If you are interested in being an Invited Runner, please review the information on the Invited Runner Program. Female and non-binary runners are particularly encouraged to apply. Please note that while there are time standards for the marathon and half marathon, you can become an Invited Runner based on an outstanding, comensurate result from another distance.
Invited Female Runners - Open
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Rachel Schilkowsky - 2019 champion; 2:38:15 PR (Hartford 2025) |
 Kellyn Taylor - 2026 LA Marathon champion; 2:24:28 PR (2018 Grandma's Marathon (MN)) |
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Invited Female Runners - Masters
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Invited Male Runners - Open
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Ryan Smith - 1:05:43 Half (2026 New Bedford); marathon debut |
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Daniel Stevens - 1:08:59 Half; 1st place, Cape Cod Marathon 2022 |
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Alex Archer - marathon debut |
Invited Male Runners - Masters
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Invited Non-Binary Runners
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Invited Female Runners - Open
Rachel Schilkowsky
Bib #: F1
Profile: Originally from upstate New York, Rachel currently lives in Providence, RI, with her husband, John, and their two young children, Charlotte and Thomas. She ran for Cornell University, where she earned five NCAA DI All-American honors, including two 4th place finishes in the 3000m steeplechase and a 14th place finish in cross country. Since graduating, she has continued competing in both track and cross country while also delving into the world of road racing. She placed 7th in the 2 Mile at the 2017 USATF Indoor T&F Championships, represented Team USA at the 2018 NACAC Cross Country Championships, and qualified for the 2020 US Olympic Marathon Trials. After stepping away from racing for a few years to have her children, she has recently set personal bests in the mile (4:40), 10,000m (33:16), half marathon (1:12:42), and marathon (2:38:15). She currently competes for the Craftsbury Green Racing Project, though she remains self-coached. Outside of running, Rachel works full-time as a biomechanical engineer at an orthopedic research lab.
Name: Kellyn Taylor
Bib: F2
Profile: Born in Flagstaff, AZ, but raised in Sussex, WI (a suburb of Milwaukee), Kellyn has had a world class career, including top-10 finishes at the 2017 and 2021 New York Marathon, as well as finishing 6th in the 2016 and 8th in the 2020 US Olympic Marathon Trials. She has also represented Team USA internationally at the 2015 Pan American Games and the 2016 World Half Marathon Championships. So far in 2026, she has won the Austin (TX) Marathon in February in 2:33:28 and finished 2nd at the LA Marathon in March in 2:27:37. Her marathon PR of 2:24:28 was run at the 2018 Grandma's Marathon in Wisconsin. Her time made her the 7th fastest marathoner in US women’s history.
Kellyn is now a professional firefighter in Flagstaff, AZ.
Name: Kerri Toney
Bib #: F4
For Kerri Toney, running is more than an expression of her identity -- it is a way to connect with a vibrant community and the people she loves. As a former student-athlete and 2017 graduate of Roanoke College, Kerri’s time on the track and trails yielded more than just competitive success; it led her to her ultimate teammate for life. She and her husband, Harrison, married in 2019. The couple celebrated their union by heading straight to the starting line of the Crazy 8s 8K that same evening. This unique tradition came full circle in 2021 when the couple returned to the event, both securing overall victories and cementing the race as a cornerstone of their history.
What began as a daunting personal challenge during her inaugural marathon in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, has since evolved into an ambitious mission to run a marathon in all 50 states. Kerri and Harrison utilize these races to explore the diverse landscapes of the country together, moving from the familiar roads of Richmond, Virginia, to the world-class atmosphere of the Chicago Marathon. A hallmark of Kerri’s career is her remarkable consistency: she has established herself as an elite competitor by finishing many of her marathons in the 2:50s. This reliability was highlighted in Chicago, where she clocked a career-best 2:52:13. To Kerri, every finish line represents more than an athletic achievement -- it is a cherished chapter in a shared story of partnership and perseverance.
Name: Heather Feldman
Bib #: F6
Profile: Growing up in Essex, VT, relays at the Vermont City Marathon were a highlight of Heather’s spring running season. Heather competed for Essex High School and the University of Vermont, culminating with her first marathon at Vermont City in 2008. After running casually through grad school and taking an eight-year break to welcome and care for her three daughters, she returned to structured training two years ago and has loved experiencing Vermont in all its seasons while reconnecting with the local running community. This fall, at age 38, Heather ran a 1:23:03 at the Maine Half Marathon and she is thrilled for the opportunity to bring that fitness and experience back to the marathon where it all began. (And her daughters are super-excited for the mini-marathon on Saturday morning!)
Name: Sarah Shiman
Bib #: F7
Profile: Sarah grew up in South Burlington, Vermont, where she ran track before transitioning to soccer and basketball. She stopped playing sports after high school, but caught the running bug in 2023 while living in St. George, Utah, where she lived for eight years. Surrounded by red rock, national parks, and desert on her daily runs, Sarah found it easy to fall in love with running again.
With her limited experience, Sarah started working with a local trainer who influenced her to sign up for races. After competing in a few 5Ks and 10Ks, she ran her first half marathon in 2024 with a time of 1:32:32. A year later, now back home in Vermont, she hit a PR in the half marathon with a time of 1:24:42 at the 2025 Half-Marathon Unplugged. Two months later, she finished first in the Vermont Female division at VCM. In the fall, she won the hilly and windy Champlain Islands Marathon in South Hero, VT.
Sarah continues to push herself and is very excited to share the road with other experienced Vermont runners. She can’t wait to implement all the training she has done over the last year and to run another PR at the M&T Bank Vermont City Marathon.
Name: Relena Robbins
Bib #: F8
Profile: Relena is an enthusiastic runner fueled by sunrise chasing, tree hugging, and syrup chugging shenanigans. She spent her youth playing outside in the woods with her three siblings and raised by a single mom who was a strong believer in oatmeal, positivity, and play. She got her start in running in the diaper derby and did not return to a race podium until college at Wellesley where she ran around with bright maple leaves woven in her braids. Relena went on to study forests, soils, and ants around the world for a decade before settling into the trees, bees, and microbes of the Midwest. She currently teaches undergraduates about the many joys of forest hugging and deep listening to help rekindle connections between people and the natural world. She has always loved running, even while taking extended breaks for injury and life. She is a mental health advocate through Bigger Than The Trail. She relies on a consistent routine filled with gratitude and grit during training and listens to her body about how many more pancakes to eat (another one, as DJ Khaled would say). She loves maple lattes, snuggling her cat Lorax, and dancing to Whitney, Shakira, and Dua Lipa.
Brynn Orban-Salley
Bib #: F10
Brynn’s intro to running started in 2023, when she was looking for a way to stay active. After being invited to join a half marathon relay team for the Vermont City Marathon—only to have her teammate withdraw—Brynn decided to take on the full marathon herself. With limited experience, she crossed the finish line in just under 4:35.
In just two years, Brynn returned to the same marathon in 2025 and cut her time down to 3:06. Since then, she has completed more than ten marathons with notable achievements including a first place overall female finish at the 2024 Lake Placid Marathon and a first place female, second overall finish at the 2024 Northeast Kingdom Marathon. She also qualified for and completed two Boston Marathons, where she set her current personal record of 2:58 in 2026.
Brynn runs because she genuinely loves it. Running has become a central part of her lifestyle—something she does for fun and for both mental and physical growth. Each race is both a personal celebration of how far she’s come and a test of what she’s capable of.
Invited Female Runners - Masters
Name: Paula Pridgen
Bib #: F3
Profile: Paula’s “running career” began in 2012 at the age of 26 when she signed up for the Thunder Road Marathon in her adopted hometown of Charlotte, NC. Using books that she checked out from the local library, she learned how to train. She went from struggling to run five miles without stopping to running a 3:16:11 just months later. During this time, she fell in love with running and the marathon distance. Since then, she’s completed 11 more marathons with the last 9 all under 2:45. Her marathon PR came from the 2021 Grandma’s Marathon where she ran a 2:39:34. Other accomplishments include qualifying for and competing in the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials and finishing as the ninth American at the 2019 TCS NYC Marathon with a time of 2:40:04.
In 2015, Paula met her husband (also a UNC grad – Go Heels!) on a group run. They married in 2020 and now have twin toddler girls. When Paula isn’t running or working for her family’s finance company, she enjoys reading, napping, and spending time with family and friends. She also loves visiting and running in the mountains of Western North Carolina.
Kim Lord
Bib #: F9
Profile: Kim is an avid runner who lives in South Hero, VT, with her very active 10-year-old son. She graduated from The University of Vermont with a degree in Athletic Medicine/Nutrition/Exercise Science and now owns Front Runner Athletic Medicine in Williston, VT, where she is a Certified Athletic Trainer, RRCA certified running coach and a sports nutritionist.
Kim has completed over 50 marathons, with a PR of 3:04:21 at the Champlain Islands Marathon. Kim recently began to delve into the ultra-running world, completing three 100-mile races and a double traverse of the Vermont Lamoille Valley Trail in August 2025. She is currently training for the Vermont 100 in July and The Mammoth 200 this coming fall.
Kim is the expo director for the M&T Bank Vermont City Marathon and the vice president for the Green Mountain Athletic Association. She is also the race director for the Clarence DeMar 5K on July 4th in South Hero, VT.
She is excited to compete in her 18th full Vermont City Marathon in May!
Name: Mary Pardi
Bib #: F11
Profile: Mary Pardi is a masters runner from Falmouth, Maine. A talented middle-distance runner in high school, she didn’t return to running until her early 30s, when she began jogging with her kids in a double stroller as a way to get out of the house. Since then, she has completed 21 marathons, including a personal best of 2:46 set in her 40s.
More recently, at age 53, she ran 2:57 at the Chicago Marathon earning second place at the Abbott World Masters Marathon Championship. She has passed on her love of running to her daughter, with whom she shares many miles and training runs.
She is especially excited to be running the Vermont City Marathon for the first time and looks forward to experiencing the energy and beauty of the course.
Name: Kimberly Tillotson
Bib #: F5
Profile: I was born and raised in Williamstown, VT, and grew up snowboarding and rollerblading and was not introduced to running until later in life. After college, I picked up mountain biking and enjoyed attending the weekly MTB series at Catamount. It was at Catamount that I learned about trail running. I did my first 5K race and was hooked. 5K quickly escalated to 50 miles, but my attitude towards running remained quite leisurely until just two years ago.
In 2022, my son started running and with no coach to help him, I stepped in. With no clue what I was doing, I resorted to lots of YouTube and Google searches, and even more trial and error. Somehow, he qualified for two New Balance National Championships and is now a freshman distance runner for UVM. Road racing never crossed my mind before training my son and out of curiosity in 2024 I ran my first marathon in Chicago in 3:10, followed by the California International Marathon in 2025 in 3:02.
This will be my first M&T Bank Vermont City Marathon. I am not a competitive person at all but love the daily grind of training and seeing it all come together on a race day.
Name: Sally June Tracy (withdrew due to injury)
Profile: Sally June Tracy is a lifelong runner from Takoma Park, Maryland, who competed as a middle-distance runner in high school and college. A trail lover at heart, she enjoys exploring new trails on the run wherever she goes, but also thrives on speed work and marathon training on the roads around the DC metro area where she lives. By day, she’s a scientist who uses high-powered lasers to recreate the extreme conditions deep inside planets to study the potential habitability of worlds beyond our solar system. As a mom of two toddlers and a Type 1 diabetic, she balances training, research, and family life while managing the challenges diabetes adds to training for endurance sports. After scaling back training for a few years to start her family, she’s excited to return to marathon racing at the Vermont City Marathon.
Name: Heidi Westover
Bib: F12
Profile: One of the winningest runners in Vermont City Marathon history with six women’s titles (2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013), Heidi Westover (nee Westerling) was inducted into the RunVermont Hall of Fame in 2026. A former event record holder of the Vermont City Marathon (2:35:02 in 2009), she lives on a dairy farm in Walpole, NH, and is a full-time elementary school teacher and mom of three.
Invited Male Runners - Open
Name: Jacob Lehmann Duke
Bib #: M2
Profile: Jacob grew up in Berkeley, CA, where he quickly discovered a love of the outdoors that extended to the pedestrian paths of Berkeley, the nearby trails through Tilden and Point Reyes, and the mountains and lakes of the Sierras. He joined the cross country and track teams in 6th grade and, maybe because of his love of numbers, was soon hooked. As a math major at Williams College, he served as captain of the cross country team and unofficial adventure captain, organizing local camping and hiking trips with friends, summiting Mount Greylock on an ElliptiGo, running a solo ultramarathon, and (most formatively) thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail in 2021. After graduating in 2024, he spent two summers leading backpacking trips for Overland Summers, first in Colorado, then in Iceland, going on trail runs before waking the group to start the day. He is now pursuing a Math PhD at Dartmouth and making steady progress towards hiking the forty-eight 4000+ foot peaks in New Hampshire. Since running 14:29 in the 5k in college, he has shifted his focus to road racing and the Upper Valley of NH has been an ideal setting for long marathon-oriented workouts. In 2025, he placed 6th at VCM, and then in the fall ran 1:07:23 at the Cambridge (MA) Half and 2:19:22 at the California International Marathon. He is excited to be returning to Burlington this spring for another race at this great event!
Name: Sam Montclair
Bib #: M3
Profile: Sam currently lives in Cary, NC, with his girlfriend, Emily, and their dog, Charlie. Sam attended Southern Connecticut State University, studying exercise physiology, and ran cross country, as well as indoor and outdoor track. He currently works as a regional sales rep for sportswear company On and while he has enjoyed racing the longer distances in the half and full marathon, he still likes to get on the track and race in open meets. Sam’s current PR's are 1:05:51 for the half marathon, 2:20:17 for the full marathon (set while winning the 2025 Richmond (VA) Marathon). Sam finished 3rd at the 2025 VCM and says he is very excited to run against a competitive field at VCM again this year!
Ryan Smith
Bib #: M4
Profile: Ryan Smith started running in his junior year of high school after switching over from lacrosse. After finding success among the high school ranks, he decided to run collegiately at Bates College. Upon graduation in 2023, Ryan moved to Boston to work in the energy industry and has continued to train along the Charles River.
After improving his 5K time from 14:45 to 14:20, and in the 10K from 30:45 to 30:12, he made his debut at the longer road distances with a 1:05:43 at the New Bedford Half Marathon in March 2026.
This will be Ryan’s first time running the marathon distance and he intends to use it as a starting point to chase the Olympic Trials Qualifying standard of 2:16:00 ahead of the 2028 LA Olympics.
Outside of running, Ryan is a passionate Pittsburgh Steelers fan, has a substack with articles on sports analytics, enjoys playing Catan with friends, and has a chocolate lab named Charlie.
Name: Kevin Heeman
Bib #: M5
Profile: Kevin Heeman, who lives in Boerne, TX, with his wife, Lauran, is a 25-year-old runner from Wyalusing, PA, who began his running career as a freshman in high school and has remained committed to the sport ever since. In high school, Kevin focused on the 4x800m relay, 3200m, and 5K (cross country), earning a state medal in the 3200m and setting school records in both the 4x800m relay and the 3200m. Those experiences helped lay the foundation for his development and appreciation for long-distance running.
Kevin competed collegiately for two years at Mansfield (PA) University, racing primarily in the 3K and 10K. After college, he continued training on his own and has steadily worked to improve. He has set personal bests of 14:11 in the road 5K and 1:05:22 in the half marathon.
This race will mark Kevin’s debut at the marathon distance. He is grateful for the opportunities running has provided and looks forward to taking on the challenge of 26.2 miles at the M&T Bank Vermont City Marathon.
Name: Harrison Toney
Bib #: M7
Profile: A native of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Harrison Toney stands out as one of the most decorated and versatile distance runners in the storied history of Roanoke College. His collegiate dominance, highlighted by becoming an NCAA Division III Cross Country All-American and a tenth-place national finisher in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, will be officially celebrated on April 10, 2026, with his induction into the Roanoke College Athletics Hall of Fame. This milestone honors a career defined by a relentless competitive drive and a consistent presence at the front of the pack.
A thirteen-time All-Conference selection and the 2015–16 ODAC Cross Country Runner of the Year, Toney set enduring school records in the steeplechase (9:09.71) and the 5,000-meters (14:47.26) that served as benchmarks for the Maroons' program. Since transitioning from the track to elite road racing, he has maintained his edge on a global stage, punctuated by a career-best 2:22:33 finish at the 2023 Chicago Marathon and an impressive top 100 placement in the prestigious Boston Marathon. Today, Harrison balances these high-level individual pursuits with an ambitious joint mission to run a marathon in all 50 states alongside his wife, Kerri. Whether he is chasing a new personal record or exploring a new trail, Harrison continues to build upon a legacy of athletic excellence that began in the heart of the Roanoke Valley.
Name: Matt Walker
Bib #: M8
Profile: Matt Walker is a Connecticut-based distance runner and member of Hartbeat Track Club in Hartford. He graduated from Central Connecticut State University in 2015, where he competed in cross country and track & field, finishing with personal bests of 14:29 for 5,000 meters and 30:00 for 10,000 meters.
Matt transitioned to the marathon in 2022 and has completed six marathons to date. He raced Vermont City that year but took an unexpected fall around mile 17 before getting back up and finishing. He returns to Burlington this spring looking for redemption on the same course.
His marathon personal best of 2:20:49 was set at the California International Marathon, and he also owns a half marathon best of 1:05:54. Coached by Nick Aguila of Aguila Performance, Matt continues to chase new breakthroughs at the marathon distance and is looking forward to a competitive race and a great weekend in Burlington.
Charles (“Chad”) Coomer
Bib #: M9
Chad hails from Louisville, KY where he started running in high school. After moving to England in 2017, he attended Oxford University for his PhD, where he fell in love with cross country, track and road racing. During this time, he competed in the BUCS Cross Country Championships and England National Cross Country Championships for the Oxford University Cross Country team. Shortly following his return to the USA to complete medical school, he decided to tackle the marathon distance, recording a 2:29 at the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon in 2019. Chad moved to Boston in 2023 to complete his residency at Boston Children's Hospital where he continued to set new PRs across distances: with lifetime bests of 14:53 in the 5K, 31:54 in the 10k, and 2:25 in the marathon.
With residency coming to an end (and soon to start his pediatric critical care fellowship training at Massachusetts General Hospital later this summer), he is looking forward to racing faster each year—even in the face of being a relatively new dad! As this is his first VCM, he is excited to come to Burlington this spring to race at this great event!
Name: Scott Mindel
Bib #: M10
Profile: Scott has been running competitively from an early age, having success with multiple state titles and a national record in the 4xmile while at Shenendehowa (NY) High School and continuing through college at the University of Cincinnati, and post-collegiately with Central Mass Striders. The Boston Marathon has provided Scott with the most success (4 top 30 and 2 top 25 finishes), as well as his Marathon PR in 2013 and 2017 in 2:22:25. Scott has also won the Baystate Marathon in 2018 in 2:23:50. His wife Alexandra is a 2016 Olympic Trials Qualifier and they have two children Dylan (7) and Alanna (4). His "dad" PR was at VCM in 2022 placing 6th in 2:24:50 and he also won the Heldeberg to Hudson Half Marathon that year in a PR of 67:17. After battling a hamstring injury most of 2025, Scott placed 5th in the Mohawk Hudson Half Marathon in October in a time of 68:29 and 9th place at the Richmond Marathon in 2:27:19. He is looking forward to returning to VCM this year as his final open division marathon and to jump start training for the Chicago Marathon in October which will be his first Master's (40+) race!
Name: Caleb Hershey
Bib #: M11
Profile: Caleb, a native of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, is currently finishing his undergraduate degree in elementary education at Colorado Christian University. He will graduate a few weeks before VCM. While attending CCU, Caleb’s running career was highlighted by a 79th place and 81st place finish at the NCAA D2 Cross Country National Championships. In January, Caleb ran a 5K PR of 14:35 a few weeks into his build towards VCM. Then, in February, Caleb ran 1:08:48 to finish third on a tough course at the Austin Half Marathon in his debut at the distance. He looks forward to taking a shot at the marathon distance this spring at VCM!
Name: Ciaran ("Kier-ran") Fisher (withdrew due to injury)
Bib #: M12
Profile: Ciaran Fisher (Pronounced 'Kieran') is a post-collegiate distance runner from Marion Heights, PA, now living in Danbury, CT.
Ciaran graduated from Susquehanna University in Pennsylvania in 2019. During his time at Susquehanna, he was primarily a middle-distance runner who also competed in cross country. He left college with PR’s of 1:58 in the 800m, 4:03 in the 1500m, and was a Landmark Conference all-conference runner in cross country in his senior year.
After taking two years off after graduation, Ciaran started running again in 2021 and immediately felt a spark for the sport again. Since then, he has made the transition from being an 800m/1500m runner, to a 5k/10k runner, and now to a marathoner.
Ciaran has PRs of 15:11 for the 5k, 1:09:53 for the half-marathon, and 2:29:27 for the marathon. He ran his debut half-marathon in October 2024 in Hartford, CT, with a time of 1:11:43. Fast forward to April 2025 and Ciaran ran his second half-marathon in Scranton, PA, with a time of 1:09:53, smashing his debut time by nearly two minutes. In October of 2025, he made his marathon debut in Hartford, CT, with a time of 2:29:27, placing ninth overall.
Ciaran is looking forward to running his next marathon here at Vermont City Marathon!
Jacob Olson
Bib #: M13
Profile: Jacob Olson was born and raised in Nebraska. He attended the University of Nebraska where he competed on the cross country and track teams from 2012-2017. His primary focus was the 1500 and mile where he was able to set PRs of 3:49 and 4:07. After college, he started transitioning to longer races on the road. His first and only marathon thus far was Grandma’s Marathon (MN) in 2021 where he ran a 2:29:18. He set his half marathon PR at Indianapolis in 2022 with a time of 1:06:21. Shortly after, he discovered he had a congenital heart defect and had to take time off from running to get it corrected. During that break, he moved up to Connecticut with his wife and daughter and he joined the Hartbeat Track Club to continue pursuing a marathon PR. His first half marathon back was at the Project 13.1 in March of 2026 where he ran a 1:08:47. He is excited to jump back up to the marathon distance at the Vermont City Marathon and race for a PR!
Name: Daniel Stevens
Bib #: M14
Profile: Daniel is a distance runner originally from Oxford, Massachusetts, and now based in Waltham, Massachusetts, where he works as a software engineer at MathWorks. In the fall of 2025 he ran a 67:59 personal best at the Cambridge (MA) Half Marathon and looks forward to applying that fitness over the marathon distance.
Daniel graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2022 after competing in Division III cross country and track. Since then, he has raced everything from track meets to triathlons and cycling events. He made his marathon debut by winning the Cape Cod Marathon in 2022 and is excited to line up for marathon number two, especially for a scenic race after a long winter of cross training on Zwift in the basement and swimming laps at the YMCA.
These days, Daniel trains with the Old Goat Track Club, a group that tries to offset the number of burritos eaten at Moe's Southwest Grill by running more miles. He is hoping for a big personal best or at least to go out fast and hang on as long as possible. With enough caffeine, carbon-plated shoes, carbs, and a dream, he figures anything is possible.
Name: Owen Amsden
Bib #: M15
Profile: Owen Amsden was born and raised in Burlington, VT. The 2026 M&T Bank Vermont City Marathon will be his first marathon. Owen competed in Cross Country and Track at Burlington High School from 2014-2018. In 2017, Owen finished in the top 10 at the VT State XC Championships, helping Burlington to a 2nd place team finish. Also in 2017, Owen won the Essex (VT) Half Marathon.
After high school, Owen competed in Cross Country and Track for his hometown Catamounts at UVM, graduating in 2023. His personal best 10K time of 32:23 came in his final XC race, the 2022 NCAA Regionals at Van Cortlandt Park in New York City. That spring, he ran a personal best 14:53 in the 5K to finish 10th at the 2023 NEICAAA Outdoor Championships.
Owen is grateful for his coaches through the years, with special thanks to local coaching legends Matt Chandler, Dan Hagan, Julie Shorter, Ryan Robitaille, and Joe Gingras.
Paul Yuhan Neilan
Bib #: M16
Profile: Paul Neilan is a 24-year-old runner from Natick, Massachusetts. After training under legendary coach Matthew Miller and graduating from Natick High School, Paul went on to train under another legendary coach, Gary Gardner, and compete on the UMass Lowell Cross Country and Track and Field teams, where he was a member of five America East conference championship teams and ran PRs of 1:54 (800), 3:51 (1500), 8:16 (3,000m), and 24:35 (8k XC). Paul continues to live and train in Lowell, MA, while he completes his graduate education at Tufts University.
After several years of racing America East competition in Burlington and spending time visiting with local teammates and friends, Paul is excited to make his debut over the marathon distance at the 2026 M&T Bank Vermont City Marathon. His favorite food is Jjajangmyeon. He can't wait to jump into Lake Champlain after crossing the finish line, and regardless of the outcome just hopes that everyone has a good time.
Invited Male Runners - Masters
Name: Kiplangat ("Philemon") Terer
Bib #: M6
Profile: Kiplangat Terer (also known as Philemon) has been an elite road racer for nearly two decades, competing in events from 5k to the marathon across ten countries on four continents. Born and raised in Bomet, Kenya, he excelled in high school track and cross country and moved to the training hub of Iten in 2005 after finishing Form 4, Kenya’s Grade 12 equivalent. Philemon first raced abroad two years later at a half marathon in Tarsus, Turkey; soon he was crossing finish lines in cities like Paris, Frankfurt, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. Now aged 40, his career highlights include six marathon victories—three at the Quad Cities Marathon in Moline, IL, two in Cleveland, OH, and one in 2024 in his first attempt at VCM—as well as personal bests of 46:28 for 10 miles, 61:25 for the half marathon, and 2:13:29 for the full 26.2. These days, he’s based in Eldoret, the main city of Kenya’s running-obsessed Rift Valley region, where he recently moved with his wife and three sons into a new house built with his race winnings. In addition to training, he spends his time there farming maize, beans, and avocados, following Kenyan and U.S. politics, and drinking tea with milk and several spoons of sugar. During the US racing season, he stays with longtime friends in Amherst, Mass.
Name: Ryan Murphy
Bib #: M17
Profile:
Hometown: Richmond, Virginia (but I married into a Vermont family and will claim honorary Vermonter status if given the opportunity)
Colleges: University of Virginia '07, George Mason University '09
Day Job: Attorney
Prior Day Job: Assistant Cross Country/Track and Field Coach at the College of William and Mary
Passion: Running pre-dawn while wearing more lights than a Christmas tree
Recent Marathon Results: 2:26:01 (Grandma's Marathon, 2022), 2:32:56 (Richmond Marathon, 2025, first marathon as a Masters runner)
Name: Blake Ressler
Bib #: M18
Profile: Blake grew up on a dairy farm in Waterville, Vermont. While he spent lots of time outside exploring as a kid, he didn’t start running until well after he graduated from UVM and established a local painting and contracting company, Green Mountain Painters.
He started running in 2017 and hasn’t looked back. Initially, his training was what he could throw together after long days on job sites. He’d do his long runs on the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail, near his family home, where he’d go out and run as fast as he could for as long as he could. His debut marathon was VCM in 2018 where he ran a 3:11:30.
Over the years, Blake has come a long way from his LVRT long runs. Part of what he loves most about running is learning all he can about the sport and putting that knowledge into his training and racing. He enjoys learning the minutiae about running, from training styles to nutrition to shoes, and talking about it with his GMAA pals on one of their many training runs.
Blake’s marathon PR came at his second Boston Marathon, in 2023, when he ran a 2:36:00. His half marathon PR was 1:14:11 at the Maine Marathon in 2025, in which he nabbed 1st Place in the Masters Division. In 2025, he ran the California International Marathon in 2:37:14.
After spending the last several years traveling for races, Blake is psyched to be returning to his hometown race where it all began. He looks forward to waking up on race day in his own bed, toeing the start lines with friends, and running the streets he knows by heart.
Name: Alexander Grout
Bib #: M19
Profile: Alex grew up in Clifton Park, NY, where he was a member of Shenendehowa High School’s State Champion cross country teams in 2002 and 2003, and the State Champion 4x800 relay team in 2004. He continued his running career in college, earning NCAA Division III All-American honors in the mile in 2008. As a post-collegian, Alex ran personal bests of 8:23 for 3,000 meters and 14:48 for 5,000 meters.
After stepping away from competitive running to focus on his career and raising a family, Alex returned to the sport following the pandemic—this time turning his attention to the roads. Since then, he has reached new heights, running 1:09 for the half marathon and 2:28 for the marathon, including victories at the Mohawk-Hudson Marathon in 2023 and the Hudson Valley Marathon in 2024.
The 2026 Vermont City Marathon will mark Alex’s ninth marathon and his debut in the masters division, as he continues to pursue improvement and compete at a high level.
Name: Frederic Leroux
Bib #: M20
Profile:
Home: Montreal, Canada
Occupation: Actuary by profession, and father of three
Frédéric started running after the birth of his second child in 2016 to lose some weight and make commuting more pleasant than taking the Montreal metro.
A love for the mountains and trail running marked the beginning of a passion that would lead him to several podium finishes in long-distance trail races.
Having to admit that trail running is tough on the body, Frédéric gradually shifted his focus first to road running and then to triathlon for the last four years. With a marathon PB of 2:40 in 2023 and qualifications for the half-Ironman and full-Ironman World Championships, Frédéric continues to find joy in training and improving.
He will proudly return to the M&T Bank Vermont City Marathon to defend his Masters 2nd place title from the 2025 edition.
Name: Justin Lagat
Bib #: M21
Profile: Justin Lagat was born in Nandi, in the Rift Valley region of Kenya, an area often referred to as the “Source of Champions” given the number of elite runners who were born there. Like most rural Kenyans, he ran to and from school each day – a distance of 4 km/2.5 miles each way.
In 2007, he joined a professional marathon training camp at Kapsait. This is where he learned running could be a career. The knowledge and insights he gained there not only made him a better runner but also started him on his path to a career as a sports journalist. The Ottawa Race Weekend employed his writing skills to learn more about runners preparing for the Ottawa 10K and Ottawa Marathon in 2016 and 2017 and offered him the opportunity to accompany them. This was his first opportunity to race outside of Kenya. As a sports journalist, his work appears on World Athletics, RunBlogRun, Spikes Magazine, and Run Republic, among other international media outlets.
To share his running experience in a more practical way, Justin is now a World Athletics Certified long distance running coach, drawing on his many years as an elite runner in Kenya, along with experiences learning from top coaches and interviewing world-class athletes. He coaches runners worldwide online.
At 43, he still believes he has yet to run his personal best in the marathon, and coming to VCM is part of his effort to run faster than 2:20:00. He wants to inspire older runners to keep running.
He is currently training in Eldoret, Kenya. He occasionally joins a training group there for specific workouts, but most days trains alongside his wife, whom he also coaches.
Invited Non-Binary Runners
Name: Bryan Morseman
Bib #: X1
Profile: Bryan started running at 11 years old and fell in love with the sport instantly. They ran their first marathon in 2008 and finished in 2:27:45. Since then, they have run a total of 124 marathons with an average time under 2:30. In 2015, Bryan finished 1st in the non-binary division and 10th overall. They are excited to return to the M&T Bank Vermont City Marathon!
