Congratulations to all our victorious Wampanoag/Betty relay members!
For those of you out there who were unable to attend the 2007 version of the Marshfield Marathon Relay - all I can say is you missed a beaut. This thing had it all folks: heros, heroines, male mile record tied (the Prez himself), female record annihilated (Lynn "the truth" Johnson - first AND second fastest female times of the day). It was to be mile after mile of Wamps and Bettys throwing down "gut check" laps, and all capped off by an unyielding tidal wave of sub-5 minute miles wiping out a 2-plus minute deficit to put the final exclamation point on the race.
It started out looking like it might be a four team race with the Colonial "A" team charging out to an early lead, followed closely by our Wamps, the Framingham Track Club, and the Marshfield "A" teams. There were a few early lead changes with the Wamps always either in the lead or close behind the leaders... and never further back then third. Then, slowly, the tide started to turn... By the midpoint of the race it had become clear that this day was to be a knock down, drag out, take no prisoners, no holds barred, slugfest between Marshfield "A" and the Wamps. For a time it appeared that Marshfield "A" might carry the day... the evil green baton was 20 seconds up... then 40... then a minute... suddenly the deficit got to over 2 minutes... a lap and a half!!!! The banter around the leader board started to lean toward the home Marshfield "A" squad. Even some of the Colonial "A" followers began to wonder if maybe the Wamps were vulnerable at second place. It was during those middle miles and leading into the final few miles that I could sense just a twinge of anxiety starting to creep into our troops... and then it was gone a quickly as it appeared as a teammate would come flashing past the scorers table, bearing down with every fiber, oblivious to the pain, totally focused on the job at hand, and being pushed along by a steady stream of Wamp cheers... just like that, the Wamps and Bettys were all business again... after all, there was a race to be won! In the end there could be only one winning team... and let there be NO doubt, this was a TOTAL team effort. Even with a slight bit of confusion leading to the finish line... our road warriors would not be denied!!!
So the cup comes home - again - for another round of cheer at this year's Fitz Fest. Hope to see you all there. I think I can hear the chants already... three-peat.... three-peat... three-peat...
~Steve "Leaderboard" Baker |
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