CVR Birthdays this week:
CVR Birthdays this Week! Happy Birthday to: Caitlin Acosta, Ira Gardner-Morse, Greg Jancaitis, Charlie Watt, and Debbie Archer!
Hello from Montpelier,
I hope everyone is staying dry as these T-storms keep coming through and dumping rain on the region – thinking of the NEK today! And your eyes do not deceive you, this week’s newsletter is to cover two weeks, because your trusty President needs to go on vacation sometimes. See below for all the running news that’s fit to print, including race results from the recent Barre Heritage Trail 5K, opportunities to sign up for and volunteer at the swiftly approaching Berlin Pond 5-miler on August 15th, and plenty of other updates to keep you outside on the roads and trails this summer.
And, in extra sweet news this week, happy to share that CVR members Luke Miller and Addie Hedges up and got married last week – so be sure to congratulate the happy couple the next time you see them! Congratulations and many happy returns, Luke and Addie!
Happy running,
Heather Tomlins
Upcoming Races and Club Volunteer Needs
Summer race schedule:
- Thursday, August 15, 5:30pm – Berlin Pond: Take on the fun and fast 5-mile Berlin Pond race, on a Thursday evening so be ready for some heat! Always a fun race. Sign up is open and also, volunteers welcome!
- Saturday, August 31, 9:30am – Northfield 5K, Power Walk, and Kids Race: A Labor Day weekend classic in Northfield, and a Vermont Senior Games Association qualifier! You don’t want to miss it. Register now, or sign up to volunteer!
- Saturday, September 7, 7am, Groton Forest Trail Marathon, 25K, and 10K: Get ready for this fun and challenging set of races, so pick your distance and let it rip. Registration is open!
Start Training for a Fall Race:
- Wednesday, September 18 – Sodom Pond is only 2 months away! Stay tuned for details.
- Sunday, October 6: It’s a long way off, but you can never plan too far ahead, right? Just a reminder that the Leaf Peepers 5K and Half Marathon registration is now open! Get registered here, and start your training for one of Vermont’s best and most scenic races of the year! See below for more info on a need for a volunteer coordinator and event MC!
- See below for more detail on a summer coaching program run by April Farnham, if you’re looking for some structured training to get ready for a fall half marathon!
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CVR cannot put on races without volunteer support, and your help is needed. Please volunteer now to help the race directors fill necessary jobs and plan for full race day support. Volunteer now online using the Volunteer link on the CVR website homepage at https://cvrunners.org OR by email to the race directors above.
| Thursday Track Nights! Next All-Comer Track Night: This Thursday, August 1st! Only two more chances this summer! Join us for low-key, informal track meets at U32 this summer! Meets will continue through July with the possibility of field event(s) also being offered. These events are ALL AGES! Come out and get some speed work in (and see how you stack up against some of our local youth…or show them how it’s done!). Results from July 25th are up on the website.   |
Fun Runs –> Trail Season!
Saturday, August 3 – Westmore Challenge Test “Run”, 7am
Michele Risley and Natalie Chappell have some fun in store for you all this weekend. The run will traverse 3 out of the 5 peaks of the Westmore Challenge over 11.4 miles with 3,500′ elevation gain. 7AM start from Moose Mtn Parking Lot. We will hike/run up Moose Mtn Trail to summit Moose Mtn (no vista) then take Brookside trail. Continue onto Mt Hor North trail to Herbert Hawkes trail to the summit of Mt Hor (excellent vista). Continue down Hawkes to CCC road which we will take all the way to Rt 5A and cross over to Mt Pisgah South trail. We will summit Pisgah (another epic vista), then finish down the Pisgah North trail. Ideally, we will drop a car at Pisgah north parking lot if others are able to join us. Please wear good trail running shoes and bring your own water & fuel. If you plan to attend, please RSVP in the sheet & include your phone number. We may need to be in touch about car drop.
Want to get the details on the upcoming Trail runs? Mark has started a Google Group as a way to get information out – if you’d like to receive the Trail Running details every week (separate from this update), please email Mark. If you’d like to be a host, please take a look at the sign up sheet here, we are looking into August!
Tuesday Fun Runs
Tuesday Fun Runs set off every Tuesday at 5:30pm from the DoL parking lot. We have also started social meet-ups post-Fun Run on two Tuesdays per month.
THIS WEEKEND!! Rowly Brucken’s Run across the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail, Aug 2-3 – Looking for Pacers!
In Case you Missed this, Rowly Brucken is tackling the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail this summer as a final long ultra run of gratitude. It will be a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, marking 34 years almost to the day that he had surgery to remove a liposarcoma from his left leg. He has set up a Google sheetwith the planned segments, if you want to meet up with him along the route in less than 2 weeks, I’m sure he’d love the company. Go Rowly! He also has a live official ACS fundraising page if you are able to donate. Feel free to e-mail Rowly at rbrucken@norwich.edu for more details or give him some encouragement ahead of his adventure.
CVR/ORO Race Series Standings
Updated race standings are here, and are now inclusive of the Barre Heritage 5K! And, with the unfortunate cancellation of the Bear Swamp race, the series will be moving forward without calculating any extra points from that race. This won’t affect any standings, but just an FYI.
Series coordinator Joe Merrill is tracking all of your successes at our race series races and is ready to start publishing the standings going forward. Please find the current standings here on the website. Joe encourages everyone to take a look and reach out to him if you think something is amiss, including whether your volunteer status has been accurately recorded. Shoot him an email at roadduck99@yahoo.com and let him know!
CVR Special Edition – Did You Miss It?
Members were fans of Bob Murphy’s Why Do I Run essay last week, and there are a few more stories coming your way in the next few weeks. Do you also want to tell your story or share a profile you’d like to have featured? Please reach out and send details to Heather. You could be our next special edition! Stories could cover anything running or club related, such as:
- Club history – how races started or stories from past decades of members’ accomplishments
- Your achievements – did you tackle your first marathon? Your 15th? Your first 10k? Race stories are inspiring, whether you triumphed, set a personal record, or did not finish but learned a lesson. Tell your fellow members about it!
- Personal history – how did you get into the sport of running?
- Other ideas!
All stories welcome – pitch me or just send something along with a picture or two to go with! Deadline is rolling!
Volunteer Coordinator and Event MC Needed for Leaf Peepers!
Leaf Peepers is the biggest race CVR puts on and this year we are looking for a volunteer coordinator and an event MC to ensure the event goes on without a hitch. The volunteer coordinator would ideally be able to start helping recruit volunteers this summer, assign roles, and manage volunteers on race day, working closely with Race Director Will Robens to identify volunteer needs. The event MC would call results and be available on the event day to help make the pre-race, start, and finish a fun event for all. Some preparation time required, but overall time commitment is the event itself. If interested in either role or if you’d like more information, please reach out to Will directly at rd@catamountultra.com.
| News, Races, and Updates from around the Region **NEW** Tomato Trot 5K on August 10th, Plainfield Do you love running, farms, AND tomatoes? If the answer is yes to any of those items, then get yourself to Plainfield on August 10th for a 5k run through Cate Farm at the Tomato Trot and the chance to take home tomatoes as race prizes. Registration prices go up August 1, so register now! Northeast Kingdom’s “Three Great Runs” for 2024 – Fly to Pie, October 5 If you’re looking for any excuse to get up to Newport, VT, this year, check out the remaining of the NEK’s “Three Great Runs” for this year – this fall’s Fly to Pie on October 5! Details on each race can be found in the linked website above. FOR SALE Rebecca Wallick’s book – Wild Running: Lessons from Dogs, Wolves, and the Natural World: a Memoir It’s not every day that we can say that CVR’s ranks include a newly published author, but we can now with the release of Rebecca Wallick’s book, Wild Running: Lessons from Dogs, Wolves, and the Natural World – a Memoir. I have been thoroughly enjoying this treat of a book as I grab moments to read here and there, and I think it will appeal to other members who want to dive into Rebecca’s world of dogs, running, and helping de-mystify one of the most misunderstand animals in the natural world. Available via Amazon here. Let me know what you think! Rental available in October for New Hampshire Marathon CVR Member Kari Bradley has a potential rental option available the week/weekend of October 5 in Newfound Lake, NH, which would be ideal for anyone who has plans to run the New Hampshire Marathon. If this sounds like something you may be looking for, please reach out to Kari at karibradley99@gmail.com. 10% off Opened in October 2022 in Waitsfield Vermont The Mad Rover carries lifestyle and outdoor apparel for all seasons. We carry STIO, KUHL, PRANA, JETTY and FAIR HARBOR to name a few. We stock backpacks and bags, Sunglasses, Jewelry, Socks, Hats and Hydration vessels of all sizes. All CVR members get 10% off. Owner Steve Kenny has been an avid runner for 20 years. |
| Club Needs, Opportunities, and Reminders Quarterly Newsletter Support – Now “Special Editions” Rather than publish a newsletter, we will plan to send out the periodic “special editions” – see above for a call for stories! Membership Renewal – Reminder Stan is sending out a reminder to folks about renewing. Renew so you can continue to receive these amazing newsletters! It takes less than 5 minutes. Check your status! There’s a link to RunReg at https://cvrunners.org/join-cvr (“JOIN CVR”). This page also has a printable form for those who prefer to mail their renewal. Renewing with a multi-year membership means fewer year-end renewals for you and less administration for the club. CVR Equipment Use Anyone wanting to use equipment send Sal (and cc myself) 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) and email to let us know when the equipment has been returned.Race SeriesThe race series is on again! ORO has updated the series poster (below) to reflect the corrected date for the Groton Forest Trail Run! ORO is also planning to update the poster to include the CVR website for more public spaces. Stay tuned!  |
Current Club Membership Benefits:
Don’t forget that you get many benefits to being a member!
- Meet, run with, and socialize with other area runners of all abilities.
- Keep up-to-date on area running races and events.
- Receive a regular newsletter with race results and club news.
- Be eligible for the Central Vermont Runners/Onion River Outdoors Race Series.
- Join a club that’s part of the Road Runners Club of America organization.
RRCA is invaluable for insuring CVR races. - Become eligible for discounts at these area businesses:
- Onion River Outdoors – 15% off all running gear, including running shoes, running apparel and socks, reflective gear, run vests, etc. Special orders of Hoka and Altra running shoes included.
- Lenny’s Shoe & Apparel — 10% off running shoes.
- Ski Rack — 15% off running shoes and running apparel.
- Mountain Valley Lotus Massage Therapy — 15% off massages
Club Info:
Elected Officers
President – Heather Tomlins
Vice President – Tim Noonan
Finance – John Valentine
Secretary – Cheryl Lasell
At Large Executive Committee: Anne Treadwell & Dot Helling
John Hackney: website and timing
Donna Smyers: timing
Sal Acosta: Equipment tracking/storage
Stan Brinkerhoff: club membership tracking
Jackie Jancaitis: Race director support
TBD: Winter Group Run organization
Mark Howard: Summer Trail Runs organization
Jeff Prescott: MailChimp Administrator
Ann Bushey: Youth Running Program Grants
Joe Merrill: Race Series Tracking and Awards Dinner MC
Darrel Lasell and Jim Flint: CVR Facebook page managers
CVR Sponsored by:
