It's Lam-berg Time.

Miss Melody Lam came home from college. We went on a run. 'Nuff said :D

USATF Regionals- Burrillville, Rhode Island

Burrillville, Rhode Island.. home of the sketchiest Quality Inn you'll ever run into. Mom and I got to the entrance and it was a longish drive down into a creepy parking lot. "It seemed like there was going to be a bunch of sand piles or something down there, not a hotel" said Molly Schassberger, fear clearly etched across her face. When we went to check in, the guy at the front desk was fixing somebody's heat problem in their room, so we had to wait for a bit. Dinner, however, was perfezionare; Molly and her mother and Riley Jones (Winslow), and my mom and I went to this Italian place called D. Carlo. Michelle Haluska would have joined us but ended up doing a cheese fondu thing at her brother's in Boston. The four cheese ravioli and the gnocchi were delizioso. The waiter came and rearranged our table setting because we'd laid out our forks and plates all wrong. quite an intimidating but attentive staff. And for dessert...a cannolo :) The parents were talking about the Patriots game at four the next day in Foxboro, and I got all excited- we're going!?- and everyone looked at me like I was crazy. "No, because of the traffic". Oh. right.
....Molly and Riley ran in the 94/95 race, both running PR's. Meaghan Collier placed 4th in the 92/93 race. Michelle and I are still recovering from injury and illness so we ran most of the race side by side, clocking in in the mid 21's. Man it felt good to finally race again (I strained my vastus medialis the week of States)! Well done to the rest of the Maine kids, whether or not you raced as a Laker! Nationals are to be held in Hoover, Alabama on December 11.

It Takes. (States 2010)

It takes.
It takes a lot of courage to sign up for something completely foreign to you when you first enter high school. It takes many miles and countless crunches (even though they all actually were counted) to reach your peak as a team and as a runner. It takes getting to know wonderful people from across the state that all share something extremely important in their lives in common with you. It takes horrible races that make you cry in the finish chute, and injuries that wont heal fast enough. It takes making memories. It takes teammates that are there to motivate and inspire you, even if they have already graduated. It takes a bit of sucking up at the beginning of the season when you first dig your new spikes in the muddy puddles, but then it takes too much effort to avoid them after that. It takes someone who's good with pliers to get old spikes out when the spike bottoms have become shot. It takes tons of pasta. It takes peeing- on average- every couple of hours or more. It takes a lot of stamina to step up to the line, knowing that the next some-odd minutes are going to feel like hell, whether you run a 15 minute or a 27 minute 5K, but somehow, you're always craving the next season when the present one comes to an end. It takes adventure runs through the woods. It takes Who am I, Ninja destruction, The animal game and Jeepers Creepers. It takes being tagged in 40 bajillion facebook pictures in which every single one looks like you're being tortured. It takes going with the flow and accepting that no one else in the school cares if you got a new record or made school history. It takes realizing your ultimate potential and what you aspire to achieve by the end of your high school career. It takes enjoying XC music. It takes a good team cheer to pump you up, whether its a creative rhyme the team has used for the past couple of years or all you do is scream your heads off together. It takes proud parents and fantastic coaches to guide you along the course. It takes spankies. And in the end, it takes as much as you are willing to give, and the more you give, the less you'll lose when you sprint your way down into the finish chute. But it doesn't take much for me to love the XC runners across and throughout Maine. And to anyone who followed our team blog over the COURSE of the season, we hope you enjoyed getting to know the way we do XC. To MB(se)XC 2010, whatever it takes <3
KKNW, Addie

Caution- Slippery When Wet (2nd 7)

Jasmine, Amy, Me, Juliette, Farren, Louisa and Eliza

Second Seven Highlights

-Kjell (LPR) and Maryam both got top ten in the boys and girls races respectively

-The entire course was very well hydrated.. it was one big sloshy cold puddle

-There was a very nice girl who let Louisa and I have her other chocolate doughnut

-Sourpatch kids that burned through our tongues

-All of the signs Brunswick made with pretty stickers (go Eva and Natalie!)

-I let a teammate borrow my shoes for the race and then I left them in the parking lot. Perhaps karma was having a bad day.

-Clara (our "little German") conversed with the German exchange student from Brunswick

Guys got 2nd and the girls placed 4th. Bravo to both of their seasons :D

KKNW, Addie (apologies for the double picture, not sure whats up with it)

Dress Up Run!

The practice prior to Regionals is called The Dress Up Run in which the team goes parading downtown in old prom dresses, wedding gowns and suits and ties as a group. We always get quite a few head turns and double takes. Some of the regulars in town always say "we were wondering when the cross country team was going to do their crazy run downtown!" We usually sprint excitedly to the elementary playground to play on it for a little while (and kind of scare the little kids; a few guys always opt for the dresses to experience a freer run), but the school is currently being rebuilt on the site. So instead, we ran through the school and got flashed by a hyper little boy who chased us. Times certainly have changed. We also always do a lap of honor around the UMF fitness center track and when we got back outside, it was snowing. No dryland training during ski season this year??
KKNW, Addie

We Used the Course at the Mt. Blue Relays 2010.

Louisa and I get a kick out of this photo.

This race features:
- Famous hill
- Speakers blasting pump up music throughout the apple orchard
- Dance party in the field
- Spaghetti supper (and awards)
- Epic annual cup stacking

Around this time of year, the course gets particularly muddy, and several spikes are usually held hostage in the mess. But it continues to be a favorite race of many athletes. Not much more to say on the matter except the shirts that the team designs are always AWESOME.

KVAC's @ Cony 10/16/2010

Lets all take a moment to praise the Cony team in putting up with their home course all season :P I must say, this has always been my least favorite course to run on, and I know a lot of athletes would have rather raced at UMA like always, but unfortunately it was not so this year. The race was not the kind of situation you'd expect to run a PR in either, so well done to those of you who accomplished that feat. On the girl's side, Katie McMahon was the only girl to break 20. No one in the boy's race broke 17, which clearly demonstrates the kind of race it was. Mt. Ararat dominated on both sides. Mt Blue boys earned a second place team finish with three boys making the All Conference KVAC team. The girls finished in third with two in the All Conference team. Lets just say I did not have a stellar performance. In fact, I think it is safe to say that KVAC's 2010 now tops my worst race ever list. 22:43 is worse than ridiculous; my previous 5k time was a 20:32. The week leading up to the meet was a sick one for me; I missed two practices and a day of school. It was kind of awful having to hold my mouth for half of the race to keep things down, although when I ran by my dad on the course he was like "don't hold anything back, let it up if you have to." Oh god gross :/ Special recognition to Sarah Wade for placing second in the JV race and ending up fourth on our team! Looking forward to Regionals at my FAVORITE course next weekend :)

A Festival only fit for Champions.

Festival of champions. An early Saturday every October where instead of sleeping in, over sixty teams wake up with the sun, screw in their half inch spikes and preview the trails at Troy Howard Middle School for one of six races. This year, we were extremely fortunate because it didn't rain during the day like the downpour we experienced in '09, although the course was pretty mushy from the previous night's rain. The course got progressively worse throughout the day, so maybe "progress"ively is not the best word choice :P Our girls ended up 7th and the boys were 9th with five individuals receiving medals. Alex Chandler, Abby Lochala and Hannah Chaney all place in the top ten in the unseeded races while Gwen Beacham and myself were included in the top twenty finishers in the seeded race. The medals are always really cool because their centers swivel around! I especially love this race because the race numbers have everybody's names on them, so it is always fun cheering for literally everyone like I know them personally. Louisa and I entertained ourselves by going up to random people and congratulating them on their races. We got so many confused looks :P Congrats to Abbey Leonardi for setting a new girl's course record of 17:58, and also well done team Canada for your interesting male vocals while singing O Canada!
KKNW, Addie

On top: Abby Lochala and Addie Cullenberg.
On bottom: Hannah Chaney, Alex Chandler and Gwen Beacham.

Blah blah bl(og).

Addie Cullenberg has been maintaining the blog as of late due to my (Mali) lack of a camera/interesting information. So today I leave a small contribution, (but my first in weeks):

The entire girls team has kicked off with AWESOME times this season, especially at the last two meets (Messalonskee, Lawrence). Tomorrow, (the eve of our meet @Brunswick) is also bracelet day at the Farmington Fair, that most of the team is attending. We'll all be carb-ing up on fair delicacies in preparation for the race, ensuring copious amounts of racing energy :D Sooo... Be expecting follow-ups on fair pictures and Brunswick results in the next few days!

P.S MY NEW SPIKES CAME TODAY!!!!!!

1st Annual MBXC Zucchini Toss

All the zukes were named after either famous runners or old Mt. Blue runners, and we chose them by picking a piece of paper out of a bag. I picked Ryan Hall (U.S. record in the half marathon with a 59:43), which was really cool because I met him last winter at the USAFT Nationals in Reno. If you wanted to follow through with the competition, you had to say six facts about the runner. On the boys side, Nick Hilton won with a throw of 85', while Abby Lochala beasted her way to winning with a toss of 66'
KKNW, Addie

Messanlonskee instead of Leavitt..

The race on Friday was supposed to take place at Leavitt, but their football team had a conflict with the time, so it changed to Saturday. Our team relocated itself to Messalonskee to compete with eight or so other teams. It was our first time running their course, which people claimed was really flat and through fields. However, post course walk had us believing that throughout the race there would be several small but significant hills, and quite a bit of the course was in the woods, which was refreshing. Harlow Ladd smashed the boy's course record, running a 16:08 and winning by a second. Yet again the girls had to wait on the line for quite some time before the gun shot, so we kept ourselves busy by chatting and singing 'Don't Stop Believin'. Meaghan Collier broke the girl's course record and won the race with a 20:25. I was talking to her later and she said the old record from last year was about a 20:35, which means that I also broke it with a 20:29 (LPR!) and Gwen was a mere second away. Louisa Stancioff was our number three and ran brilliantly for fourth place (also an LPR!). We were without Emily Reed (one of our top 5) but still managed to win the meet. Something that I want to point out that was really special to see.. the whole Messalonskee boy's soccer team (including an injured boy on crutches) ran/hopped over to the boy's finish during their practice to cheer on their school. Very cool :)
KKNW, Addie

Gwen (left) and I love our spikes :D

Emily, Gwen, Addie, Louisa, Abby, Amy, Hannah, Maryam and Hailey!

Top 5: Meaghan Collier, Addie Cullenberg, Gwen Beacham, Louisa Stancioff and Abby Hart

Keeping our eyes on you; A tribute to the ex's

No, you are not forgotten. People ask me about you guys all the time; if you've settled well into the college routine, how you've done so far in your seasons. So, I've decided to dedicate a whole blog post entirely to you guys. Our #1 runner on the boy's team from last year was Kelton Cullenberg, who has gone on to pursue a career in mechanical engineering at UMaine. Melody Lam was our #1 girl's runner and is currently running for UMass Amherst. The first meet of the season (for both of them!) was at Franklin Park in Boston. My mom, sister and I drove down to watch, despite the fact that my brother didn't think it necessary. Upon arrival, we actually hid behind a tree while the UMaine guys got ready for a warm up. When the coast was clear, we dropped off a plate of blueberry lemon muffins on Kelton's bag and found Melody warming up with her team. And oh how weird it was to see her wearing maroon! She said it didn't feel quite like a high school race, that nerves weren't a big issue. On her team, Melody moved up from the high teens during her time trial to 11th (I believe??) in the race. Kelton had his first experience running an 8k, and talked about how much harder it was than a 5k when we found him (finally :) after his race was over. His teammate and captain, Riley Masters, won the race, and another "Maine guy" from last year's senior group, Jason Kaake (Morse) placed second on the team. Andrew Snyder (Cheverus) as well as Jeremy Theriault (EL) were also present.
KKNW, Addie

Addie had a little Lam.

Ex Mt. Bluians- Kelton Cullenberg, Melody Lam and Jordan Daniels.

The little Cullenbergs

somewhere near the finish...

@ Lawrence 9/10/2010

My sister Kahryn and her best friend, Farren Welzel (Brunswick)

The girl's team took second behind Brunswick!

The boy's team took first overall. Very nice facial hair, Will.

The day was absolutely fabulous; mid 60's, slightly breezy, a fast course, good competition. Mt. Blue's top three guys clocked in in under 18:00, which is decent in this part of the season. Will Lundquist (Cony) raced to a win, followed by Mt. Blue's Jaron and Jonah Jones. The girls had to stand at the line for a good twelve minutes because of technical difficulties, and we were all getting a bit antsy. The course had several challenges, including awkward stone and pebble trails and very acute turns. Abby Mace (Mar) finished in the high eighteens, followed by Katie McMahon (Bruns). Gwen (5th) and I (4th) ran stride for stride until we had about a quarter mile left to go; we both finished having broken 21:00. More later. tis late.

With mine you might as well call it a Luchini toss.

On a side note, if anyone is wondering why the Cullenberg ladies have unusually huge biceps, its because we participate in an annual zucchini toss up in the county during Labor Day weekend.. the one I ended up with this year was thicker than my thigh, I kinda went along for a little ride when i threw it :P

The Fun Calendar Part 1

Here at Mt. Blue we like mixing things up a bit so that every day at practice isn't just about the running. Today was twin day, and thank god this is the girl's team blog because not a single guy participated in it. More gatorade for the rest of us :) Also, we admire Amy and Louisa's courage for going up to be judged without resembling each other at all (minus the doe eyes and brown hair). Oh, and last week was blue and gold day.. congrats to winners Jonah and Silas.
KKNW, Addie



Left: Not so victorious, but a good effort to Eliza and to Juliette :P

Below: The winners.. twins Gwen and myself (Addie) and Anja and Sarah.

The Sahara has relocated to Farmington.

This has been one of the most challenging first weeks of school in the history of my education. The courses I'm taking as a Junior are a bit more strenuous than last year, but that's not the reasoning for my awful feelings toward the week. First of all, Mount Blue has zero air conditioning (oh wait, they do have it in guidance). Secondly, the student body was enlightened by the fact that neighboring districts canceled school due to the high heat. Lovely. Art class today was spent perched on a stool in the parking lot trying to draw Mt. Blue (the mountain!) while sweat was literally streaming down off my knees (ok, maybe that image seems a bit funky, but those guys are serious sweaters). All in all, our team was totally pumped for our home meet this afternoon! The thermometer read ninety, and the course was dryer than a new pair of shoelaces. The boys ended up winning with 31 points, defeating Boothbay and Messalonskee who tied for second with 58. Harlow Ladd (Mess) was off of the course record (set by my brother, Kelton, last year) of 17:17 by a mere four seconds. Throughout the course of the race (pun always intended :), the lead pack of girl's mile splits were faster than the course record holder, Melody Lam's. I just barely missed the final time, running a 21:47 while the record set the previous season was a 21:45. I never got the chance to see Meaghan Collier (Mess) or Gwen Beacham (MTB) cross the line, because I was whisked away from the chute, and declared very clammy and pale by a "mother of the team" (who also helps our nordic ski team a bunch). Those symptoms were expressed as early signs of hyperthermia. So I was driven to the Trainer's room where my father showered me in a sink of ice water until I regained color and could feel the frigidity of the water. To sum it up, for the outrageous temperature the times run this afternoon were quite impressive on both sides. Lawrence next week should be an exciting, intense race, with the talent running closer together than the width of a credit card (for all of you who listened to the announcer at the New England Track and Field meet this past season :)
KKNW, Addie

11th Annual Scot Laliberte Invitational

The first race of the season was Friday the 27th (in which 23 teams competed) that honors the late Scot Laliberte of Cony. Mom and I didn't take the bus to Augusta because we had to move Kelton in to UMaine that morning. I was kind of freaking out that we wouldn't have time to walk the 4k course, but we arrived in decent time and only had to jog the first mile to catch up. The way the meet is scored is different from all the rest, boys and girls are combined. I was truly impressed with our team performance because we're a rather young one on both sides. Placing third was definitely a surprise to me after losing Melody Lam, my brother Kelton Cullenberg, Alex Luchini and Richie Brooks. Our top runner, Gwen, had her wisdom teeth removed the day before and is now clueless. Ha. (Sorry I'm a bit tired from frantically finishing my summer homework..nothing like waiting until the last minute!) I think one of the main reasons we did what we did was because of our brand spanking new uniforms. It had been a dream of mine and Melody's to get boy shorts for the team, and now that she's gone it has become a reality. The season is off to a good start!
KKNW, Addie



From left: Eliza Richard, Me, Louisa Stancioff, Abby Lochala, Amy Hilton, Maryam Norton and Emily Reed.

Camping is In-tents.

The team recently got back from our annual Acadia camping trip and the weather was GLORIOUS! We actually made it to Sand Beach this year (it was closed because of the hurricane last year) and some of our female athletes nearly got run over by a middle aged man driving a humongous car (from New York) who wanted to park in the spot we were saving for our food truck. Anywho, after he acquired the parking place he got out wearing khakis..and he didn't have a towel or anything! Other highlights were learning about owls at the amphitheater, doing team yoga and washing our hair under the faucet for cooking water. The 2 mile time trial on the carriage trails proved that our team is going to be an exceptionally strong one this year, especially with all the newcomers :)
KKNW, Addie


All of the girls got matching anklets!

The core helps...and so does chocolate milk :) (from left: Ellie Buckland, Me (Addie Cullenberg), Gwen Beacham, Emily Reed; bottom: Kayleigh Morin)

CORE! (And Filip?!)

Bar Harbor on the last afternoon. From left: Amy Hilton, Abby Lochala, Mali Obomsawin, Maryam Norton

Why Don't We Ever Host Home Meets? Part 2

This measuring tape makes it easy to grab and go! (no joke, its what we've got to use)



the infield



the storage is so old, we found leaf fossils in the floor..



toe the line.. and don't trip on the grass..



there are no fouls for stepping over the board at this shot put pit..
KKNW, Addie

Why Don't We Ever Host Home Meets? Part 1

the dead grass adds nice traction. so does the curvature.



hola shin splints!



The hurdles Melody used to run a 49 second 300m




the back stretch
KKNW, Addie

Maine Love Continues

Lake Willoughby in Vermont after our Wednesday afternoon run at Green Mountain Running Camp. From Left Kelley, Addie, Gwen and Maryam.
KKNW, Addie

A lot of our team raced in the Summerfest 5k last friday, this picture was taken a little after the start. For me (Mali), it was a really promising start to the season because I was only 15 seconds slower than last season's PR. The race was fun and stressless, pretty easygoing all around. In two weeks we leave for Acadia, our first full team event! :D
From left to right, Juliette Luchini, Janel Brooks, Mali Obomsawin, Maryam Norton.

Jogging for Gelato

After the evening run today on the railroad bed, some of the team took a trip to glorious Wicked Gelato's in downtown F-town. They've got crazy flavors including mojito, chocolate chipotle, rosewater mint, chinese five-spice and ginger (there's also the more traditional fruity and chocolaty flavors as well). MMMHHH :D
(Pictured from left- *Alex Luchini, *Kelton Cullenberg, Addie Cullenberg, Juliette Luchini and Maryam Norton)
*College-bound!
KKNW, Addie

Summerfest 5k

The 30th Annual former Moonlight Madness/ Strawberry Festival and now the Summerfest 5K and 1 mile fun run will take place on Friday, July 30. This race is put on by the team, so come run and help support us! Registration is downtown next to Outskirts. Always good raffles :)
KKNW, Addie

It could be..

For all of you undecided athletes, there is bottomless room for you here! We don't make 'cuts', so if you're reading this, feel welcomed to join us!
This picture was taken last year on a fun-run photo competition. Basically you run around taking pictures, and whichever group has the coolest/most creative photos wins! :D

A Matter of Flatter

Spankies? Three words for you. No man crotch (like our normal shorts happen to give us). Most of the girl's team love wearing spankies during the regular season meets, and most of us wear them at the bigger meets as well. We think they're fantastic; magical spandex that make us feel powerful and free when we run. Our guys team feels a little different about them, that they're quite zany. Ehh, we don't care. But no more fretting and no more fear, because if the boosters approve (and they're in stock) then the girls will be sprinting across the finish line in BOYSHORTS this year!
KKNW, Addie

Chivalry Ain't Dead!

In our second week of meeting as a team for summer training, we ran in Wilton, Bass Park being our home base. A few of us were cooling off in the lake after our workout and we looked up to see every guy on our team following an older woman to her flower bed... she had walked up to them and said "excuse me boys, may I borrow your muscles?" Then they smelled like marigolds.