For the second year in a row, after a seven-year hiatus, I got to participate in one of my favorite race weekends of the year: the Vermont 100 Endurance Race. When it comes to running in Vermont, there is nothing quite like this event. I have only been a participant in the RACE once, but (subtle difference) I have been a participant in RACE WEEKEND in an assortment of ways over the years.
This year, that was as volunteer, crew, and pacer. I served dinner and hung out with old friends (having special Skratch and coming up with silly inside jokes) and camped, in a 15-year-old tent that is probably no longer waterproof, on Friday night; directed traffic at 2:30 AM on Saturday; took myself out to breakfast at my favorite diner in Vermont (Hartland Diner) and made friends with someone crewing their spouse who I saw through the race; drove almost 100 miles and hoofed it with my trusty wagon and wheely cooler to six aid stations to support Expo Director extraordinaire Kim Lord and Ryan McKeever (who you might remember from their point-to-point and back again double traverse of the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail last summer); and then ran in the last 12 miles with them and a new ultra friend that signed on to pace the last 30 miles less than 12 hours before the start of the race.
Hartland Dinersaurs
After Kim and Ryan finished (woot!), I ran around to get some endorphins flowing before making the trip back home. I made it to White River Junction before making the responsible choice to pull over and take a nap. I would have loved to see Joanna Fortier (top female Vermonter at the M&T Bank Vermont City Marathon in 2024 and second female overall at her debut 100 miler just a few hours earlier in the day), but reality was pulling me back home.
Kim & Ryan Finishing Vermont 100
The Power of Community Behind Vermont Running Races
I talk a lot about community, because that is so much a part of RunVermont’s approach, but community is, in general, such a core element of running in Vermont. I’m constantly impressed by the people that get from start to finish, but I’m also sometimes more impressed by the community behind the people that are helping that person get from start to finish. Whether that’s the volunteers who have no specific vested interest in the success of the participant or the loved one that feels the highs and lows right along with the participant, or something in between.
Finding Your Place in the Vermont Running Scene
The Vermont 100 is a truly special event with a community of volunteers, participants, and horses (yes, you read that correctly) that comes back year after year, but that sense of connection is true across all Vermont running races.
Horses at Vermont 100
Every single event that gets submitted to our online events calendar has a dedicated community behind it. Whether that community is linked to a place, a cause, or a local running club, it brings people together who might not otherwise have a connection or feel like they are a part of a group.
If you are new to running, returning after a break, running-curious, an avid walker, or an athlete with a disability curious about getting started with hand cycling, I encourage you to give a race a try. They might be intimidating at first—and we try so hard to make that not be the case—but Vermont running races are filled with love, support, generosity, and community in a way that might just give you the warm and fuzzies. Or better yet, get you hooked and take you all the way from a one-mile sprint along the Champlain Parkway to 100 miles on trails, private land, and dirt roads in rural Vermont.