| News and Notes/July 12, 2026 President’s Note: A fun Bear Swamp Run this Saturday! Many thanks to race directors Manny Sainz and Mark Howard and race volunteers for letting the rest of us enjoy running in the 46th edition of this race. This has always been one of my favorite races due to its low-key and friendly atmosphere and course challenges. Since I directed the race for many years, I fielded some questions on Saturday on this race’s origins. One question was whether I started the race. The answer is the race was not started by either me or CVR. The Middlesex Recreation Committee started the race in 1979 and organized it through 1990. It attracted a robust field in its early years but race participants dwindled as the 1980’s wound down. I finished first in a not so robust field of four in 1990 (Sue Emmons was first woman). I approached the friendly and committed Middlesex Recreation Committee volunteers after the race and asked them if they would welcome CVR involvement in organizing and publicizing the race. They were happy to not only have us involved in the race but to take it over. It has been a CVR race since 1991. One of the features of the early races I loved and adopted for many years was artwork for the race done by a local artist when the Middlesex Recreation Committee organized the race. I have asked Addie (this year’s overall women’s winner!) to reproduce the artwork as it appeared on the 2014 race announcement in News and Notes. I think you will see why I used it for race advertising. Tim  Newsletter Highlights and Contents: July 12 – July 25Upcoming Events- Barre Heritage Festival Trail 5k, Berlin Pond Recent events recap Weekly summer events- road, trail, and track!CVR birthdays Member Special Edition Member benefit highlight Other news, opportunities, and classifieds |
| Upcoming CVR/ORO Race Series Races Barre Heritage Festival Trail 5K: A fun and scenic 5k trail run through Barre’s Granite Historical site on Saturday, July 25th at Millstone Trails. Register and find information here. Berlin Pond Five Miler: This evening race is always a fun time. One lap around Berlin Pond starts hilly and ends flat on Thursday, August 13th. Register here.Additional Events Nathan Suter Track Celebration: A new date is set for this event! Join us August 21st at the Montpelier Track! See the poster and information on our website. |
| Recent Events Recap Weekly Runs: Members are out on the roads and trails multiple times a week again as the good weather comes back. Tuesday nights at DOL have had great turnouts, with the high school team back out there with us. Wednesday trail runs have been great, but could use some more smiling faces! Montpelier Mile: Dick Ferno and Donna Smyers posed before the Montpelier Mile for “who has the shortest shorts!” Great performances from many CVRers in the Mile on this hot evening. Dot Helling, Dot and John Martin, and Anne Treadwell enjoyed volunteering at registration alongside Fab, Erika and Jen from ORO. Bear Swamp Run: We had a nice turnout for the 46th running of Bear Swamp yesterday! The third image here is of the New England 65+ turnout, a good portion of participants! Race Series Standings: Find out where you are in the race series competition following the Capital City Stampede here. |
| Calls for Volunteers Barre Trail Race: Looking to volunteer instead of hitting the trails? Reach out to Nick Becker (nick@atomictinker.com) if you want to help out! CVR cannot put on races without volunteer support, and your help is always needed. Please volunteer now to help the race directors fill necessary jobs and plan for full race day support. |
| Summer Fun! Official Fun Runs: back on from DOLTuesdays at 5:30! Saturday Trail Runs: Saturday trail runs are on! Email Mark (howardms@gmail.com) or Heather(hetomlins@gmail.com) to be added to the mailing list. We could really use some hosts, these runs only happen if there are folks willing to coordinate a route! Wednesday Trail Runs: Meet at the North Branch Nature Center for a run through North Branch/Hubbard trails. Get there 5:20 pm for a little orientation, depart at 5:30 pm. All Comers’ Track Meets: Track meets have started on Thursdays at U32! Visit the website here for the full size poster. |
 CVR Birthdays!  Happy birthday to members with birthdays July 12 – July 25!- Clara Ayer– Dennis Casey – Kay Rutherford – Rick DeAngelis – Kimberly Caldwell – Andrew Blaine – Lori LaCroix – Cynthia Gardner-Morse – Sarah Black – Deirdre Ellerson – Fabienne Pattison |
| Member Special Edition: Red White & Blue 10K by Dot Helling At Darell Lasell’s instigation, Ann Bushey and I decided to run the Red White and Blue 10K in Lebanon, N.H. on July 4 and do something different. What a delight, starting with the maple syrup they gave each of us at registration. I was dreading what was described as an out and back, which I personally don’t care for, only to find that the 10K had a lollipop add-on along a beautiful woods trail by the Mascoma River. The crowd we started with included 5K entrants. Being more claustrophobic with age I clutched during the start and along the first 1.5k of the overgrown rail trail, only to be liberated when the crowd dissipated at the 5k turnaround. From there it was a joyous run for me.There were a couple of blips at the event. Someone collapsed towards the end of the race and an ambulance had to squeeze onto the rail trail, which held many of us up for some seconds or minutes. The afflicted person recovered and is reportedly fine, in great part thanks to runners who stopped to assist and called 911.The timer and backup had technical issues so full results were not available at post-race. The results were reconstructed and posted several days later. Meanwhile, back at the race finish, the directors had age group awards ready to give out – yummy homemade jams. They announced that the awards would be based on an honor system, believing that most runners knew how they had done. That was not the case with our group. Darell, Ann and Fabienne Pattison each won age group awards in the 10k but had no clue how they had fared. This was a larger event for some of us and included many runners none of us knew. At about four miles a woman had run up behind me and said, “Yay, I caught you. You beat me last time.” In fact, it had not been me since I’d never done this race before or any of the ones we talked about later. (Apparently there’s another gray-haired older lady who runs with braids.) We exchanged ages and then I didn’t see her again. I was in my zone. After the run and the announcement about awards being on the honor system, the same woman came up and said I was first and she second in our age group. She knows the crowd. We stepped up and claimed our jams. As we turned around another older woman asked what we were doing. I asked if she was over 70 and did she know whether she finished in front or behind us. She was over 70 and had finished behind us so we directed her to step up and get her 3rd place jam, which put a glow on her face.The venue is great – bathrooms, the course, good water stations and markings, bananas and watermelon and lots of friendly people. If you have the time, the race is followed by a parade and free BBQ put on by the locals. Life willing, it’s on my calendar for next July 4, and a great means for a speed workout, especially for us snails. The price is right too!July 4, 2026 by Dot Helling  |
| Thank you to our community partners!Don’t forget about the awesome benefits that you receive with your CVR membership from our community partners! See all benefits here!Ski Rack — 15% off regular price running shoes, run and fitness clothing, nutrition, and run accessories. Discount applies to non-sale items only. 5% off Garmin and Shokz Headphones. Discount does apply to Special Ordering. |
| Additional News NEK Weekly Runs: Fun runs are popping up around the Danville and St. Johnsbury area! If you’d like to see what’s happening in that corner of Vermont, follow the Kingdom TNT Run Club on Strava and Facebook for upcoming group runs. Trapp Trail Races: Head to the Von Trapp Family Lodge & Resort Thursdays at 5:30PM from June 25 to August 27 for a 5K trail running race. Whether you are looking to set your PR or just enjoy fresh air and mountain views, we welcome you to come run with us in this series of low-frills races. There will be a well marked course that has some uphills and downhills, but is relatively flat for being on the side of a mountain. The 5K is open to all and is $5 for juniors and summer season passholders and $10 for everybody else. All races will start right at 5:30PM from the Outdoor Center meadow at 800 Trapp Hill Rd. Please park in the large Outdoor Center parking lot and pick up your bib by the green yurt. Register online here or arrive at least 15 minutes before to pick up your bib. Member Special Edition: If you missed the recent Special Editions, check the CVR website! The most recent was a reflection on CVR membership from Jessica Ball. Email Addie if you have some writing you would like to share with the club as well! Membership Renewal – Reminder: Mark Howard is our new membership coordinator. Although the renewal window has closed, check on the details on the website here. CVR Equipment Use: Anyone wanting to use equipment send Sal (and cc Tim) a request that includes 1) Date equipment to be removed from the shed, 2) Itemized list of equipment being removed; including quantities, 3) Date equipment will be returned to the shed. Please send Sal (and cc the club president) an email to let us know when the equipment has been returned. |
| Elected Officers President – Tim Noonan Vice President – Nick Becker Finance – Graham Sherriff Secretary – Jennifer Dickinson At Large Executive Committee: Dot Helling, Hannah BrownAppointed Positions John Hackney: website and timing Donna Smyers: timing Sal Acosta: Equipment tracking/storage Mark Howard: club membership tracking Jackie Jancaitis: Race director support Jessica Ball: Winter Group Run organization Mark Howard: Summer Trail Runs organization Jeff Prescott: MailChimp Administrator Sean Sheehan: Youth Running Program Grants Joe Merrill: Race Series Tracking and Awards Dinner MC Addie Hedges: Communications Coordinator / Instagram manager Darrel Lasell and Jim Flint: CVR Facebook page managers |