet vs. High Mowing
Wednesday’s home X-C meet was like tainted love. Every team in New England who previously ran against us
earlier this season called out sick (cough, cough), running scared and far away from us. Every team, except for
High Mowing, who rode into campus on steeds, wearing full body armor. But nothing would save them from
Putney’s X-C Flower Power.
Nate “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” Treacy would have run faster had he not stopped mid-way to bake himself a
birthday cupcake. “I was hungry and it was my birthday,” said Nate after crossing the finish line in 22:48. I got to
run hard, eat a cupcake and then do a warm-down jog after the run; I can now cash savings bonds. What more––
besides Marilyn Monroe–– could a birthday boy ask for?” Nate finished second in the race.
Evan “Rhododendron” Schmidt ran the race in 30:11, about six minutes slower than last week. “I stopped to
smell the flowers,” he said when pressed for an explanation. “Isn’t that what running is about?”
Kitt “Petunia” Langdell ran 20:58, the fastest time of the day for either team. “I imagined there was a horde of angry Smurfs chasing me.” For those of you unfamiliar with flowers, the Petunia is a plant of the nightshade family, a
favorite in flower beds and window boxes because of its easy culture, abundant flowers, and its pleasing fragrance.
It grows best in rich soil and with plenty of sunshine. The petunia belongs to the same family as the potato and
tomato. Just like Kitt.
Jack “Sunflower” Kelly-Willis recovered from the ankle sprain he sustained while playing a violent version of
hide-and-go-seek with his lambs and managed to run a respectable 23:24. “I gave it my best shot today. But if I’m
going to get any better, I really have to get rid of this dash in my name––it’s slowing me down.”
Sophie “Forget-Me-Not” Rodenbush was out this week because of the knee injury she sustained in battle last
week. But instead of moping and feeling down, she made and laminated the signs for the course, helped set them
up, and baked Nate a three-tier chocolate birthday cake. She is now working hard on the bike so she can get back
to being the most kick-ass female runner in Putney.
All of which is to say High Mowing was defeated by Putney. Our next meet is this coming Wednesday, 2:15pm @
KUA.
Humbly Yours,
Coach K
X-C Meet October 12th: Tous pour un, un pour tous Edition!
Hullo. This is Bunk. The dog. I’m also the Assistant X-C Running coach but I can’t type––what with the keyboard’s form not matching my paws’ function––so I’m dictating today’s race results to Krzys, my secretary.
Preface
In which it is established that, despite their names ending in “os” and “is”, the heroes of the story we shall have
the honor of telling our readers are in no way mythological.
Story
Courage & Serendipity, rarely do they align; today there were only Four Putney Muskateers who were courageous & healthy enough to battle for the heart of The Queen. They were:
Evan “D’Artagnan” Schmidt: Not quite a Muskateer before the race, D’Artagnan wanted to show he’s worthy. His
task was to track down the Muskateers and stay with them as long as possible. He succeeded for close to half the
race and then fell back but never gave up; the effort was, indeed, Muskateerian. Compared to last week’s performance, his 25:56 was a big improvement, and this after a week of being sick. 66th place out of 116 runners.
Jack “Porthos” Kelly-Willis: Porthos, honest and slightly gullible, is the extrovert of the group, enjoying the
company of genteel women and mellifluous song. Though he is often seen as comic relief, he is also extremely
dedicated and loyal toward his friends and fellow Musketeers. His eating abilities even impressed King Louis XIV
during a banquet at Versailles. But Porthos forgot his running shoes. Full Disclosure: he doesn’t even own running shoes. Why would he? He’s got a hyphen in his name! However, Jack-Porthos did bring his sword Balizarde,
which is fortuitous since there were many foes to vanquish. And vanquish he did, despite running with shinsplints. 23:30 and a heck of a kick at the end of the race to defend his 34th place finish.
Nate “Athos” Treacy: The oldest (and capable of voting), Athos is a father figure to the other Musketeers. He is
described as noble and handsome but also very secretive, drowning his secret sorrows in apple cider. As the elder,
Nate has been a model of consistency: shows up to practice on time, never complains, does the work, goes home,
writes so-so first drafts in English class, revises them to much, much better final versions, and is back for more the
next day. Today’s task was to try to close the gap between himself and Aramis, the fastest Muskateer of the bunch.
So despite squandering copious amounts of Qi-Running-Energy on unwarranted fantasy football smack-talk, and
with Porthos’s & Aramis’s help throughout the race, Athos ran his best race of the season, a nimble 22:39, good for
22nd place.
Kitt “Aramis” Langdell: Despite his Machiavellian attitude, Aramis holds very firmly to the sacred concept of
friendship. In fact, the only wrong moves Aramis ever made were done when he refused to harm a friend. His
task today was to help everyone run the best race of the season and he succeeded, taming his thirst for vengeance
until the very end. Notice in the picture below that there are approximately 40 runners in front of Aramis.Yet he
finished the race in 22:01 & 13th place & even managed to almost do a back-flip after the race. Had the fairer-sex
been there to witness, they would have blushed.
Moral of the Story:
All for one, one for all!
Humbly Yours,
Bunk
Below: Athos & Aramis in action, with a coy hint of D’artagnan to whet your appetite.