Clubs I joined in the 1990s

Sandown Rogue Runners – 1990 – Cool singlet.  I think I joined because of the singlet and the trail race they put on at the time.

Sully's Ice cream - 1990 - 1993 – Bob Sullivan has some of the best ice cream in New England.  I helped him with timing and scoring back in the olden days of the Chelmsford 4^th of July race.  Sully recruited a few former U-Lowell guys to run on his racing team for the Lynn Woods Relay.  We still have the team record for the 4x2.5 mile race.

The logo is still used today.  This is the oldest version of the singlet I still have.

Flynn Travel – 1991 – Local travel company that Petey and I “represented” one summer.  I recall getting a couple of pictures in the Lowell Sun with the company logo.

Gray Wolves - 1992-present (lifetime) – Petey and I were doing a trail race out in Western Mass and at registration they asked what team.  Petey said “Greater Lowell” but the guy heard “Gray Wolves”.  It sounded so cool we had to go with it and created singlets.  The entire club has three members.  Me, Petey and Scott S.

NEOC - 1992- 2013 – New England Orienteering club.  I did a lot of O-races back in the mid-1990s and this was my main club.  They don’t have singlet but tear resistant clothing for flying through the woods (off trail).  As my ankles got worse, I sadly stopped going to O-meets.

UNO - 1994 – 2013 – I was one of the founding members of the Up North Orienteers.  As with NEOC I moved away from O-races as my ankles just couldn’t handle the off-road and off-trail racing.

CMS - 1992-present – This truly is my club as I’m now racing in my 29^th year with the Central Mass Striders.  Don Drewniak approached me in the late 1980’s about joining CMS.  Don was a serious recruiter.  He would go after anyone in the top 10 at races if they were listed as “unattached”.  He’d also approach anyone from any team.  It was never a high pressure thing, just a statement of facts.  The fact was CMS had a very successful club who competed in all of the New England championships and beyond.  They also had some serious sponsor dollars (Polar Beverages and shoe and gear sponsors).  I found myself gravitating toward CMS as GLRR seemed happy with being second fiddle to CMS.  I jumped ship in 1992.  Over the years with CMS I’ve be fortunate to run and race with some great teammates.  I also had the opportunity to manage the racing team for at least a decade.  That was fun as I got to do the recruiting and sought out guys who enjoyed the type of racing I did…and that means all kinds!  We had top road runners, track, XC, mountain, trail, Ultra, and snowshoe.  What a fun trip this has been!  I’m still enjoying racing for CMS (I’m the longest continuous member of the CMS racing team) although I’m a lot slower.  Recently I’m not even a scoring member of the 50+ team.  I’m hoping that in four years I’ll be able to score for the 60+ team!