October 19th and 26th, 2025
Spooky Racing Season is here
Leaves are falling and races are running hot, despite the drop in temperature. And many members have been tackling big challenges, especially since it’s fall marathon season. We’ve heard about Luke Miller and Addie Hedges tackling Beantown (with Addie BQing!), earlier results from Anne Treadwell and Tim Noonan getting age group wins in the Maine Marathon, Jim Flint recently crushing the Adirondack Marathon, plus hot off the presses today we’ve got John Hackney in GMAA’s Champlain Islands Marathon, and Holly Fowler and Scott Richardson in the Mount Desert Island marathon in Maine. I’m sure there are others who have conquered the marathon this fall and I don’t know about it – let me know if you did and we can feature it here!
And while not an official race, huge congratulations and perhaps a Most Inspiring Award to Shannon Salembier, who put her marathon training to excellent purpose by running from her hometown of Burlington to her current hometown of Montpelier – 40 miles! – on her 40th birthday yesterday. Way to go Shannon!
Congratulations to all these amazing athletes for getting after these races.
Happy running,
Heather
Meanwhile, even if Leaf Peepers already feels like a distant memory, check out some recent local news coverage of the event and see if you can find yourself in it!
Newsletter Highlights and Contents – Oct 19-Nov 1
New singlets- If you ordered a singlet, and Jackie has not gotten ahold of you, please email her at JackieMS08@yahoo.com to receive it. She also had a few leftover if you didn’t order and want to grab one. Reach out to Jackie to enquire.
Meeting minutes from the September 22 meeting are on the website here, see below for a reminder about volunteering for committees or various club activities!
Newsletter Contents:
- Race Updates and Volunteer Needs
- CVR at Regional Events!
- Reminder for Call for Committee Volunteers
- CVR/ORO Race Series Standings
- Trail Runs – Other Regional Races
- Fun Run – DoL Tailgate on October 21
- Other News, Opportunities, and Classifieds
- CVR Birthdays
Race Updates and Volunteer Needs
October Events:
October 26 – ORO’s Autumn Onion is back! Check out our sponsor ORO’s fall race – and wear a costume, there will be prizes!
On deck for November/December:
- November 1st, 8th, and 15th – Fallen Leaves 5K Series – keep these fun and fast (but casual) races in mind as you head into the fall season, happening at Montpelier High School every Saturday in November before Thanksgiving. No pre-registration, just show up with cash or check and see how you go! And also, if by the time November rolls around and you STILL haven’t volunteered yet (really??), these are your last chances to do so and still remain eligible for a race series award!
- December 31st – New Year’s Eve 5K – your favorite end of year race is still a few months out, but it’s never too late to start getting your cold weather race outfit planned OR thinking about getting a jump start on a volunteer role at the VERY beginning of the new race season (that’s right, this restarts the clock on the race series and counts toward 2026 race series standings!).
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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. Volunteer now online using the Volunteer link on the CVR website homepage at https://cvrunners.org OR by email to the race directors above.
CVR at Regional Races
Downriver 10K Rail Run- Upper Valley Run Club
A fantastic showing from CVR at our sister club’s point to point rail trail race from Enfield to Lebanon, NH! Results here.
Fall is a busy race season, and CVR has been getting out and about to participate far and wide! See below for some highlights.
Bob, John, Cheryl, Merill, and Darrel at the race
Age group prize winners Merill, Bob, and John, aka the Gray Panthers as named by Merill!
Devil’s Den 10K in Bradford
Darrel and Fab took on this spooky trail race last weekend! Results here.
Reminder We are Looking for Volunteers!
Thank you to all who attended our meeting in Adamant on September 22, both in person and virtually, we had more than a quorum to get some things done. Please find the meeting minutes here. Our final meeting of 2025 will be held November 16, location TBD. This meeting will include discussions on accepting the 2026 race and CVR/ORO series schedules and ongoing ways to manage liabilities. If you have other agenda items to suggest please reach out! We will share the agenda ahead of the meeting as always.
Committee and Volunteer Needs:
Winter Group Run Coordinator – help us get these organized this winter, the season will start the weekend after Thanksgiving!
CVR Board Officer Recruit Committee – join Dot H. and Heather to identify a new slate of officers to be elected at the Spring Annual Meeting – this is an important responsibility, please reach out if you’d like to work with us on this activity! Also looking for expressions of interest from members who want to be considered for board roles, or to nominate someone!
Annual Club Dinner Planning Committee – join Jess, Merill, and Joe to support in making this event a fun and festive occasion!
Merchandise Committee – help Jackie, Merill, Fab, and Nick to expand our merch offerings to the club.
Boston Marathon Entry Selection Committee – join Anne Treadwell to determine how CVR will select the recipient of our club entry to the 2026 Boston Marathon! Open to ideas on this process, including a lottery/raffle or other options.
2025 CVR/ORO Race Series Standings
And that’s a wrap on the racing part of the CVR/ORO Race Series! The updated standings through Sodom Pond are here, since Leaf Peepers was literally this past weekend we don’t have updates and we may hang onto those results to keep you all in suspense until the annual dinner. Don’t forget one requirement is to volunteer at least once – the only remaining opportunities are the three Fallen Leaves 5Ks so sign up today to help! Don’t delay on signing up though, because Tim often doesn’t need a ton of extra help so if you’ve waited to the last minute and Tim turns you down…..don’t hate the player, hate the game!
Note that volunteering has other benefits, including free entry to the annual dinner usually held in January. We love to celebrate our volunteers so even if you don’t know you’ll win a prize in the series, you’ll be able to celebrate with your fellow members and volunteers at that fun event.
A sincere thank you to our sponsor Onion River Outdoors and specifically Allee Pineault for her excellent work putting this together. We will have printed copies of the poster available if you want to share this with any local businesses or publicize at your upcoming races, just let me know!
Trail Runs Updates
CVR’s official trail runs have ended for the season but there are still opportunities to get out there this fall! See below for other races and events going on that you can support.
- October 26 – GMAA’s Ghostly Gallop Trail 5K (previously the Hills are Alive 5K) is back! Details here.
- November 1 – CircumVictory 17-miler – a fun and down to earth race (but note the event is capped at 150 so if this looks like your thing, sign up today! Prices go up 10/13). See below for a familiar CVR-er who told me last weekend that she intends to be there for this year’s again, join her?
Fun Run – DoL Tailgate on October 19
We are at the DoL meeting spot for Tuesday runs this season, meet at 5:30 for a run of your chosen distance! This Tuesday, there will be a potluck tailgate at the DoL after the run. Check out that reflective gear below – it’s that time of year when donning those bright colors helps keep you visible as sunset sneaks closer to 6pm.
Other News, Regional Opportunities, and Classifieds
2026 Vermont City Marathon Registration Open – Note that registration is now open for the 2026 Vermont City Marathon races! Sign up now to lock in the lowest price (and motivate yourself to start training?)
Still Available – Men’s Hoka Cliftons!
Sal has a brand new pair of Men’s Hoka Clifton 8 in size 11 2E. The price is “pay what you can afford.” They are a navy blue color. Sal notes these would make a great gift!!
Sal Acosta at slacosta@gmail.com
CVR Birthdays – October 18-Nov 1
- Shannon Salembier (
new age group!) - George Aitken
- Dylan Broderick
- Jaime Gadwah
- Fred Pond (new age group!)
- Meg Voisin (new age group!)
- Andrew Thornton-Sherman
Club Details and Information on Benefits
Member 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:
- **updated** Ski Rack – 15% off regular price running shoes/hiking 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.
- 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
- Mountain Valley Lotus Massage Therapy — 15% off massages.
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
John Hackney is our new membership coordinator and is spearheading a change in our membership signup system, stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks. However – you can still renew membership via the link on the website at any time!
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 Series
We agreed on some new rules for the next year so check out the Race Series site for more details.
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
John Hackney: club membership tracking
Jackie Jancaitis: Race director support
Katie Hulbert: 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
