In this edition of the RunVermont Pulse:
1. Support (for Running) Actually is All Around
2. JoeConn on the Importance of Mental Fitness for Runners
3. RunVermont // Beach Bites Youth Fun Run on Wednesday, July 30
5. Upcoming RunVermont Events in August and September
Support (for Running) Actually is All Around
RunVermont’s mission is to “support running as a lifelong activity.” Two of the things that really resonate with me about that mission is the use of the word "support” and the way that supporting running expands the universe of people impacted beyond the person who gets from the start line to the finish line.
This weekend I was, on a personal level, very much in support mode as I got to help my husband complete his fourth 100-mile race at Vermont 100 Endurance Race, the first one that he has completed since becoming a father.
So what did that actually mean?
- It meant packing, planning, and organizing everything so that two of our kids could come along for the adventure (and the third could stay with my parents for the weekend).
- It meant renting and driving a behemoth of a Chevrolet Tahoe more than 125 miles over the course of the race to see him at all eight of the crew-access aid stations.
- It meant two of our wonderful friends coming along to split pacing duties for the last 30 miles.
- It meant anxiously circling aid station arrival times on a pace chart and willing the universe to cooperate so that he would finish in less than 24 hours (and he did!).
- It meant (literally) carting around those two kids in a wagon with a nest of blankets and pillows so that they could see their dad cross that finish line a bit before 4 am.
- It meant witnessing the love and support of hundreds of other crews waiting for hours just to help change a smelly sock or refill a hydration pack (the running equivalent of “love actually is all around”).
And I could go on. I know and love getting to be the person who gets from start to finish, but supporting those efforts is almost even better. Whether that’s as a pacer, a coach, a friend, a loved one, a child, a parent, a teammate, a member of a running club, etc.
Setting aside observations of personal connections between runner and support person, what I am learning more about (and focusing on more) from this side of the curtain of race direction is all the additional support that needs to go into a race that is not necessarily driven by personal connection to the person going from start to finish. Three things in particular stood out to me at Vermont 100 this year. First, there are more volunteers than participants in this sold-out race. Second, the race would not be possible without 50+ landowners that allow the course to go through their private property. And finally, the matching of pacers to all runners who are interested in having a pacer but do not have a friend or family member interested and available and the matching of guides to the athletes participating in the Athletes With Disabilities (AWD) division.
Thank you, supporters of runners. Without you there would not be running as a lifelong activity.
~ Anthea “I’m in the Crew” Dexter-Cooper
P.S. While we do not need more volunteers than participants at our next two races—Second Stride (August 10th) and Island Vines (September 14th)—we are always in need of more volunteers and here we need at least four more volunteers for Second Stride and at least 35 more volunteers for Island Vines. Links to sign up to volunteer for those two races are here.
JoeConn on the Importance of Mental Fitness for Runners
We asked Joe Connelly (known to many of you as Joeconn), RunVermont’s Chief of Race Operations, who has been involved with the M&T Bank Vermont City Marathon since its inception in 1989 and was the head coach of the Men’s Cross Country Team at Saint Michael’s College for 21 years, for some tips on how dialing in your mental game can transform your running experience and lead to better racing. One of Joe’s best tips was to focus on the process. Check out all of Joe’s answers in our recent blog post here.
RunVermont // Beach Bites Youth Fun Run Next Week!
Kick off your summer evening with energy and excitement at the RunVermont // Beach Bites Youth Fun Run on Wednesday, July 30th at 5:30 PM. RunVermont will host the fun run and Burlington Parks, Recreation and Waterfront will host the Beach Bites celebration afterwards. This free run features two distance options: half mile and one mile.
Registration (online or in person) is required to participate, check-in starts at 5:00 PM, and the Fun Run (both distances) begins promptly at 5:30 PM
Stick around after to enjoy everything Beach Bites has to offer. This popular summer series brings local food vendors, drinks, and live music to the lakefront. It’s the perfect setting for a relaxed evening with family, friends, and neighbors. Connect with local nonprofits and enjoy the vibrant community atmosphere.
Volunteer and Sponsor Shout Out: University of Vermont Medical Center and M&T Bank Vermont City Marathon & Relay Medical Team
We’re giving a joint volunteer and sponsor shoutout to sponsor University of Vermont Medical Center and Health Network (UVMMC) and all of the volunteers on the M&T Bank Vermont City Marathon & Relay Medical Team. RunVermont is so grateful to UVMMC for its sponsorship each year, which is part of the reason why the M&T Bank Vermont City Marathon & Relay is able to staff the race with at least one medical volunteer at every aid station and dozens of medical volunteers at an expansive medical tent in Waterfront Park, just after the finish line. This is a medical tent that is so equipped by UVMMC and staffed by qualified volunteers that it is able to triage and provide medical care to race participants that might otherwise need to be transported to UVMMC, which would place a strain on our local healthcare system.
This year we were fortunate enough to have more than 60 volunteers on the Medical Team led by Medical Director, Dr. Katie Dolbec, and Medical Coordinator, Alison O'Connor Sutherland, and comprised of doctors, registered nurses, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, certified athletic trainers, and more representing numerous specialties and departments from across UVMMC and other emergency service organizations in and around Burlington, including laboratory, critical care, emergency, adult hospital, primary care sports medicine, infectious disease, and anesthesiology.
And a special shoutout goes to StaciAnne Grove, one of our longtime non-medical members of the Medical Team and an employee of University of Vermont Health Network. StaciAnne’s commitment to making sure that leftover food for participants does not go to waste by filling her own personal vehicle with leftover food and driving it to a refrigerated facility before donating it inspired a 2025 partnership between RunVermont and Committee on Temporary Shelter (COTS). This year, RunVermont donated all of the leftover participant food from the M&T Bank Vermont City Marathon & Relay, with the majority being driven up Depot Street just after the race concluded and unloaded at COTS by RunVermont staff and volunteers and COTS staff and clients.
Thank you, University of Vermont Medical Center and all of the Medical Team volunteers!
We have two awesome events coming up in August and September!
Click the images below to get more information about each.
