We did it again and came back for round two–the Second Annual Nantucket Run-Swim! On July 12, 2014 The Island School with hosts, The Parizeau Family, rolled out a modified Run-Swim course to a group of excited IS alumni, parents, and friends of the school. With double the turnout as last year, it was a competitive field of recent alums all the way through to impressive parents who showed us that The Island School spirit lives strong.
Charlie Mounts (S’14) clinched the win with Doug Parizeau (S’06) in second and and Ernie Parizeau (P’F’03, S’06, S’10, S’14) not far behind in third. The weather was perfect and we could not have asked for a better day. After the race, all participants and cheerleaders were rewarded with an evening BBQ hosted by The Parizeau Family. For more photos from the day, click here.
With the Third Annual now less than a year away, we hope you are all training and we can’t wait to see you in Nantucket in July 2015!
Pushing off the sandy ground into the water for the first time, many different emotions raced through my mind. Having grown up in Tanzania, this is my first time in the ocean—and one of the most door-opening experiences I have had so far on my journey here at Island School. With the help of the faculty and the encouragement of all my new friends, I am feeling much more comfortable in the water. My goal is to join everyone else in the run-swims in two weeks, and, even now, I can begin to see that dream come true. Everyone else was able to complete their swimming test, and had their first real taste of what the run-swims will be like. We are all excited to see how far we come on this journey together as a team.
Apart from the swim test, we had our first exploration time. Most of the students biked to the Saddle—a dredged section of the old marina—and got to snorkel around with their buddies for the first time. Looking out into the distance, several students pointed out a spotted eagle ray to each other. As the days continue, we hope to see many more fascinating organisms. There are so many other places to explore, like High Rock and Fourth Hole Beach, and we simply cannot wait to get out there and experience them for ourselves. Island School is already becoming a part of us.
This past weekend marked The Island School’s first annual summer run-swim tour. First stop: Nantucket! 22 brave run-swim participants gathered around the flag pole at the Parizeau’s home on Saturday morning to stretch and sing the Bahamian national anthem before hitting the course. Three laps around the course and almost an hour later, the run-swim was complete, with everyone placing a triumphant slap on the flagpole.
UMass Field Station
The Parizeau family (Kate F’03, Doug S’06, Molly S’10, Sam S’14) then hosted everyone for lunch at their home before taking a tour of the UMass Field Station just down the road. UMass’s Dr. Sarah Oktay walked us through the facility and spoke about the important work she and her colleagues are doing to preserve the health of Nantucket, its inhabitants, and its surrounding environment.
After a much-needed rest in the afternoon, Island School folks gathered together again, this time at the home of the Simmons (Reilly F’12). They hosted a delicious barbecue which afforded the opportunity for alumni, parents, and prospective families to socialize.
Alumni at Nantucket BBQCape Cod run-swimmers
The next morning, The Island School headed to the Taft’s home (S’09, S’13) in Pocasset on Cape Cod to tackle another run-swim. In true Island School fashion, Spring 2009 students took on the leadership role of taking the group on a course in and out of the water, complete with lots of arm workouts using rocks on the shore. Alumni and Island School families hung out through the afternoon playing lawn games and enjoying the delicious food provided by the Taft family.
Patrick DiLoreto (F’04), Lizzie Horvitz (S’04)
To round out the weekend, Chris and Pam took a quick trip to Martha’s Vineyard on Monday morning and got to see a few familiar faces before heading back down the coast to their house in Lawrenceville.
We want to extend a huge THANK YOU to all of the families and alumni who opened up their homes to host these fun events and make the weekend possible: The Parizeaus (Kim, Ernie, Kate F’03, Doug S’06, Molly S’10, Sam S’14), the Simmons (Julie, Brian Reilly F’12), the Vanacores (Tricia, Mark, Caroline S’11, Cole S’13, Avery S’14, Reed) and the Tafts (Terry, Dave, Will, Krissy S’09, Sarah S’13, Haley).
A group of Fall 2012 alumni in Nantucket.
We will be hitting the road again next summer so mark your calendars! In an effort to increase attendance and participation, we are going to consolidate the event to one location, so save the date for July 12 in Nantucket!
What a busy week! This final week of February brought the midpoint of our intensives (see the previous post for background info), the much-anticipated Monster Run-Swim, and various other excitements!
Intensives continued for the gappers – for me that meant continuing on with the shark team, the highlight of which was discovering we sharking gappers are not bad luck (aka we finally got to help with a shark!!!). After a long morning setting up and then watching our line in the marina, tempting a number of sharks with fresh bait from fishermen down the dock, we finally had one large nurse shark bite! Jack, Shaper and I got to help Brendan and Ian take the necessary samples and measurements, plus tag the shark before releasing it again. This was the second-to-last nurse shark needed for the longline physiology study – wahoo!
On Tuesday night, various members of the CEI/IS community gathered for a Coffeehouse. Among a cluster of various talents from baking to putting chickens into tonic immobility (more commonly used – at least here – with sharks), Shaper performed an excerpt from the Vagina Monologues written by her friend, Sasek a poem by the spoken-word poet Andrea Gibson, and Jack sang Neil Young’s Heart of Gold with two of the interns. All around a fun, talent-filled evening!
Wednesday was Foundation Day, celebrated with participation in various activities (I went lobstering, which turned into Shaper and I practicing hauling ourselves into the boat – just getting buff), meetings with our “extended advisories” that we will be a part of (briefly) while the IS students are here, and a barbeque and bonfire on Sunset Beach! Continue reading →
…Who’s there? It’s Chris Maxey! Last week, Maxey surprised alum Carter Brown (SP’09) with an early morning visit and dragged him out of bed to do a run-swim in Bay Head on the Jersey Shore. Later that night, Maxey went out to dinner with a big crew of alumni: Elizabeth Tell (SP’11), Jane Rew (F’08), and Julia Rew (F’10).
The registration for the September 22 Monster Run-Swim event at The Island School is officially OPENED! Be sure to register now for short course or long course on the event website and pay the early bird registration fee! If you have any other questions, please email Cam Powel at cameronpowel@islandschool.org. The wall is waiting for you…
During the weekend of September 21-23, 2012, The Island School will be hosting its very first Monster Run-Swim. The course has been extended to encompass a more expansive network of land and sea features along the perimeter of Cape Eleuthera. Alumni, families, and friends of The Island School from close and far, please join us on-island to meet the challenge of a new course, designed to be longer, harder, and more intense than ever: more running, more swimming.
For more information about the weekend, the schedule, and course maps, please visit the Monster Run-Swim website (registration and RSVP forms to come soon!). If you have any other questions, please contact Cam Powel at cameronpowel@islandschool.org.
You have not fully experienced The Island School until you have participated in a run-swim, a morning exercise activity in which you rotate between running and swimming until you have completed the entire course. While finishing this exhausting form of exercise is extremely rewarding, getting through it is a whole other story.
I always know I’m about half way through the run-swim when I see a cement wall blocking my path. It is easy to make this wall represent something symbolic in The Island School curriculum but when you come across it during your run-swim at the peak of your exhaustion, all that wall symbolizes is frustration. Continue reading →
