The Ballad of the 2003 Ambler Stampede

Twelve runners started out one day
On a trip to a strange new place;
A ski resort called Bretton Woods,
Not sure of what they’d face.

Christine and Jim, they led the group;
They planned for every need.
New England quickly gained respect
For the AMBLER STAMPEDE.

With Karen, Tom, and Meredith,
Steve, Don, John Hermans (two),
Ali, Nathan, and Sandor –
They didn’t have a clue.

For weeks before they had no way
To know, despite the plan
How hard it was to tolerate
Six runners in a van.

However long their three legs were,
Each ran down to the wire;
And learned to love especially
The Hills of New Hampshire.

200 miles of running hard,
Of TRAIL MIX without end,
With little sleep and sweat-drenched shirts
You learn who is your friend!

These runners, they experienced
A run they’d never tried;
Four days they traveled in their vans
Until their minds were fried.

They stretched and ran and ran again,
And gathered their road kills;
Their conquests measured with delight
By counting “Shawmont Hills.”

Van 2 told “1” to sleep inside;
It seemed to make such sense.
They kicked us out at 3:00
Our sleep was not intense.

 [Special Private Verses Can Go Here]*

So much so new to discipline,
That this the question begs:
Did everybody even learn
To eat between their legs?

Waiting months turned into weeks,
Then days they counted each;
In 28 hours and 49 minutes
They finally Reached the Beach!

* Verses of a more personal nature may be inserted here for a longer version:  

Don signed up to make us “12”
His medal he still carries.
We’re all impressed he ran so well
While eating Ben & Jerry’s.

Karen ran impressively,
But clearly reached her prime
By napping almost anywhere
Five minutes at a time.

Nathan’s run of “Hood to Coast”
Advised us all the while,
He set his own PR by taking
20 pics per  mile.

SPECIAL NOTE:  This ballad can be sung to a well-known tune, easily recognized if you click here.

Now sit right down and hear a tale,
Of 12 runners and their shoes,
Who drove together North one day,
On a four-day running “cruise.”

If you sing it this way, repeating the last line of each stanza, then stanza #9 should be sung as follows: 

Van 2 told “1” to sleep inside;
It seemed to make such sense.
They kicked us out at 3:00
Our sleep was not intense.

Refrain:  THEIR SLEEP WAS NOT IN TENTS.