NORTH MERRICK RUNNERS

The Watson Project

Capture the Flag - Tales

7/2/24

The Watson Project has reached it's conclusion. What an incredible month of excitement and adventure. The best part of NMR capture the flag is noticing so many new people getting out there running and having fun. I hope we see more of you on group runs or other events around town too.

As the final days ticked down, it was evident that the F45/Ragnar crew had the drive to lock it up. Madeline Boylan and Jonah Rangel were especially motivated to get their hands on the flag during the week; peaking with a big group photo of their squad in all their glory. NMR had stars of our own with Emily RK Chester going the long haul to retrieve the flag from Baldwin back to Merrick. Steven Mastromarino got in he game with a first time flag heist appearance. John Watson the Creator kept his streak going with a perfect flag capture rate. Very fitting.

Alas, at the stroke of midnight there could only be one ultimate winner of Flag #4. Congratulations to James Boylan for channeling his competitive spirit to catch the flag on a late night run. He becomes the final champion of the Watson Project 2024. Excellent job James!

6/27/24

Our flag adventures reach new heights. The F45 - NMR battles continued in earnest as the flag bounced around between runners homes all over with more activity then ever. Frequent flyers like Madeline Boylan and Daniella Leifer kept the F45 crew energized with their successful missions. Meanwhile, the pocket of North Merrick had Neal Botkounov, Sandra Blum, Robert Engstrom/Jennifer Beitchman and a few others continually trading flag captures multiple times.  We had our cutest flag outing when James Kay's young daughter busted out her harmonica for a tune right in the middle of his flag run. Truly priceless. Which is in stark contrast to Robert Louis as his escapade devolved into the most risqué pose with the NMR flag. Hopefully whomever touched it afterwards has medical clearance to resume normal activities.

After numerous frustrations, Bridget Forie ultimately secured the flag. Finally feeling the joys of running with the NMR banner on her back. No matter how fleeting the ownership lasted. Also feeling triumphant was John Robert who also found success with his first flag heist.

The decisive winner of Flag #3 goes to Joe Vaskas bringing victory to team F45. His expedition took place in the mid afternoon sweltering hot box on Saturday when he should have been lounging at the beach or chilling out on an air-conditioned couch somewhere. Instead, Joe traversed over 14 miles of radiating hot pavement spanning southern Merrick all the way to the flag's most northern point on record. Concluding at his home in Bethpage. It's a run we like to quantify as threading the needle between heroic and amazing, or foolish lunacy. Joe Vaskas take pride in the most epic flag capture!

Final week of the John Watson Project is in full effect and it began with some really wild hijinks. Amy Blanton Friel and Keith Dipolito were hopping fences, dodging security, and running for their lives to retrieve the flag. They even had the police on their tail. Thankfully they emerged without incriminating mug shots or requiring someone to post bail for them. Outdoing himself, Keith Dipolito pulled off another flag grab yesterday evening on a long trip to Baldwin. Midway through his run the sky rained down in a sudden torrent of heavy rain and even some hail. Of course the rain stopped just as he hung the flag on his front porch. Gotta check that weather app before a storm approaches.

Good luck to all you flag hunters during this stretch run.

6/18/24

Well, you can all give a big thank you kiss to Jeffrey Odin next time you see him for turning our quiet little capture the flag game into an X-Rated spectacle. There are now more contenders for the long awaited NMR photo calendar. Neal Botkounov has been blasting our feed as our resident naked cowboy. He might have his own merch website coming online real soon. Flag hunters have been subject to a ton of wild antics so there's nothing some Lysol and a proper disinfecting shower can't overcome.

This week has also transformed into a 1990's style East side/West side battle. As the flag made it's way to Wantagh courtesy of Joe-el Lena (if that's correct) James Kay the warrior, performed a long distance rescue mission to bring it back to Merrick.  Our superstar! At some point Laura Capo captured the flag where she ran it the furthest east so far to Massapequa before Chris Caruso finally got into the action. As the flag resided in Seaford, Marc Turner took on a warrior challenge of his own towards Chris' house but it was gone. A potential crushing long distance flag fail, only to be redeemed by discovering the NMR banner at Amy Blanton Friel's. Safely transported back to a hero's welcome in Merrick.

Some further surprises came about. Samantha Joltin picked up the flag and fetched it up to it's northern most point in East Meadow. Pat Ti kept in up there and put herself out there as our first female calendar photo candidate.

In the end congratulations are in order for Adrienne Markowski After being sideswiped last weekend she played keep away for a good 7 miles and ran out the clock to win the flag for week #2! Interesting strategy.

6/11/24

Of course it's all about capture the flag. The NMR banner has been on a wild adventure up and down, back and forth, and round and round. There seems to be a lot of activity in the early mornings so anyone hunting for glory has to be on their game because a few short minutes makes all the difference between elation and disappointment.

As the flag changed hands a pattern emerged and this has developed into a North vs. South competition. Jeffrey Odin and Eric Frischberg have been taking the lead with the most enthusiasm to capture the flag for the south shore. Despite efforts by Emily RK Chester and Marc Turner bringing it back north, our south bound friends appeared to have more motivation to keep it below Merrick Road. Just when we all thought it would bounce around like this, an eastern flank swooped in from the Ragnar/F45 crew. Captained by Daniella Leifer who tried multiple times and finally snagged it, the flag traversed into Bellmore and Wantagh. Even the creator himself got into the action. John Watson actually had the flag in his possession.

By Saturday night Adrienne Markowski thought she wrapped up the competition for the week and would be the proud owner of NMR flag #1. As she was kicking back for the evening with a celebratory pop of the champagne, a stalker was ready to pounce. With mere seconds to spare, Eric Frischberg swiped the flag and took home the title. Well played Eric, well played.

Week #2 has already popped right away with the Sunday night starting point at the creepy Meroke Preserve. Try to follow the flag's  trail if you dare.

06/04/24

Can you believe it's been a whole year since the inaugural John Watson Project? Here we are again good people of NMR. It's time for everyone's favorite game of flag chasing all around Merrick/Bellmore/Wantagh/Seaford/Baldwin.

Christopher Jacobi set us off with a Sunday night video launching our quest for the first NMR flag. Fittingly, Robert Engstrom snagged the flag right away and then Joshua Blum captured it from their house. A family friendly flag exchange between the Engstrom's and the Blum's.

By early the next morning we had a Flag Team effort to retrieve the NMR banner from the Blum's. The dark o'clock crew of Tara Hofmayer Emily RK Chester James Kay Keith Dipolito and Alice Taormina helped escort the flag to Marc Turner's house. Where it was guarded by two ferocious dogs, yet Jeffrey Odin managed to quickly swipe it anyway. Sorry Steven S. Korman

Eric Frischberg feeling feisty after his super fast 5K at Robbie's Run picked it up. South Merrick claimed day #1

It's already day #2 and the dark o'clock crew was back in action to reclaim the flag. After a peaceful transfer from Eric Frischberg to Emily RK Chester, she had help from Amy Blanton Friel, Lauren Marvello Friel, and Marc Turner to run the NMR flag back up to North Merrick.

Of course it didn't last long at Emily's house as the flag has been in the hands of Josh Fleischmann, Lori Innamorata (and some Calhoun track teens) and Laura Grieco back down in south Merrick.

To be continued  . . .