They swarmed town center by the thousands. They ran and jumped and drank free coffee and chased each other until the cows came home.
Not that anyone noticed, but there was a band in there somewhere as well.
“We played our hearts out,” says Fox Stratton of Haven Road. “And nobody noticed.”
Ah, but that’s where he’s wrong. Or rung.
“Whatever the band was in the bandshell, they had this cowbell they kept banging,” notes casual music fan and devoted amateur long-distance runner Trudy Logeau. “From where I was at the starting line, it was about the only thing you could hear. I have no idea what song they were doing, or why they needed a bell. But the beat was slightly faster than the pace I usually run, and I kind of mentally absorbed it and used it in my running.”
The clanging wasn’t actually a bell. It was this tinny metal sheet which Fox and drummer Kid Green jointly pound during their quasi-original blues tune “Do a Runner.”
And did they! Trudy improved her time by a full 14 minutes and came in 87th in the 10K. “First time I’ve cracked the top 100,” she gushed. (You gush a lot when you run that far. Some call it sweat.)
When Fox and his friends were apprised of their distant influence, they proclaimed delight. “We’re number 87!” they roared while chugging beers on the lawn after the marathon gig. “On the charts!”
Dud night in the clubs: East Walpole at the Bullfinch, all by themselves… Freightliner at Hamilton’s… D’ollaire’s closed for cleaning (or laundering?)…