Vermont Sports Magazine May/June, 2020

THE ULTRA ER DOC | ATHLETES RESPONDING TO COVID-19 | THE SPARTAN RACER/BEAUTY QUEEN

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WHAT'S THE

FUTURE

FOR EVENTS? WHAT'S HAPPENING, WHAT'S NOT

DIY van life Refit a van. Pack up your life Go explore.

A Step-by-Step Guide

6

great run clubs

SOCIAL RUNNING IS ALIVE IN THE SOCIAL DISTANCING ERA

UP YOUR GAME WITH MYCHART Your personalized health portal makes it easy to: • Send secure messages and photos to your care team • View lab and radiology results anytime • Request a video visit with a provider • Renew medications electronically MyChart is available to patients of the following: • UVM Medical Center • Central Vermont Medical Center • Porter Medical Center • Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital

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NEW ENGLAND’S OUTDOOR MAGAZINE ON THE COVER: Photographer Ben Kimball captures runners looking strong on a shady section of the 2019 Vermont 100 in Windsor, Vt.

PUBLISHER

Angelo Lynn - publisher@vtsports.com

EDITOR/CO-PUBLISHER

Lisa Lynn - editor@vtsports.com

COPY EDITOR

Betty Gosselin

DESIGN & PRODUCTION Shawn Braley

MEDICAL ADVISORY BOARD

Dr. Nathan Endres, Dr. David Lisle, Dr. James Slauterbeck —University of Vermont Robert Larner College of Medicine; Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation; Jamie Sheahan, M.S., R.D.

CONTRIBUTORS

Brian Mohr, Phyl Newbeck, Leath Tonino

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Lisa Lynn | (802) 388-4944 ads@vtsports.com

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An ultra-runner, Dr. Joshua White, Gifford Medical Center's Chief Medical Officer faced a new challenge with Covid-29. See his story on p. 26 Photo J. White/ Raven Eye Photo

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5 The Start

12

Nutrition How Much Meat Should We Eat?

26 Featured Athlete

What will this summer look like?

New studies are turning old nutrition truths on their head.

Weekdays he runs a Vermont hospital, weeekends he runs ultras.

What's Ahead?

7 News

Is Vermont Race Ready?

Here's what's happening with events around the state.

14 Feature

Social Running In an era of social distancing, can social running still go on? These

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9 Speak Up Solidarity Is the Path Here's what we need to do if we want to preserve our trails.

20

BE SOCIAL!

11 Gear

How two Vermonters refit a van, and made a plan to cover 27 states. Then this happened.

www.facebook.com/VermontSportsMagazine Twitter: @Vermont_Sports www.instagram.com/vtsportsmag

Gear That Does Good This summer, buy something cool from these brands that gave back.

run clubs have some answers.

Feature

A Van & A Plan

The Ultra ER Doc

28 Featured Athlete

The Beauty Queen Spartan Racer Both Spartan Races and beauty pageants helped this woman heal from a traumatic experience.

29

Calendar Race & Event Guide

34 Endgame

Are You Cool With Insects?

Ready to face the buzzzing crowd?

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MAY/JUNE 2020 | VTSPORTS.COM 3

S O U T H W E S T E R N V E R M O N T H E A LT H C A R E

STRONGER TOGETHER We at Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) have been inspired by our selfless physicians, associate providers, nurses, and other health care workers at every level, in every department, who have cared for patients despite tremendous challenges. We are proud of our dedicated workforce on the front lines, in addition to the many essential employees behind the scenes who helped make the delivery of our exceptional care possible for our community.

Thanks to all of them, our patients receive the highest quality care. Their unwavering commitment over the past eight weeks is proof that we are stronger together.

In early March, Governor Phil Scott directed Vermont’s healthcare system to put on hold non-urgent appointments and procedures as the state prepared for, and responded to, COVID-19. SVHC’s outpatient surgeries, primary and specialty care, and imaging and laboratory services have now resumed with continued enhanced safety protocols. SVHC is open, ready to provide you with exceptional care, and always focused on your safety.

Some things will look different since our implementation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) guidelines, like everyone—SVHC employees, patients, and visitors—wearing a face mask. What hasn’t changed is our commitment to providing you with the safest, highest quality, most compassionate, and personalized health care, every day.

Thank you for your encouragement, acts of kindness, and continued support. Our community is a better place because of your partnership.

We are stronger together.

Thomas Dee, FACHE President and CEO

Trey Dobson, MD Chief Medical Officer, Emergency Physician

100 Hospital Dr. | Bennington, VT | 802-442-6341 | svhealthcare.org

PA R T N E R S H I P I S P O W E R F U L M E D I C I N E

TM

THE START

WHAT'S AHEAD?

THAT’S THE QUESTION THAT’S BEEN KEEPING ALL OF US UP AT NIGHT. This isn’t a sprint. Like the Killington Spartan Race, we’re looking at a long, uphill climb.

T

he hardest part of the last few months? Living with the uncertainty. Questions ranged from the mundane (When can I ride the trails?) to the pragmatic (What businesses are open?) to the existential (Will the pandemic come back in the fall? Will my family survive? Will my business survive?).

The thing that kept those questions in perspective, that kept so many of us sane was this: we got outside, we exercised, and we reached out to others.

Rather than sitting home fretting about the availability of toilet paper, we laced up our shoes, pumped up our heart rates and we moved forward.

It didn’t matter if races were cancelled: we competed in them virtually (see “Is Vermont Race Ready," p. 7), helping charity events raise money as they reduced costs.

If our gear shops were closed, we called for curbside pick-up and drop-off and ordered take-out from restaurants.

Our run groups were no longer gathering in person, but that didn’t mean we were not keepig up with friends. We just did so, as Evan Johnson writes in “Social Running,” in different ways.

And as Peter Delaney, the executive director of RunVermont notes on p. 8. “the silver lining is more people are running more than ever. And after the 2008 market crash, we saw a surge in running for the next four or five years.” This is similar.

Vermonters, ever known for both ingenuity and a deep sense of community, pivoted. Distilleries began making hand sanitizer. Companies such as Stowe’s Inntopia (the booking engine for resorts around the world) helped lanch a booking platform for Covid-19 tests and teamed up with Berkshire East’s Jon Schaefer to launch Goggles for Docs, delivering close to 43,000 goggles as of early May. Burton donated 500,000 KN 95 face masks to local hospitals, Darn Tough donated socks, Dodge Ski Boots helped make ventilators

and more. For our Gear page in this issue (p. 11), we feature cool products from those companies and others that are giving back.

Our outdoor shops suffered but many managed to stay busy by doing curbside pick-up. (For a list of those whose doors are now open, visit our Bike Shop Directory, on p. 32.)

Event organizers had a tougher time. For those who couldn’t run a virtual event, like Gary Kessler who runs the Green Mountain Stage Race, or Heidi Meyers who runs Rasputitsa there was uncertainty of knowing whether to plan for a multi-day event that would draw folks from all over the country to Vermont.

“We’re all just holding our breath and waiting to hear from the government about what we can or can’t do,” said Mark Severoff who had been planning to bring Outerbike, the nationally-acclaimed mountain bike demofest to Killington the weekend of July 24-26.

But these decisions pale when we look at the greater scheme of things and the potential impacts of Covid-19.

Joshua White, the ultra-runner we profile on p. 26, has a sense of this. As the Chief Medical Officer of Gifford Medical Center he’s been on the frontlines, ensuring the hospital and its staff were ready for the pandemic.

Says White: “What you are trained for in emergency medicine is solving problems really fast. A 100-mile race is just a series of problems you have to address.”

We might look at this pandemic the other way, thinking of it not as a sprint but as an endurance race. We might need to adjust our pace, change our expectations, meter out the fuel we need to get through.

But we’re athletes. We will make it.

—Lisa Lynn, Editor

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SPEAK UP

SOLIDARITY IS THE PATH

IF COVID-19 DIDN’T TEACH US TO OBEY TRAIL CLOSURES, WHAT WILL? BY BILL FLACK

W

e’re all in this together.

It’s an overworked phrase to be sure, but the recent dramatic changes in our daily lives caused by the coronavirus have driven home how true this can be, especially when it comes to trail access.

Beginning in March as our state tried to navigate the best course to protect our citizens, the Vermont Mountain Bike Association (VMBA) and the majority of the local mountain bike chapters followed the Governor’s Executive Order (as well as Vermont Forest Parks and Recreation’s guidelines) regarding trail use. As a result, the vast majority of our trail networks were temporarily closed, more often at the request of the town or state government. The goal then was to help stop the spread of Covid-19 and save lives while cooperating with land managers.

What we saw in the weeks that followed was a backlash caused by the trail closures. Some riders, I believe completely missed the “big picture.”

There have been plenty of reports of riders ignoring the current trail closure listings posted on Trailhub, VMBA, and local chapters' websites, and disregarding signs at trailheads.

In some areas, riders actually tore down trail closures signs, and in so doing, threatened continued trail access to those networks for everyone.

One would think the recent closure of a significant portion of the network at Kingdom Trails would serve as a wakeup call for us all.

I sit on the Trails Committee for Fellowship of the Wheel in Chittenden County but I have no doubt many of the same problems exist in most, if not all, the trail networks in the state.

So what happens as we reopen?

What happens when trails or behavior around trails is restricted in other ways or for other reasons?

If riders can’t follow trail rules during this crisis, a pandemic with a proven outcome—sickness and death— how can we expect them to follow rules as we open up, rules on social distancing, respecting landowners’ requests and yes, trail closures for any other reason?

Organizations like VMBA, Fellowship, WATA, Mad River Riders, etc., are trail access organizations.

The main reason for their existence is to protect and promote trail access so when those chapters have to make a decision to close trails temporarily for any reason, it’s because it is in the best

6 VTSPORTS.COM | MAY/JUNE 2020

interest of ensuring we have continued access to trails. And it is often done so at the request of the land managers.

There is no other agenda.

Some riders seem bent on being antagonistic towards the very organizations that keep the trails they are riding regularly open. These riders don’t seem to understand that without these strong organizations and years of legwork and discussions with the community, the high quality of mountain bike trails that Vermont has become famous for would not exist.

Here in Chittenden County, we have a total of six trail networks available to riders. With one exception, all of those networks are on public land and their respective town governments manage those properties. Many miles of trails across the state are also on public property.

But those that are on private land require each trail chapter to liaise with the decision-makers/owners who manage those properties. This past season, here in Chittenden County we came close to losing access to one of those trail networks due to a single citizen’s complaint about too much noise at the trailhead.

That’s how tenuous trail access can be.

Virtually no available public properties remain in the county that could replace any losses so if a single network gets closed for whatever reason it will simply mean decreased riding options for all.

Please honor trail closures—it’s not hard to do. I’ve seen many riding their mountain bikes on dirt roads, private

At Kingdom Trails, new signage and a new ambassador program aim to help riders respect rules. Photos by Ali Kaukas

networks or in areas where there’s no potential impact to trail access. Thank you to those who have made this small sacrifice in support of a better riding future.

If you’re not sure what’s open, find someone to ask, look up the trail organization, or check Trailhub.

Sadly, much of the riding public does not support VMBA or their local trail chapters either financially or with donated time and that’s a shame.

For the price of a decent meal and a couple beers you can be a positive

force in supporting the sport you enjoy.

Seems a small price to pay and over 90 percent of your dues go right back into your local chapter while connecting you with every trail chapter in the state and the more than 1,000 miles of trails they manage.

When a rider doesn’t engage with their local trail chapter, they’re disconnected from what’s happening in those networks and is simply out of the loop when it comes to things that might affect the future of their riding. If you’re not supporting your local trail access organization but you’re riding on the networks that they manage you’re a bit of a freeloader and the choices you make as an individual rider affect us all. If you’re riding on land that isn’t your personal property you’re there by permission, not as a right, as some seem to think.

We need to follow trail rules all the time, whether it’s about not riding during Covid 19 (when lives, literally, are at stake), or, as trails reopen, observing the social distancing, respectful riding and other rules trail groups may put in place.

You may disagree with a trail closure but when it comes to trail access, we're all in this together.

Bill Flack started riding mountain bikes in 1985 and he recently completed a bucket-list-goal to ride in each of the lower 48 states.

MAY/JUNE 2020 | VTSPORTS.COM 7

GREAT OUTDOORS

IS VERMONT RACE READY?

VERMONT MAY BE OPEN FOR BUSINESS —BUT AROUND THE STATE EVENT ORGANIZERS ARE RETHINKING HOW THEY WILL RUN RACES. BY LISA LYNN

T

he first race Steve Hare had planned 2020 for was supposed to take place on Sunday, May 17: a half-marathon that would send 200 or so runners from Branbury State Park 13.1 miles along the shores of Lake Dunmore in Leicester. “As the news came out in March, I realized there was no way we could run this event in May,” said Hare, who also owns Vermont Sun Fitness Centers in Middlebury and Vergennes.

He began looking at new dates and laying out plans for how to host a Covid-19-safe event, noodling over everything from how runners would pick up their registration packets to how water and food stations would operate.

But with Gov. Scott’s March 24 executive order banning gatherings, it became clear that races and events all over Vermont would need to reevaluate.

“We realized quickly that with the governor’s order we couldn’t do it in May. So we scheduled for June 14 with plenty of new safety measures,” says Hare who has run the Vermont Sun Triathlon Series on Lake Dunmore for 35 years.

Runers at the 2019 Vermont Sun Half Marathon on Lake Dunmore

Photo by Pat Hendricks

Tyler Wren, watching the start of the 2019 Farm to Fork Fondo

CANCLED, POSTPONED, VIRTUAL? As Covid-19 spread, race and event organizers around the state began canceling, postponing, or going virtual with their events. USA Cycling pulled the permits for all sanctioned events up to May 31. The Vermont City Marathon, traditionally held Memorial Day, was moved to a “tentative” date of October 25. The epic gravel ride, Rasputitsa, which has drawn 1500 gravel riders to the Northeast Kingdom in April was moved, tentatively to July 25, and another spring classic, the Vermont Overland Maple Adventure Ride paired itself with it, moving from April in Reading to East Burke on July 26.

Tyler Wren’s Farm to Fork Fondo and a new race, the Farm to Fork Fitness Run in the Champlain Islands, were both pushed back from July to Labor Day weekend. “We were hoping that by then we’d be in a better place,” said Wren who typically sets up long tables to serve farmfresh fare to riders and runners. But on May 10 he shared the news that he was cancelling all of his Farm to Fork fitness events —runs and rides now held in six states—and pivoting

8 VTSPORTS.COM | MAY/JUNE 2020

to small organized group rides for 2020.

Three of the region’s largest charity rides all made early decisions to go virtual. “We decided we really needed to shift the Point to Point, powered

by VSECU to a virtual event,” says Simeon Chapin, of VSECU. The day of riding and running to benefit the Vermont Food Bank had been scheduled for Aug. 1. Registration fees were either refunded or donated. Virtual participants, Chapin said, would still receive their goody bags and T-shirts but would run and log miles on their own.

The pivot to virtual did have some benefits: “The Point to Point is all about fighting hunger. We wanted to act immediately and support Vermonters now, when they need it most. We started by sending all funds raised to the Vermont Foodbank each month rather than holding them until the event,” said Chapin.“With a virtual event, we can reduce the overhead cost, slash registration fees, engage

The Vermont City Marathon is on...tentatively.. for October. Courtesy photo.

riders and runners anywhere in the world, and push all of our resources into helping our community rise to this immediate challenge.”

The Vermont Adaptive Charity

Ride, originally slated for June 20, also went virtual, offering people a variety of ways to log just about any activity and promised a virtual party on June 20 with live music shared online and prize give-aways. “People really want to help, and I think many realize the folks we work with at Vermont Adaptive, they’re stuck inside, they don’t have the option of getting out. The $300,000 we typically raise is critical to helping them,” said Communications Director Kim Jackson.

The Prouty, which could have brought 4,000 people to the Upper Valley on the weekend of July 11 to ride, run, row, golf and participate in dozens of events to raise funds for the Norris Cotton Cancer Research Center is also going virtual. There are no longer any minimum fundraising requirements and participants can log their progress any time between June 1 and July 11, doing any sport imaginable—from golf to cycling, running to rowing.

And in a creative twist, The Dirty Project – a 100-mile gravel ride that fundraises as part of The Prouty— announced it would hold a three-stage virtual “audax” – a cycling event that challenges riders to cover as much distance as they can in a set time. The website set the courses and asked participants to complete the rides between June 26 and July 11 and track their progress by GPS. The fundraising aspect of even smaller virtual races appears to be working. In the Northeast Kingdom,

Kingdom Games’ popular Dandelion Run (usually held in May) went virtual with, as organizer Phil White wrote: “84 ‘movers’ already signed on committing 2,263 ‘miles of movement’ between May 16 and May 24th and pledging over $3,200 for Umbrella," a local organization dedicated to promoting strong women, supported families and safe homes.

This year’s “Dandies” drew people from all over the country to participate.

Many were running or walking.

Some were spinning and swimming.

Bill Brown of Vineyard Haven, MA rowed 31 miles. Karina Palmarino of Magog, QC and Gary Golden of Burlington, each took on 150 miles, kayaking and biking their miles.

But not every event could go virtual.

Gary Kessler who has been planning the 20th running of the Green Mountain Stage Race, the largest pro-am road cycling stage race in the East, also looked into running his race online. “I actually talked to some of the indoor virtual cycling platforms such as Rouvy or Zwift about hosting this. I thought how easy would it be if I could upload video of our routes and have everyone race virtually.”

But as Kessler thought through it, he began to see challenges to hosting a virtual version of a race that awards $35,000 in prize money. “It’s just too easy to cheat – to input a different weight or to put an electric assist bike on a trainer,” he noted. “But the real reason? Cycling is a sport that’s about strategy, it’s about interaction, it’s about talking with your teammate in a peloton or gauging how a competitor is breathing to see if you can break away from him or not. That just doesn’t happen virtually.” For now, the event is still on for Labor Day weekend.

AND WHO WILL COME? Perhaps a bigger question than how races would be run this summer (and thereafter) is whether or not participants are ready and where they will come from.

On May 6, Road Runners Club of America announced the results of a survey that gleaned information from more than 10,000 respondents.

Forty three percent said they would return to running with a group once health guidelines permitted this.

And 53 percent said they would participate in events later on in 2020.

The size of event factored into that decision. While 60 percent said they would be comfortable in an event with up to 250 people, only 34 percent felt comfortable with an event with more than 1,000 attending.

Those numbers echoed a survey sent out in early May by the Champlain Valley Expo on behalf of a group of

The Spartan Races will go on. With lots of hand sanitizer available. Photo courtesy Spartan

Vermont event venues and hospitality businesses. Of the 6,331 respondents, 60 percent said they would not attend an event at this time or would only do so if it had 200 people or fewer.

“The challenge for the Vermont City Marathon and other big events is that if you are going to put on a race for 1,000 people the expense side is really not that different than a race for 5,000 people,” notes Peter Delaney, Executive Director of RunVermont which puts on the Burlington event.

Delaney also noted that of the marathon and relay runners who sign up for VCM, “about 50 percent come from out of state.” Delaney still lists the 2020 VCM, now scheduled for October, as ‘tentative’ and RunVermont has created a series of virtual 5Ks to help fundraise.

Concern about out-of-state participants was what led Tyler Wren to finally cancel his Farm to Fork events.

“I started thinking about what it would mean to bring 1,000 people to ride around this beautiful, rural part of the Champlain Islands where we’ve only had a couple of cases of Covid-19. It just didn’t seem like the right thing to do.”

Heidi Meyers and Tony Moccia who put on Rasputitsa, the spring gravel race in East Burke had similar concerns. Said Meyers. “It’s hard to know what the right thing is to do. On the one hand, this race has filled just about every bed and hotel room in our region. But on the other, we’ve built our race on community and inviting 1500 people from 36 or 40 states and 3 or 4 countries into our community may not be the best thing to do this year.” Meyers was waiting to see where things stood in early June before calling the race one way or the other.

For many races, the economic impact goes far beyond just what entry fees and hotel registrations bring in.

Vermont City Marathon historically draws as many as 7,500 runners and 25,000 spectators to Burlington and, Delaney estimates, brings in $3.5 to $4 million in spending to the region.

For Adam Schalit, who runs 13 races in southern Vermont as part of Northeast Trail Runs, the season is still in limbo. “We’ve paused all registration so are not booking new registrations,” he says. However, the first of his events the Ethan Allen 24, a 24-hour track race on a 6-lane track on July 11, had international runners slated to compete. “I just don’t see how we can run this on a 6-lane track. The issue, too is that the food and aid station and the socialization are as much as the race experience.”

Schalit, whose sole income is from his event business, has written Gov. Scott asking for both guidance on how to run races safely and legal protection so that he can defer entry fees to a later event.

“But the main thing,” he says, “is we need to maybe put off races now so that we can run them in the future. Our mission as race directors is to preserve the safety of the participants and the community around us. I’d hate to host a race and then discover that Manchester or wherever we had it had become a new hot spot.”

THE SHOW GOES ON Yet more than one event organizer was moving full-speed ahead. “I guess everything is on until it isn’t” said Russ Scully who owns WNDNWVs and puts on Stand Up for the Lake, the annual stand-up paddleboard races out of his Burlington Surf Club. “It’s pretty easy for us to do this event and maintain social distancing and other healthy practices.”

Spartan is still planning its 50K Ultra and 21K Beast races for Killington on Sept., bringing what has traditionally been close to 10,000 participants from all over to the resort just 8 miles south of Spartan founder Joe De Sena’s Pittsfield farm.

“We’ve been working with local governments to obey all the rules and have cancelled 30 or so of the 70 races we had planned for 2020," says Mike Morris, Spartan’s VP of Operations.

“But I’m confident we can do this safely

in Killington as that event is not until September." Plans to do so include taking the temperatures of all racers, limiting the number of people in each wave and having hand sanitizer at each obstacle. “We just ordered about $80,000 of hand sanitizer,” Morris says.

For weeks, Steve Hare had been busy mapping out precautions for his June 14 half marathon and his summerlong Vermont Sun Triathlon Series. He planned to have all participants and race personnel wear masks and practice social distancing during all pre-race and post-race activities. Participants would self-serve as they picked up their timing chip and registration and goody bag pick-ups would be spaced out. The starts would be in small waves with only 10 to 20 athletes at a time. Only bottled water and packaged foods would be served. Athletes would pick up their own trophies and there will be plenty of sanitary wipes.

For the triathlons, waves would be spaced farther apart.

WAITING,WONDERING In May, Hare got notice that the permit he had applied for in September for his Branbury State Park races was denied based on the governor's orders banning small gatherings. "It took me 8 months to get that permit. Reapplying isn't really an option now," said Hare.

“We’d love to get some guidance from the state, something that would help us look forward and know what we can or can't do,” said Meyers "just not knowing is the hardest thing."

VCM's Peter Delaney however did not one silver lining to the pandemic: “We’re seeing a lot of people out running and exercising. It’s similar to what happened in the 2008 recession. In the four or five years after that running saw a real boom.”

Events or no events, the training goes on.

MAY/JUNE 2020 | VTSPORTS.COM 9

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GEAR THAT’S DOING GOOD

GEAR

THESE VERMONT BRANDS PIVOTED FOR THE PANDEMIC. HERE ARE SOME EASY WAYS TO THANK THEM. Vermont Gloves

42L Burton Beeracuda Beerhaus Cooler Bag

Dodge Ski Boots

Skida Face Mask Darn Tough Vermont Foodbank Farmer’s Market Crew Sock

Untapped Mapleaid

BURTON After her late husband, Jake Burton Carpenter, spent months first at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, recovering from Miller-Fisher Syndrome and then at University of Vermont Medical Center, Donna Carpenter got to know hospitals well. So when the pandemic hit, the head of Burton had her prototype facility develop 500 face shields and Burton's binding manufacturer deliver 500,000 KN 95 face masks. Burton donated those to UVM, Dartmouth and other hospitals. Want to show your support and do something for yourself? Pack cans of Aqua Vitae, Citizen Cider or bottles of Barr Hill Gin (three distillers that, along with Farrell Distributing, worked together to make mass amounts of hand sanitizer) in the 42L Burton Beeracuda Beerhaus Cooler Bag, $59.95. With a separate waterproof compartment, it’s perfect for a social distancing party on the go.

DARN TOUGH Stylish, lightweight and backed by Darn Tough’s lifetime guarantee, the Darn Tough Vermont Foodbank Farmer’s Market Crew Sock, $22 is one we’d buy anytime. But there’s an added to reason to get it now: in response to the pandemic, Darn Tough is donating 100 percent of the sales of this sock to the Vermont Foodbank.

That’s in addition to the 10,000 pairs of socks that the company donated to health care workers around Vermont.

DODGE BOOTS Dave Dodge was one of the first to make custom ski boots out of carbon fiber and Dodge Ski Boots ($995) are known for their light weight and thermoformed construction, as well as their remote app-enabled fitting program. The Essex, Vt.-based company used that thermoform expertise to help Beta Technologies

develop and deploy an automatic bag ventilation machine (ABVM). If you’re going to buy boots, doing so now means you have months to dial them in before the snow falls.

SKIDA Burlington-based accessories company Skida turned their expertise in making hats and neckwarmers to making face masks. On top of that, the company offered health care workers 25 percent off on their products. Skida Face Masks ($22) are as fashionable as their headwear with patterns that range from a soft teal Moon Flower to a pattern of Puppies in Space that will definitely bring a smile to anyone you meet.

VERMONT GLOVE When the pandemic hit, Vermont Glove paused the manufacturing of its doublestitched goatskin Vermont Gloves, $100 – work gloves so strong they have

historically been used by linemen. A family-run business based in Randolph, Vermont Glove ordered reams of cotton and worked with a network of home sewers to make cotton masks. They even shared their patterns in a DIY video and payed home sewers $1 for every mask.

These gloves – a must for wood stacking or trail building — are still at retailers.

UNTAPPED Add a spoonful of Untapped Lemon Tea Mapleaid ($24.95 for a 1 lb bag, also in single servings) to your water bottle and you’ll have an all-natural beverage made with unrefined maple sugar (which has traces of minerals, amino acids, and antioxidants) lemons and organic black tea (for a natural caffeine boost) and a touch of sea salt.

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MAY/JUNE. 2020 | VTSPORTS.COM 11

NUTRITION

I

t’s barbecue season but there’s another reason that meat lovers might be rejoicing. In case you were unaware, new nutrition recommendations released last fall by an international group of researchers gave us more or less the green light to eat red and processed meat.

The guidelines do not replace current recommendations, but could be used to determine future dietary guidelines. And they came as quite a surprise, considering we have been warned for years that consuming red and processed meat is a surefire path to heart disease, cancer or other chronic disease. So, the prospect that we can now eat a bacon cheeseburger guilt-free is borderline revolutionary.

We are accustomed to dietary recommendations encouraging us to eat more fruits and vegetables while cutting back on less healthy fare like added sugar, salt and of course, meat.

The USDA develops the dietary guidelines to advise individuals about what a healthy diet that meets all our nutrient needs needs should consist of. Revised every five years, the 2020 guidelines have yet to be released so it remains unclear if or how they will be influenced by the panel’s recommendation. Currently the guidelines do not include any specific recommendations to limit consumption of red or processed meat other than to encourage “a variety of protein foods.”

Let’s be clear, nutrition is a relatively new science which means we are constantly having to update recommendations based on different studies.

(Just think how many times we’ve flip-flopped on eggs and cholesterol!) That being said, over the years we have been able to establish plenty of evidence-based recommendations with solid scientific backing. And we thought the connection between eating red and processed meat and increased risk for chronic disease was one of them. Or is it?

AN IMPRECISE SCIENCE After researchers reviewed evidence from prior studies, they concluded that although individuals shouldn’t increase their consumption, there was no strong evidence to support that decreasing our intake would likewise decrease our odds of developing heart disease, cancer or diabetes. The researchers’ takeaway was basically, if we keep doing what we’re doing then we’ll probably be just fine. Say what?!

To have a panel of well-respected

12 VTSPORTS.COM | MAY/JUNE 2020

HOW MUCH MEAT SHOULD WE EAT?

NEW NUTRITION RECOMMENDATIONS ARE TURNING AGE-OLD EXPERT ADVICE ON ITS HEAD. SO WHAT'S THE TAKEAWAY? BY JAMIE SHEAHAN, M.S., R.D. we must rely on different methodology.

Longitudinal observational studies can only show associations and it is up to us to interpret these outcomes.

BUT WE LIKE MEAT, RIGHT?

Is it the burger that's been the culprit or the side of fries? A new study poses this question.

medical professionals do a total oneeighty on such a widely established “fact” (the American Heart Association, the American Institute for Cancer Research and other public health experts have long warned that the consumption of red and processed meat is harmful to your health) shook the nutrition world to its core and rightfully so. Critics in the medical community went so far as to accuse the panel of violating the Hippocratic oath of “do no harm” by making such a claim.

"This is a very irresponsible public health recommendation," said Dr. Frank Hu, who chairs the nutrition department at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health told CNN. The new recommendation was based on five reviews of more than 100 studies, analyzing not only the results, but the quality of the studies as well.

Upon review, the researchers found that on average, Americans eat red or processed meat two to four times per week and that reducing consumption resulted in an 8 percent lower risk of heart disease, cancer and premature death. This information was nothing new, but their interpretation of it was.

First up, the panel concluded that the actual reduction in health risk was relatively small.

Secondly, they concluded that most of the studies failed to find a direct cause-and-effect relationship between chronic disease and higher consumption of red and processed

“To have a panel of wellrespected medical professionals do a total one-eighty on such a widely established "fact" shook the nutrition world to its core.” meat. Essentially, they believed that other foods and beverages that meateaters happened to be consuming (e.g. a side of French fries with their burger) could just as easily explain their negative health outcomes.

It may be impossible to establish causality when conducting observational studies, but when it comes to nutrition that is the best method available.

Unlike clinical drug trials, nutrition is far more complex and thus not as easily controlled or manipulated to test a hypothesis. It would be impractical and unethical to require a group of people to eat red meat every day for 20 years to see if they developed heart disease, so

Another major factor in the panel’s recommendation was the unwillingness of individuals to change their eating habits. One component of the review examined dietary preferences and attitudes towards red and processed meat.

Surprise: the majority of Americans like to eat meat and have no intention of changing their habits. Critics have slammed the panel for factoring this into their recommendation, questioning why they would let dietary guidelines be influenced by taste preference. Imagine if the government hadn’t required putting warnings on cigarettes simply because people liked to smoke!

An important consideration when evaluating the validity of this study is the failure to account for the health benefits of replacing red and processed meat with plant protein. It is one thing to simply omit meat or substitute other highly-processed foods. It’s something quite different to replace animal protein with a healthy non-animal protein source such as beans.

Studies certainly confirm the benefits of a plant-based diet (see our August, 2019 issue for more information) so perhaps the true health benefit of curtailing our meat consumption is derived less from what we aren’t eating and more from what we are. For example, studies support that replacing saturated fat, which tends to be high in meat, with unsaturated fats reduces the risk of heart disease.

When it comes to cancer risk, there is particular concern about processed meats. As recently as 2015, the World Health Organization classified processed meat as a group one carcinogen, declaring that daily consumption of processed meat increased the risk of colon cancer by 18%.

Additionally, they classified red meat as “probably carcinogenic to humans.” Notwithstanding this, the panel did not distinguish between red meat and processed meat thereby further calling into question their ability to reach the conclusions that they did.

A GREEN LIGHT FOR BURGERS? Perhaps most concerning is the spin the media has put on the panel’s recommendations. While the panel felt they lacked the evidence to recommend

decreasing consumption of red and processed meat, they certainly did not condone eating more. Yet when the media got hold of the findings, they were quick to make it sound like a free pass to dine on bacon-wrapped hot dogs without fear of any health repercussions.

However, the intended message was that if individuals are currently consuming a few servings of red meat and processed food per week then cutting down won’t likely infer a tremendous health benefit. Not exactly the same thing.

Just as with any controversial topic, the debate was and is far from over.

In fact, another study published in February in JAMA Internal Medicine refuted the red meat “hall pass,” concluding that consuming two or more servings of red meat, processed meat or poultry increases risk for developing cardiovascular disease. Those who consumed the most had the highest risk, supporting the recommendation to cut down on these foods.

Unlike the October study, this study also examined the potential health risks of consuming poultry and seafood. Although there was a very small association between poultry and

increased risk for developing heart disease, researchers deemed it too insignificant to recommend avoiding white meat. Additionally, seafood was given the all-clear and encouraged as a substitute for meat along with plantbased options.

Now keep in mind recommendations are simply that; recommendations.

Genetics, environment, physical activity, stress, lifestyle and countless other aspects of our diet—other than just meat consumption—factor into our health and longevity. We still have a lot to learn about the connection between diet and health, but for now it seems that our old advice rings true; eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins and healthy fats.

And a burger every now and then won’t kill you…we hope.

The Director of Nutrition at The Edge in South Burlington, Jamie Sheahan holds a M.S. in Dietetics from the University of Vermont, where she serves as an adjunct professor of sports nutrition. Jamie has run over 40 marathons and several ultra marathons.

MAY/JUNE 2020 | VTSPORTS.COM 13

EVEN WHILE SOCIAL DISTANCING, MEMBERS OF THESE CLUBS FOUND WAYS TO RUN, MOTIVATE, COACH AND SOCIALIZE.

BY EVAN JOHNSON

14 VTSPORTS.COM | MAY/JUNE 2020

Daryl Lassel, bottom left, made a practice of taking group selfies after each Runderachievers run. For virtual runs, graphic artist Colin Burch used Photoshop to continue the tradition during Covid-19. Photoillustration by Colin Burch

O

n a Saturday morning in early spring, the roads of Roxbury had the fascinating consistency of slowly thawing chocolate ice cream.

The ruts were deep enough to swallow a Prius.

It wasn’t pretty, but there I was, hobbling, hopping, and shuffling along Northfield Road.

Aside from my regular forays on skis, winters are a period of hibernation for me. But with the sun’s return, every cell in my body screams to move and I feel a deep unrelenting itch to shake off the cobwebs. Efficiency will come later.

Power will wait. Grace is reserved for those who have been doing this longer.

In spring, what I need most is a little external motivation.

So, in early March I signed up to take a few runs with the Central Vermont Runners, not knowing that in the weeks ahead, social running would be replaced by social distancing.

The Central Vermont Runners is a club that has been attracting athletes ranging from weekend warriors to elite triathletes for 40 years and hosts regular training runs and a full schedule of races.

The weekend distances range between six to ten miles on quiet backroads. On the day of my first run with the group, most headed out from the Roxbury house where we met on an out-and-back to the end of Holstrom Road, but I decided to peel off with a

few others and head down Gilpin Road for an eight-mile jaunt.

This is how I found myself running with USA Triathlon Hall of Fame member Donna Smyers.

Smyers grew up in Connecticut before Title IX. When she was in high school the two sports women were allowed to participate in were gymnastics or cheerleading. “We’ve had 100 years with the right to vote and 48 years with the right to run,” she told me as we climbed another sloping grade.

Smyers didn’t know she was an endurance athlete when she moved to Vermont in the 1980s. In what she calls “another life” she worked for IBM in Essex, she mountain biked, rock climbed and backpacked.

Her need for structured training is what led her to the Central Vermont Runners. A friend wrote down the phone numbers of a handful of club members —including one who would later become her boyfriend. Smyers made some calls and joined up for a run. She’s been a regular ever since.

Smyers started doing distance runs on the dirt roads near her home in Adamant, participated in her first triathlon in 1985 and found herself hooked.

She placed third in the women’s 35-39 age group in her first Ironman World Championship in Kona in 1993 and second in the 55-59 age group in

In 2018, Donna Smyers was inducted into the USA Triathlon Hall of Fame, a place she shares with her sister, former pro-triathlete and former International Triathlon Union World Champion Karen Smyers.

Running with the CVR gang has been part of Donna’s training regimen for the last two decades. “This is an amazing group of people,” she says.

“On the hard days or the slow days, this keeps me consistent and having fun.”

Exercising, even virtually, with a partner can improve performance, a 2012 study found.

her most recent Ironman Kona in 2012 with six age group wins between 1997 and 2009. She came back from a quad tendon rupture and repair in late 2012 to become the 55-59 age group USAT Olympic distance National Champion and 55-59 age group World Champion in sprint and 70.3 distances in 2014.

THE RISE OF RUN CLUBS Back at John Valentine’s house in Roxbury, wet shoes piled up by the garage door as runners changed into dry clothes and dove into the pan of sticky buns and coffee waiting for us.

People stretched on the floor or leaned on the counters.

Seated in the sunshine outside, founding member Bob Murphy, 80, of Barre Town told me how the club started 40 years ago.

As massive numbers of people started running and jogging in the 1980s, clubs started popping up in cities and small towns. Before CVR gave central Vermont runners a place to lace up their shoes, many of the current members made the drive to New Hampshire to participate with the North Country Athletic Club.

“After being a member of that for a few years I thought, ‘We’re all Vermonters, why are we all running

MAY/JUNE 2020 | VTSPORTS.COM 15

around with the Old Man on the Mountain on our chests?”

At the time of CVR’s founding, it had 30 members and two races. Now, the group’s membership sits at 200.

“Since then, we’ve developed a large number of races and aside from that, I think nearly every night of the week we have had a different group going out somewhere” Murphy said.

Before the pandemic hit, Tuesday nights were fun runs and Wednesday nights were for speedwork. Another group would meet at Berlin Pond on Mondays. In the winter, the club consistently had groups of 20 to 25 showing up to run in temperatures as low as four degrees below zero.

“The fact that we’ve managed to grow the membership is what’s kept this club alive,” said Murphy. "We have a lot of active younger runners now and that keeps the group going.”

The club’s trick to attracting new members: word of mouth.

“We have races that attract people and they learn about the club and before you know it they’re joining.”

As the pandemic spread and social everything came to a halt, it hit club members hard.

“I felt like I was running in place,” Andy Shuford, the club’s president emeritus said when I called him in April. “It’s frustrating not being able to run because the group aspect is a huge part of the motivation. We’re happy we can run, but not happy to be doing it in such an isolated fashion. Running is a very important social structure.”

SOCIAL RUNNING DURING COVID-19 For CVR runner Darell Lasell, social running helped him lose 80 pounds and drop his 5K run time from over 30 minutes to a personal best of 23:30.

Four years ago, Lasell weighed 265 pounds. He knew something had to change and decided to take up running. “It was something I had to do for myself, for my body and for my mental health, too. Every five pounds I took off I noticed I could run faster.”

Lasell, 62, who lives in Williamstown and works for AADCO Medical Inc. in Randolph (an essential business that has helped distribute PPE in mass to hospital workers) had heard about the Central Vermont Runners and signed up.

“On my first run Donna Smyers ran beside me the whole way,” he remembers. “It was only after the run that I found out that she was a much, much faster runner and she was staying with me just to make me feel welcome.”

As Lasell’s running progressed, Smyers and other club members gave him tips. “They told me to focus on distance, not speed. And Donna taught

16 VTSPORTS.COM | MAY/JUNE 2020

6

great run clubs

Need a run buddy or 10? Weekly motivation? Volunteer coaches or just looking for new friends? These run clubs keep it social, even when social distancing is required. By Evan Johnson

Central Vermont Runners take off on one of the club's popular races. As of press time, June races were on hold. According to a study published in The Journal of Social Sciences, “The likelihood of joining and staying motivated during exercise increases when friends or peers engage in those same activities.”

CENTRAL VERMONT RUNNERS - MONTPELIER “This has been a dedicated group with excellent volunteers that have kept it going,” says Andy Shuford, a club member and president emeritus. “We’ve had great continuity and kept this club active from generation to generation.” Part of passing the sport onto the next generation is the club’s support of local youth running programs including Girls On The Run and high school and middle school track and field programs. Founded in: 1980 Membership: 200 Superstars: Adamant resident Donna Smyers continues to dominate age as a triathlete and runner. Bob Murphy, 80, one of the club’s founders, won his share of races in the 1980s. He continues to show up to run. Weekly runs: Starting in the spring and running until October, CVR usually hosts a long-standing “fun run” on the Montpelier Bike Path along the Winooski River. All the runs are out-and-back and distances include two, four, and six miles. On Wednesday nights, members used to meet on the Montpelier High School track. On Saturday mornings, groups departedd at 9:30 from a member’s home for distance runs stretching from six to 14 miles. Signature events: The Central Vermont Runners has organized a 16-race series. Popular races include the Mutt Strutt, a three-mile fun run for pups and their owners in Little River State Park; runs in Groton State Forest and the Leaf Peepers Half Marathon. Club members accumulate points for an overall champion determined at the end of the year. Why join? “This is an active club that’s great for running and for socializing,” says Shuford. “We’re also focused on helping the community as well.” What’s changed since Covid-19? As of mid-May, the club had canceled all meetings and group runs. Races through June have been postponed or canceled but the club will reevaluate plans for July and after. Since the club can’t get together for runs and races, it has established a virtual run series on the club’s website, where anyone can run on the weekend and post photos and their time and distance.

Website/email: https://cvrunners.org/

me that I really needed a different pair of shoes for different runs.” (Lasell now uses Salomon Speed Cross trail shoes for off-road runs and ligthweight zerodrop shoes from Hoka and Altra for

GREEN MOUNTAIN ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION - BURLINGTON Based in Burlington, one of the oldest running clubs in the state attracts runners from Chittenden County and beyond. Founded in: 1970 Membership: 500 Superstars: Huntington resident Kasie Enman was an All-American while competing in track and field for Middlebury College and won the 2006 U.S. snowshoe racing championships. In 2011 she won the individual title at the World Mountain Running Championships. She tied for second in the Skyrunning World Series Ultra category in 2014. Another member, Teage O’Connor set a world record for the fastest barefoot 100K in 2017, completing the 62-miles in seven hours and 13 minutes. He’s also known for training and running barefoot.

Weekly runs: The club has historically gathered at the UVM track every evening at 5:30 p.m. for track workouts. Groups also met for long runs on the recreation paths and sidewalks every Sunday morning starting at 8 a.m. at The EDGE in South Burlington. Signature events: The GMAA organizes a full calendar of 13 races from February through November. Some of the biggest and most popular runs have included the Clarence DeMar 5K, a flat and fast outand-back in South Hero usually held on the Fourth of July. The Green Mountain Marathon is slated to hold its 50th running October 18, in South Hero . Why join? Says Alex McHenry, the GMAA’s communications director, “We encourage each other, and we’re all at different levels. If positive energy is what you look for, this club’s for you.” What’s changed since Covid-19? The club has moved many of its upcoming races and events into a virtual format, tracked by the Strava app. The club also started an online GMAA apparel store with 200 percent of proceeds going to the Vermont Foodbank. Website/email: https:// gmaa.run/

road races.)

CVR members told him about upcoming races and often members would carpool together to them. He’d meet for runs and for the regular

monthly social hours at Julio’s in Montpelier. “One of our most memorable meetings was at Jim and Barb Flint’s house in Craftsbury. We did a woods run up to this secluded

Central Vermont Runners actively supports school and youth running programs and encourages families to run together. "We have a lot of active younger runners now and that’s what keeps the group going,” says CVR founder Bob Murphy.

MARBLE VALLEY RUNNERS - RUTLAND If you love dirt trails join this central Vermont group for runs on the Pine Hill network close to downtown Rutland. Often, runs were done after work by headlamp, with snacks and beer after. Founded in: 2005 Membership: 30 Superstars: Group runners regularly have a strong showing in a series of six 5K races organized by the Rutland Recreation and Parks Department . “I try to win all of those,” says group admin Joel Flewelling. Weekly runs: On Tuesday evenings at 6:30, the group typically took to the trails at Pine Hill Park, a sprawling network of 16 miles of singletrack trails spread across 325 acres a short distance from downtown Rutland. In the winter, runs transition to the streets around Rutland. After the run, the group headed to Strangefellows Pub for beers and dinner in running shoes. On 9 a.m. on Saturdays, the group took to the trails again for longer distances, between 5K and 10K. Signature events: The club organizes a New Year’s Day fun run. Why join? “Come out and try it, everyone is welcome,” says Flewelling. “It doesn’t matter how fast or slow you think you are, everyone is welcome. Having that group that you see every week is a great sense of community.” What’s changed since Covid-19? Right now the club has suspended all group activities and is waiting for further guidance for when it’s safe to resume running together. Website/email: Official group Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/87713820578/ NORTHERN BORDER RUNNING CLUB NEWPORT AND THE NORTHEAST KINGDOM While Vermont native Mike Nolan was living in Boston, he fell in love with the road racing community. He returned to the Northeast Kingdom five years ago. “When I moved back, I noticed there was a lot of mountain biking and cross-country skiing, but a gap for running.” he says. He connected with another local, Paul Chambers, to train for races and the two, along with their wives, starting a running club.

“The four of us created the Northern Border Running Club with the mission of encouraging active and healthy lifestyles in the area and building a community that brought people together for running, walking or other healthy activity.” Founded in: 2017 Membership: 246 Superstars: Derby resident Aleksei Bingham graduated from North Country Union as the indoor track and field state record holder in the 1,500-meter run. He won three state championships (1,500 and 3,000 indoors, 3,000 outdoors). As a senior, he ran the fastest time in the state in the 3,000 outdoors and was the ninth-fastest miler at the indoor New England High School Championships. He currently attends St. Lawrence University. Weekly runs: Weekly runs typically start after Memorial Day and go from June to late September. Runs alternate between the track at the North Country Union High School or at the Memphremagog Ski Touring Trails in Derby. Distances are determined by individual walkers or runners and can range from three to five miles. Signature

waterfall and then came back to their house for a barbecue,” he recalls In 2019, Lasell set a goal of running 100 races between January and December. “About half of those were

Elite runner and Craftsbury Outdoor Center coach Heidi Caldwell talks to CVR Runners at one of their post-run meetings.

events: The Bike Path Throwdown is an annual 10K on the Newport/ Derby bike path in the fall. Organizers affectionately call it, “the flattest and fastest 10K in the state.” The club also ran a summertime track and field camp last summer with the Newport Parks and Rec department and saw 20 kids sign up. Why join? “There’s only so much that’s happening from an events standpoint in the Northeast Kingdom,’ says Nolan. “But if you start to make the radius 40 to 50 miles, there’s quite a bit that’s happening. The running club helps connect people with these events and with each other.” What’s changed since Covid-19?

During Covid-19, the club hosted a virtual run/walk challenge for April.

The challenge included having to complete the following: run/walk 1 mile, run/walk 5k, run/walk 5 miles and a one-mile “family walk” during the month, which a number of community members participated in and completed to earn NBRC water bottles and stickers. For now, NBRC plans to be cautious with any type of group runs and will continue to follow social distancing best practices until after Memorial Day (at least). Website/email: https://northernborderrc.wixsite.com/nbrc UPPER VALLEY RUNNING CLUB LEBANNON, NH; HANOVER, NH; THETFORD, VT; NORWICH, VT Based out of the Lebanon Recreation Department, this running club drew runners from Vermont and New Hampshire to weekly runs. The group welcomes competitive and recreational runners to their road runs.

Founded: 2011 Membership: 300 Superstars: Locals Ben and Sarah True are two top-performing club members. Sarah represented the United States in triathlon in 2012, finishing in fourth place, and at the 2016 Summer Olympics while Ben is a track and field and crosscountry athlete who has won two IAAF Cross Country championships and won numerous road races including the 10K and 5K road race championships. Weekly runs: The club typically held Tuesday Night Track, or as they call it, “TNT,” at 5:30 p.m. the Hanover High School track or at Dartmouth College’s Memorial Field track complex. In the winter, the workouts transition to laps around Occom Pond near Hannover or hill

One thing most run clubs have in common? It doesn't matter how fast you are or how old.

either trail or mountain races —three were marathon length and four of them were half-marathon length,” he says.

In December, he met his goal.

“I think the camaraderie and

repeats on Tuck Drive. The club has become involved in the nationally popular Couch to 5K program and has started their own group that meets on Tuesdays. Saturday group runs started in downtown Lebanon at Omer and Bob’s at 9 a.m. and ranged from five to ten miles. Pastries and coffee follow at Lucky’s Garage Cafe. Signature events: The Upper Valley Running Club participates annually in the New Hampshire Grand Prix, competing alongside eight other clubs. The Grand Prix is a series of eight races that starts in March and runs through October. The Upper Valley Running Club won the series in 2015 and 2016. The group also organizes and coordinates six to eight races in the Upper Valley Running Series ranging from 5K to 12K. Why join: Group organizer Jim Burnett says the group has been a great resource for those looking to start running or just entering the Upper Valley community. “We’re all inclusive,” he says. “We’re kindred spirits who love to run. You don’t have to be a super speedy runner to have a good time.” What’s changed since Covid-19? UVRC had canceled (or in some cases postponed) all in-person UVRC events and activities, including those in association with the Lebanon Parks and Recreation Department, through April 30th. However its Facebook page posts weekly challenges and virtual races, including a virtual challenge of Hanover’s Main Street Mile race.

Website/email: http://uppervalleyrunningclub.org/ ARROWHEAD TRAIL RUNNING SERIES - MILTON While not a running club per se - this weekly race series in Milton has been a welcoming outlet for novice and experienced local runners.

The races had weekly prizes, including a chance to win shoes from Hoka One One. Founded in: 2011 Membership: 60 to 75 people per race Superstars: The race series regularly featured local high school runners who will gladly push the pace for you. The current 5K course record is under 18 minutes. Weekly runs: The weekly 5K races have been held on Mondays at the Arrowhead Golf Course in Milton. The starting gun going off at 6 p.m. sharp. Signature events: The race organizers also sponsor the Milton Freedom 5K, which serves as a scholarship fundraiser for Milton High School track and field and crosscountry athletes.

Why join? It’s the only place you can go on a Monday night and have people cheering for you,” says Brett Macy, one of the series organizers.

“There have been a bunch of people at the finishl line cheering. It’s a special group of people. That’s a huge draw for people, they want to have the community around.” What’s changed since Covid-19? During the COVID-19 period of lockdown, the club has seen a decline in its Monday evening runs, but still plans to start races after Memorial Day, pending approval from Governor Scott. Website/email: Official group Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/258781770802009/ Have a great club we should know about? Vermont Sports is starting a Run Club Directory. Email us your information at editor@vtsports.com

encouragement from club members helped a lot,” he says. “They were very supportive. They gave me tips and would often caution me to be careful not to get an injury and would

recommend races.”

But in March, all that came to a stop.

“Since Covid-19 I’ve been depressed about not seeing the run groups I used

MAY/JUNE 2020 | VTSPORTS.COM 17

to hang out with,” Lasell says. “I’ve done the CVR social distance virtual run. My wife and I do a run on the bike path and submit our times. My wife is a relatively new runner but she’s ambitious and she just started a challenge herself to run 5K every day.”

Another of the other groups Lasell ran with regularly, the Runderachievers, is an informal group that was started by Good Measure Brewing on Wednesday nights.

“Good Measure’s Ross Evans and Scott Kerner started the group two years ago as something as a joke,” says Colin Bright, a Northfield resident and Runderachiever regular. “It began as fun run around the Northfield Common at 5:30 pm as way to get folks into the brewery after on a Wednesday night.”

At first, it was mainly casual runners and families with kids in strollers. “It’s grown now to nearly two dozen and a group of us Roverachievers sometimes do a longer run too,” says Bright.

Lasell quickly became an integral part of the group and took the group photo each week. “One week, Darell missed the run so I Photoshopped him into the group picture,” says Bright, a graphic designer who has created logos for the Catamount Ultra, as well as Good Measure Brewing, Citizen Cider and others.

That gave Bright an idea.

The Runderachievers virtually visit a family of club members who were stuck in Spain during Covid-19. Illustration by Colin Burch

As Covid-19 hit, Bright reached out to the runners and asked them to send photos of themselves on their individual social-distancing runs.

He then began Photoshopping the Runderachievers into one setting—the Good Measure Brewing storefront, a former member’s house in Spain, and even the moon. “It was one way of

bringing us all together,” he said.

On May 7 as Governor Scott announced a relaxation of social distancing guidelines and the opening of many forms of outdoor recreation, Lasell saw some light at the end of the pandemic tunnel. “I sometimes run with a Friday night trail group out of the Upper Valley Running Club,” he

said by phone.

“Yesterday, the group’s leader Savannah Gravel sent me an email, noting that things were easing up. She asked ‘When do you feel comfortable getting together for a lunch time run?’”

Evan Johnson is a former assistant editor at Vermont Sports.

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YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS HELP KEEP OUR COMMUNITY HEALTHY. On behalf of everyone at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health, thank you. It’s taken the full force of our communities to face the COVID-19 pandemic, and you have risen to the occasion.

We are ever so grateful for our heroic first responders and every single Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health employee. We are also humbled by the generosity and outpouring from our local businesses, community partners and individuals who have given nearly 2,000 monetary contributions, their time and talents and continue to send us donations and messages of support. We could not have done this alone. In-kind donations as of April 28, 2020:

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MAY/JUNE 2020 | VTSPORTS.COM 19

A VAN & A PLAN SIX MONTHS, FOUR WHEELS AND THIRTEEN THOUSAND MILES: TWO VERMONTERS-TURNEDNOMADS QUIT THEIR DAY JOBS TO TRAVEL WEST IN THE VAN THEY BUILT INTO A HOME. STORY AND PHOTOS BY EMMA COTTON

“R

emember this,” I told myself. The side doors of our newly-converted van opened into the final hour of September daylight, channeling summer’s last whisper of a warm breeze.

Inside, a years’ worth of imagination and parts had finally culminated in something whole.

Streaks of sun lit up the details: the live-edge cherry countertop, the neat blue curtains that kept our clothes from toppling as we drove down rough dirt roads, the bedside window that would soon frame the forests, mountains and lakes of 27 states.

Outside, sailboats bobbed on Lake Willoughby. My boyfriend, Takoda, and I exchanged knowing smiles. For the first time in our lives, we had no idea what tomorrow might hold.

20 VTSPORTS.COM | MAY/JUNE 2020

We’d begun imagining this moment two years earlier, when the “vanlife” idea stuck in our heads like gum sticks to your shoe. Neither of us remembers how the conversation started. We loosely followed the #vanlife movement on Instagram, and though we knew our reality would be far from the carefullydesigned images of $100,000 Sprinter vans parked along the California coast, those photos hooked us.

The freedom represented in the pictures felt achievable, even on a downscaled budget. Vans became the go-to topic of our long-distance phone calls; Takoda lived in Florida at the time. I was in Middlebury, Vt. Once we decided, we never second-guessed ourselves.

The months preceding our departure saw a blend of restaurant work, sawdust and engine grease. Takoda’s father

The author, piloting Moby in Zion National Park.

had been a professional woodworker for many years, and he transferred his skills and attention to detail to his son.

His woodshop in Waitsfield became our home base, the place where our sketches

of cabinets and tables and shelves would take physical shape.

At night, we’d sit in the van’s empty metal shell and discuss storage options for hiking boots, hammocks, fishing rods, formal wear for two upcoming family weddings. Which window to keep open and which to insulate. Where to find a mattress that folds. How big the freshwater tank should be. Whether our 2003 Ford E250 ambulance-turnedtiny-home could make it across the country at all.

We were naive. Funding the van’s initial purchase ($4,000), mechanical work ($7,000) and conversion ($9,000) required us to fill and empty our bank accounts, several times over. We quit jobs we’d lusted after to wait tables and bartend. We said the conversion would take a few months; it took a year.

Throughout the process, I have asked myself: Why? Why run away from a stable life in a beautiful part of the world to live in 60 square feet with no bathroom?

Well, there are the obvious reasons: skiing, hiking, fishing, mountains, oceans and freedom. The wistful look on every person’s face when we tell them about our travel plans. “Now’s the time to do it,” they say. At a campsite outside Newport, Vt., a woman looked at our van, looked at us, and called out, “enjoy your dream.”

There are murky reasons, too. As a college junior, I traveled abroad with a friend. She died in a hiking accident halfway through our trip. The following semester brought a full course load, a position as editor-in-chief of our student newspaper, a resident advisor position, a senior thesis, and a woefully inadequate amount of sleep.

After college, I won my dream job writing in Vermont, as an editor at this magazine.

But life’s inevitable moments of darkness—the death of the family dog, the death of my grandmother—were like individual nails hammered into shoddy plaster, creating a crack in my mental health that became increasingly difficult to patch. I wanted something new, something distracting, something completely bereft of obligation,

September sunset at Lake Willoughby, first stop on what would become a six-month journey across 27 states, ending only as Covid-19 spread across the U.S.

something I could control.

Takoda had earthlier reasons for choosing life in a van: a restlessness at his nine-to-five, where he monitored oyster populations for the state of Florida, a hunger for adventure and a curiosity about his next step. After college, he had embarked on a threemonth road trip that connected the dots between the country’s wildest fly fishing spots. He wanted to revisit his favorites,

add more to the list, and, like me, he had a hankering to explore the American West.

Always the yang to my yin, he gave the best answer when I asked recently why he had wanted to hit the road.

“I don’t know,” he said, flashing a wry smile. “Why not?"

BABY, IT’S COLD INSIDE A wise bartender told me that we should double our expected timeline for van renovations. He was correct, and then some. While we hoped to start our trip at the beginning of summer, our September departure sent us through the northern U.S. in the dead of winter.

A full moon rises over a campfire at one of Emma and Takoda's favorite free campsites in Arizona's Superstition Mountains. To find campsites like this and resources such as potable water, showers and restrooms, they used the app iOverlander and freecampsites.net

MAY/JUNE 2020 | VTSPORTS.COM 21

Van lesson number one: In the winter, go south.

Flash forward to a night parked outside a Planet Fitness (where our membership counted more for showers than exercise) in Rochester, Minnesota, a pit stop between the Great Lakes and Badlands National Park. Early November brought an unexpected cold spell through the Midwest.

We expected 20-degree weather but got -5 instead.

Aside from a faulty heater system whose maximum setting produced a lukewarm breeze, the van was well-equipped for the cold. We had layered puffy pink batt insulation above the ceiling, laid hardboard insulation under the floorboards and stapled Reflectix to wooden furring strips behind the walls. We hung a giant fuzzy black-out blanket between the cab and cabin. Our body heat kept the van comfortably warm in most circumstances; we both loved sleeping when it was 30 degrees outside.

But negative temperatures were a different story. Cold seeped through the cracks in the doors and the uninsulated window panes. We remained still throughout the night for fear of touching frigid parts of the mattress that had not been warmed by body heat. The comforter where we pulled it up to our faces, froze into a chunk from our breath’s condensation.

In the morning, our freshwater tank was frozen solid; no hot coffee, no oatmeal.

We had carefully chosen hearty house plants to accompany us on our journey with hopes they’d survive the country’s diverse climates. Now all five hung limp. The van’s interior metal and glass surfaces hosted layers of crystallized breath. And buying breakfast at a local cafe only reminded us of our dwindling funds. We sat our creaky bones down at a table and stared at each other glumly. “What are we doing?” we asked each other. “Is this too crazy?”

“Maybe we should think about selling.”

That day’s five-hour drive to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, felt like a chairlift ride.

Though clad in a winter jacket, hat, gloves, and draped in blankets, Takoda still felt his feet go numb from extending a limb to press the gas pedal. We later realized that holes between the engine compartment and the cab sucked in the outside air.

Van lesson number two: Stuff any engine compartment holes with Shamwows to prevent icy breezes on your feet.

We spent that evening thawing ourselves over tea and $6 bottomless soup at an Olive Garden before nestling into another Planet Fitness parking spot for round two.

NOTHING BAD ABOUT THE BADLANDS We woke the next morning with the comforting knowledge that we were heading toward 50-degree weather, but questions lingered from the day before. Did our lack of financial resources, combined with the impending winter season, make

22 VTSPORTS.COM | MAY/JUNE 2020

DIY VANLIFE HOW-TO

BY EMMA COTTON and TAKODA EDLUND Looking to build out a van of your own? We won’t say it’s easy: Our build took a year and nearly $20,000 (including the purchase of the van itself). You can save time, but not necessarily money, by buying a new or lightly-used van that doesn’t need mechanical repairs. For a hands-free approach, plenty of companies now build vans customized to your specifications. But if you’re looking for the true dirt-bag experience, buy a van for cheap, fix problems as they pop up, and use your dad’s leftover floorboards to make cabinets. We relied heavily on YouTube videos, Instagram accounts, and the popular van blog Gnomad Home’s ‘Build Your Van’ guide. Here’s the nitty-gritty of our process.

STEP #1: BUY A VAN The particulars of this process depend entirely on your price range. We had less than $5,000 to burn, so we patrolled Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace and used car lots for months before finding something that checked all of our boxes. We wanted our van to be: 1. Big. A high top or Sprinter van.

2. Customizable. We stripped it down to its metal shell. · 3. Mechanically sound.

Little did we know, this last box far from checked. Surprises are fun, right? We recommend bringing your van to a mechanic before purchasing, and making sure the mechanic plugs the van into a computer to check for outstanding codes.

STEP #2: PLAN YOUR LAYOUT We tore out the inner plastic paneling, back seatbelts and anything we could. Then came the hard part: deciding how we wanted to structure our space. Once the van is insulated, running electrical wires becomes a tricky feat, so wiring was one of our first steps. That means we had to know where we were putting lights, switches, fans and outlets when the van was still an empty shell.

Plan carefully!

STEP #4: INSULATE. EVERYWHERE. With electrical wires loosely in place, we set to work insulating. We used hardboard insulation under the plywood floor, bat insulation in the ceiling, Reflectix for the walls, and spray foam in all the nooks and crannies. Take note: Reflectix requires a 3/4-inch air space to be effective, so we stapled the foillike sheets to furring strips and pulled it tight to the wall. The furring strips, which looked like whale ribs, gave us something to which we could attach future wall paneling. With Reflectix in place, we were ready for blast-off.

STEP #3: INSTALL A FAN Ready to cut into the roof of your automobile? First, we reinforced the van’s fiberglass roof with a wooden frame to which we could secure the ceiling fan. We used a jigsaw to—very carefully—carve a fan-sized hole in the roof, then secured the fan using Dicor sealing tape and doubled down with caulk to prevent any leakages.

STEP #5: MAXIMIZE YOUR ROOF SPACE Depending on your build, you may want to add some space on the roof for solar panels, a Thule box, ski racks, kayak holders, or even a deck. All of these require a roof rack. The roof rack presented a challenge for us: Anything custom-welded was far too expensive, and because of our fiberglass roof, typical cross bars were impossible to use. So we decided to make our own! Takoda drew up some brackets and sent the designs to a local metal shop, then painted them with several coats of truck bed liner. We bolted them to the roof with plywood backing plates and Gorilla glue to ensure no future leaking. Next, we bought some Unistrut from a local electrical supply company and cut it to the van’s dimensions, then added cross pieces and painted it with more truck bed liner. We attached our 320-watt solar panel, an LED light bar, and a Thule box for extra storage.

STEP #6: PUT UP WALLS The woodorking journey begins here. We used beadboard for the walls because it bends, capturing the contours of the van, and it’s cheap and easy to work with. We built and insulated around the wheel wells and gas tank inlet as well. We covered exposed metal on the doors with custom-cut beadboard panels, too.

STEP #7: TURN ON THE LIGHTS For power, we attached two 12volt, 100-amp-hour deep cycle batteries to our 320-watt solar panel. We connected these to a charge controller that allows us to monitor the battery level, charge and load metrics, and all types of other useful information. We used a basic fuse panel to connect all our 12-volt electrical appliances, including the lights, ceiling fan, fridge, plugs, and USB plug-ins, and keep them organized. We added an inverter so we could plug in standard 120-volt appliances, like a laptop. We fused and switched every part of the system for safety and control. Avoid pesky electrical fires by reading all of your product’s technical specifications. Crunch your numbers twice, folks!

STEP #8: MAKE A DREAM BED Takoda is a six-foot-two insomniac, so building a big, comfy bed was a top priority. Our bed acts as a living room, couch and dining room chair, further raising our standards. We opted for the slightly-morecomplicated slide-out bed design, using alternating slats to give us “bed mode” and “couch mode.” It’s split into two sections, which we hinged to the wall, allowing access to storage below. The final dimensions made it a “full extra-long” bed, and after hours of internet scouring, we finally found a comfy mattress, soft enough to fold, that fit.

STEP #9: SHELVES, CUBBIES AND DRAWERS It’s time to decide how your belongings will fit into a 60-square-foot space. We used cubby-like shelving, made from plywood and faced with stained red oak for our clothes and kitchen food storage. One of our favorite features of the build is the drawer that pulls out the back door from under the bed (also known as “the guest bedroom”). The storage box is almost five feet in length, and the drawer slides can support 450 pounds of gear. This is where almost all of our outdoor gear lives.

STEP #10: ASSEMBLE YOUR KITCHEN In a creative exercise, Takoda transformed a live-edge cherry slab, donated by a friend, into our kitchen countertop. This would become the van’s metaphorical hearth and physical centerpiece. He bridged cracks with maple dovetails, cut a hole for the sink, and applied several coats of epoxy.

We used a stainless steel hotel pan for our sink, and mounted a flexible faucet with a filter below. We spent hours debating whether to buy a cooler or a 12-volt fridge, but finally found an ICECO 40-liter fridge for $364—roughly the price of a similarly-sized Yeti cooler (the same product is now $529). The fridge is efficient, quiet and able to fit two week’s worth of food if you pack it right. For water, we decided on a seven-gallon freshwater tank and a four-gallon greywater tank. Our fully mechanical foot pump system, made by Whale Gusher, helped us conserve water. The plastic tanks live under the sink for easy access.

STEP #11: MAKE A TINY VAN A TINY HOME Takoda added bamboo flooring, left over from one of his dad’s house projects, to an existing plywood base. Emma fashioned curtains to protect the clothing and food cubbies from driving turbulence. We placed trim along all of the van’s creases, installed dimmer switches for the ceiling and kitchen lights, faced the drawers with red oak and found nifty handles at Burlington’s ReStore. Finishing touches included a bookshelf, a table that slides out over the bed for cooking, Netflix watching and card playing, and custom wooden holders for our potted plants. Time to move in!

MAY/JUNE 2020 | VTSPORTS.COM 23

our plans unwise—even unsafe?

The drive through the endless grasslands of South Dakota was quiet.

While I eagerly anticipated the Tetons and Zion and the Grand Canyon, I didn’t know what to expect from the Badlands—I hadn’t heard much about the park before our route sent us through the Midwest.

But we sat up in our seats as the grasslands dissolved to canyons that rose again in razor-edged ridges of stone.

With windows down, letting in some much-needed warm air, we watched the sun inch toward the horizon, adding a golden hue to the streaks of red, purple, yellow and grey. The Earth looked so different within the National Park than it did outside. I had never seen geology behave this way.

We had stopped for a photo when we heard sharp clicks on the pavement behind us. We turned to see a big-horned sheep strolling casually up the road, and our mouths fell open as he sauntered by, five feet from our open window. We sat in awe, watching his white rump make its way toward the sunset.

Okay, Badlands.

The road to our free campsite, located just outside the park boundary, wound us through forty minutes’ worth of peaks and valleys. We arrived and cooked our favorite quick meal— “fancy” Top Ramen with chopped kale and a poached egg. Full, warm and happy, we exchanged the same knowing smiles we’d sported at Lake Willoughby.

Maybe we wouldn’t sell.

AND THEN THEN THE PANDEMIC ...

From November to April, the van brought us to snow capped mountains, hot springs, trout-filled streams, ponderosa pine forests and national parks where the cold warded off the usual crowds. We attended family reunions, became regulars in smalltown coffee shops and swapped travel stories with other van dwellers. We witnessed the marriage of Takoda’s brother in December, and my brother in January. We visited all of our living grandparents.

We fell in love with red dirt and 20foot cacti and the way the desert flowers bloom after a few hours of rain. We saw eagles and bison and elk and wolves and moose. We learned to live within our means, which were constantly replenished by family and friends who unconditionally supported the arguably irresponsible lifestyle we had chosen.

And we drove through devastated native reservations. We tuned into local radio and heard about the scores of missing and murdered indigenous women whose cases have been left uninvestigated. We learned that Mount Rushmore was built on land stolen from the Lakota Sioux Tribe. We attended

24 VTSPORTS.COM | MAY/JUNE 2020

The Badlands brought stunning ridgelines (top and top left), a chance to explore new geology (middle right) and a visit from a bison (bottom). Emma found Horseshoe Bend (middle left) in Arizona lived up to its name. And in Alcoca, Wyo, the pair found an empty campsite with mountain and lake views.

film festivals that showcased the threats our public lands face from over-tourism and natural resource exploitation. We vowed to carry what we saw forward into whatever shape our lives would take—proof that unfamiliar worlds always exist outside our own bubbles.

In March, we stayed for a week at a friend’s ranch in a remote part of New Mexico, where we had no service or internet. We emerged to a changed world. The coronavirus had reached American shores, and it was spreading fast. A friend we planned to visit in Denver asked if we could pick up toilet paper in Durango because all of Denver’s grocery stores had run out.

I told her we would stock up, only to find Walmart’s entire paper goods aisle completely empty as well.

At first, we felt perfectly equipped to handle a quarantine order. We

imagined ourselves heading south to a warm wilderness paradise, stocking up on supplies, and staying there. Southern California? Moab?

But the realities of the impending pandemic prevented any morally acceptable travel. States started issuing shelter-in-place orders. Campgrounds and state parks shut down. Planet Fitness temporarily closed its doors and froze its memberships. Moab issued a warning, telling visitors to stay away.

To get some thinking space, we drove from Denver to a free campsite on Lake Meredith in northern Texas.

Parked on cliffs overlooking the lake, we both called our folks.

“Everyone’s dreams are getting cancelled right now,” my dad said. “I think you should come home.”

On March 23, the widely-respected van blog, Gnomad Home, issued a call:

“If you have somewhere to go, if you have a place to shelter, if you know family or friends or a good samaritan who is willing to put you up for an indefinite amount of time – GO THERE. AND STAY THERE.” So many vanlifers tell tales of failed engines, busted tires and getting lost.

Our misadventure was COVID-19. On March 25, we left Texas for Vermont.

But, as I sit in a sunny room at my parents’ house in Middlebury, I only feel lucky. The trip may have been short, and it may have been cold. But it happened. We worked together to carry out an impossible goal. We made friends, experienced new places and reconnected with loved ones. We took time for ourselves. In so many intangible ways, we are different now. And the van sits close by in the driveway, ready for its next adventure.

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MAY/JUNE 2020 | VTSPORTS.COM 24

FEATURED ATHLETE

THE ULTRA DOC Name: Joshua White Age: 44 Lives in: Barnard Profession: Chief Medical Officer at Gifford Medical Center Family: Wife, Kim; 12-year-old daughter, Corinne; 9-year-old son, Broder Primary sports: Running, mountaineering

A

lthough he has been running ultra-distance races for almost a decade (including the Moosalamoo 36-mile ultra and the 100mile Run Rabbit Run in Colorado in 2019) Joshua White doesn’t consider himself "athletic." A board-certified emergency medicine physician with an MBA in Health Care, White has had less time to run recently since presiding over Gifford Medical Center during the novel coronavirus outbreak.

What has it been like to work at Gifford Medical Center since the onset of Covid-19?

From the perspective of the medical practitioners, it has been much like the rest of the state with everything shut down and empty hallways.

From an administrative and planning perspective, it’s been like drinking from a firehose. We have an existential threat that we don’t know much about, but still have to plan for. We have lots and lots of projects and inadequate resources and information, but we still need to make decisions.

There is also the problem of crushing financial losses since so many areas are temporarily closed. Gifford will be okay, but it is still painful. Staff members never expected to be in this position and some of them are terrified. This isn’t a business you can shut down completely or do from home, and people are afraid of getting sick. I have friends who had the virus but I’m not working with patients, so I haven’t had any contact.

One of the things that happened at Gifford is there was so much to do and the timing was so uncertain that I just started working all the time. I was asked to drop all my clinical rotations so I haven’t done any emergency room shifts in six or eight weeks.

How have hospitals changed?

The first thing was figuring out how to do social distancing and that involved shutting things down and only doing emergency surgery. We had to encourage people not to come to the hospital for

26 VTSPORTS.COM | MAY/JUNE 2020

Joshua White competing in the 120-mile Trans Rockies stage race in Colorado, a race he has done twice. Photo courtesy Joshua White/Raven Eye Photography

annual physicals and other matters, — and that includes people with chronic diseases. We had to rethink our visitor policy. There was a craziness around supplies and we had to lock things up to prevent theft. We had to rewrite policies and protocols for patient interaction.

Everyone wears masks at all times and there are different kinds of masks for different situations. We had additional training in hand hygiene, and use of face shields and gowns.

After September 11, all hospitals had to establish an official incident command system but this is the first time we’ve implemented it. We had to increase communication, including providing clinical updates, posts on social media and editorials for the newspaper. We have on-line staff meetings. We have to figure out how we are going to live in this new environment since, unless there is a vaccine, this is our new normal.

What would you do to ensure safety at an event this summer?

In the short term, I wouldn’t hold an event. A lot of races are being cancelled.

We need to balance doing the things we love with safety. All the people who are worried about the economy are right to do so since your health is more than not having a disease. If you can’t put food on the table and you’re not doing the things you love, that’s not healthy. A lot of what’s going to happen is people will find a new way of doing things.

There was a recently a big backyard ultra race. It looked incredibly painful, but I followed along online and had friends who did it. That’s one way to do things.

As far as other races go, you may have to have staggered starts with race numbers and anyone 1-10 starts at one time, 11-20 at another, etc. That would complicate finishing tines, but it might

make the race more exciting because you wouldn’t know where you were compared to other runners. If testing becomes readily available, one option might be that anyone who races has to be tested the week before the race.

Have you always been a runner?

For a long period of time, I despised running. I used to climb a lot and that included mountaineering. In college I discovered that if I wanted to do the big mountains of Washington and Oregon, a certain level of conditioning was needed and trail running became my answer for that.

It got to the point where I enjoyed it quite a bit and it became something to do with my dog or my daughter. When my kids were young, I decided that a lot of the climbing I was doing was too much of a risk so I switched to running.

“What you are trained for in emergency medicine is how to solve problems really fast.

A 100-mile race is just a series of problems you have to address.”

When did you start doing ultradistance and endurance races?

When I was a resident at Bay State in Massachusetts in 2001, I started running with a guy who did the Vermont 50 every year so I inadvertently trained with him. Ironically, I’ve never done that race. Eventually, running ultras became something fulfilling to me. My first ultra was the Pisgah 50K in 2012 in New

Hampshire. I was pretty thrilled that I finished.

Is there a race that really sticks in your mind?

I’ve only finished one 100-miler myself and I find it more fulfilling to help others race an ultra. Partly, it takes a lot of the pressure off me. My performance stops mattering. It’s really, really fun to participate in someone else’s attempt to do something audacious.

One skill set I have is a knack for logistics. It’s what you’re trained for in emergency medicine; how to solve problems really fast. A 100-mile race is just a series of problems you have to address and if you don’t get them addressed, it’s over. Someone might be low on calories or fluids or falling asleep and it’s really fun to help them accomplish their goals. I’ve made cell phone calls in the desert backcountry asking people at the aid station to find popsicles for when my runner arrives in half an hour.

One of the most grueling and fun races I took part in was the Tahoe 200 in 2018. I had a friend run that race and I paced him for 80 miles. That was a heck of a race. You get to see people go through ups and downs. You think they’re done and then they completely turn it around. I had a buddy running the Superior 100 five years ago and at

mile 60 he was curled up in a ball, crying and begging to sleep, but at mile 90 he was doing eight-minute miles. To watch people perform is pretty amazing. The way people can turn around if you get them hydrated and get the calories right and the right terrain is really cool.

How did you start the Community Health Initiative in Haiti?

After I graduated from medical school, Chris Buresh, an ER doctor I had gone to school with, told me about a group going to Haiti to do medical work. He and I had travelled together for climbing and it wasn’t unusual for us to fly off to a place that people thought was crazy.

We started in 2004 but after a while, we weren’t happy with the group we were going with.

The way a lot of aid in that part of the world is delivered is pretty problematic.

It’s expensive and ineffective and doesn’t accomplish what you want it to. That’s true for a lot of non-profits. Outcome isn’t tied to income. I can go down to Haiti and if I take a lot of pretty pictures and tell a good story, I can come back and raise money.

It didn’t take long to realize that the medical work we were doing in Haiti was radically different from what we were doing in the States and we weren’t happy with that. We wanted to measure

outcomes and be willing to admit when things went wrong and that involves being truthful to donors. That model is a far cry from most clinics which tell you how many people they saw but don’t provide other information. That’s not what matters – what matters is the outcome of the problem - and that’s really difficult to measure in a place like Haiti.

We founded our organization and got our non-profit status in 2012. I’ve rotated off the board because we want to have new ideas. Our work was interrupted by the earthquake which actually helped prepare me for this outbreak in terms of dealing with unknowns. What we’re doing needs to be primarily managed by the Haitians or it’s not sustainable.

Do you have any advice for aspiring endurance runners?

I don’t consider myself a very good athlete. I’m not athletically gifted, but I’ve found that this is something I can be successful at through dogged determination. When I was a kid I was picked last for all the sports teams in PE. I love the outdoors and it turns out that what I’m good at is suffering and continuing. I can find success when others start to quit. You’re never going to see me at the front of a race, but if you have an event where half the people drop out, I’ll do alright. —Phyl Newbeck

MAY/JUNE 2020 | VTSPORTS.COM 27

FEATURED ATHLETE

Miss Vermont in 2016, Neely Fortune is also a badass Spartan racer and ultra endurance athlete.

PAGEANT QUEEN AND ENDURANCE ATHLETE Name: Neely Fortune Age: 28 Lives in: Burlington and Essex, New York Profession: Outdoor educator and small business owner Family: Brother, Brooks; two wonderful parents, John and Jan Primary sport: Endurance running

I

n 2010, Neely Fortune was assaulted by a close friend, who soon after committed suicide, and Fortune discovered the body. Instead of succumbing to post-traumatic stress syndrome that struck her after these incidents, she decided to fight it.

Fortune, who grew up in Syracuse before moving to Vermont her senior year in high school, not only turned her life around, she did it in a big way.

Lacking confidence in herself and believing she had little athletic ability, she took two big leaps in 2014 by entering a beauty pageant and running an ultramarathon. Now, the 2016 Miss Vermont works for Spartan Extreme, setting up challenging courses so others can test their limits.

Which came first, beauty pageants or ultra running?

I tried both for the first time in the fall of 2014 but it all started four years earlier in college. I had developed PTSD and I was trying to wade through my anxiety and depression.

I really wanted to be proactive and get back to who I was, so I sought out the craziest things I could find. The pageantry piece just fell into my lap. I saw an advertisement and I decided to try it.

I wanted to gain some self-confidence.

In those days, I wasn’t leaving my room, so I decided to put myself out in public.

As for the running, I never thought I’d ever do a marathon, but a friend invited me to do an ultrarace that January. I figured the worst that could happen is I wouldn’t finish.

That was actually my shortest ultra race. It was 60K and I loved it so much that I went on to do distances of 50 miles, 100K and 100 miles.

28 VTSPORTS.COM | MAY/JUNE 2020

You must have done some sports before that, right?

I tried a lot, but I had it in my mind that I wasn’t athletic. I tried to run track in high school but I was quite overweight and a bit uncoordinated and the coach said I didn’t have the body to be a runner. I didn’t really know what I was capable of.

What is the joy of pushing your limits in races?

I’m really not a good runner; I tend to be slow, but I crave the confirmation that I’m capable of something much more than I give myself credit for. I like to seek out that moment when I’m too tired and feel like I can’t go on and then find a way to get past it. That way, when I get a moment like that in life, I can go past that, as well. In addition to the endorphin rush, running is really a transcendental experience.

Can you explain the allure of competing pageants?

It was the same type of challenge that I got from extreme sports only it was more of a mental challenge. I struggled with my self-image growing up and I didn’t have a lot of friends. It took a lot of courage to get dressed up, wear makeup, answer questions, and put myself in the position of being judged.

I never expected to win but I wanted to put myself in a situation where I had never been. I wanted to feel beautiful, conquer my interview skills and develop opinions on social issues. I also liked the idea that if I won, I would have a platform. I competed for three years and I was named Miss Vermont in 2016 which gave me the opportunity to help people with PTSD including veterans, battered women and people dealing with anxiety and depression.

What is your favorite ultra race?

That would have to be the Vermont 100.

I’ve run it twice and I enjoy it because it’s in my home state and there are some famous runners who take part. Through the race I’ve learned about Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports and I think they are an incredible organization, so I’ve been happy to raise money for them.

Is there a really memorable race?

One of my most memorable races was the Death Race in Mexico in 2015 which took place on an active volcano. We had hit a point where it was everyone for themselves and at 2 a.m. I missed a turn and was lost. It took me a mile to realize I was off course and I became totally hysterical, blowing my whistle and screaming but nobody could hear me.

I hadn’t eaten or drank enough and after ten minutes of panic, I thought about the Cheryl Strayed book Wild which I had just read and, just like Strayed, I screamed “I am not afraid” as loud as I could and it re-centered and refocused me. Nobody knew I was gone, and I ended up as one of the 10 out of 50 competitors who finished. I completely lost myself and then I found myself and it was a really powerful moment.

How did you end up working for Spartan Race?

I had done a number of races with them and I loved their obstacle courses and endurance challenges. The endurance world is a very fostering community and I feel that way with Spartan. I work for Spartan Extreme.

I’m one of the staff members who directs the Agoge races which are held twice a year at different locations where they incorporate the local culture. In Greece we built a race that mimicked the trials faced in the Odyssey. We gave each

contestant a copy of the book which had hidden clues. We did one in Namibia with a bush culture theme including starting a fire with a bow drill.

These are 60-hour, non-stop, nosleep races which require leadership skills and teamwork building. Typically, the entire event covers 70 to 100 miles. The idea is to create an experience that is so physically, mentally, and emotionally challenging that it creates an environment of self-discovery. The tasks racers perform require problem solving and survival training. We break people down and build them back up again. We put them through such extreme challenges that they face whatever demons they brought with them.

There really is a bell curve where they hit rock bottom and come back up.

These are small races with only 50 to 100 people because you need one staff member for each group of ten people.

It’s the most difficult race that Spartan offers. Agoge is like the Death Race but with more structure. The Death Race is every person for him or herself.

Tell us about your business.

In 2008, my father and I started a company called SIM*VIVO. He’s a surgeon and surgery professor at UVM. He was making devices in the basement to use in his classes. I decided we should try to sell them. They are surgical skill simulators that help doctors learn to suture and perform other tasks. I helped him develop the business side and I run the company.

Your UVM degree was in wildlife biology. Do you still use that?

I also minored in forestry and have certification from National Outdoor Leadership School and I use those skills at the Spartan races where I teach survival skills like foraging for wild edibles, building fires and shelters, map reading, water finding, and leadership. I do that for the Death Race and the Agoge races.

What kind of races are you doing these days?

I’ve taken a little break from trail running and I’m doing more road marathons.

Last year I ran in New York City and Boston, and next year I’ll run Boston with the Boston Celtics marathon team to raise money for the Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation which supports programs that benefit children in need. I found the foundation through an Essex, New York mentoring program called Brilliant Pathways. It’s been really great working with them and now I get to raise more money for a good cause.

—Phyl Newbeck

RACE & EVENT GUIDE

VERMONT

SPORTS NOTE: ALL CALENDAR LISTINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE, PENDING COVID- 19 GUIDELINES. LISTING OR UPDATING YOUR EVENT IN THIS CALENDAR IS FREE AND EASY. VISIT VTSPORTS.COM/ SUBMIT-AN-EVENT OR E-MAIL EDITOR@VTSPORTS.COM. ALL AREA CODES ARE 802.

RUNNING MAY 16-24 | Virtual Dandelion Run, Derby Run, bike, hike, spin, swim, treadmill or row then log your miles. Hosted by Kingdom Games. kingdomgames.co 24 | Virtual Get Out, Give Back 5K The 'First Leg' of a 3-race virtual 5K series being held on May 24, June 20 and July 18. Run or walk your virtual 5K anywhere and donate to the United Way. For the First Leg, run anytime on Sunday, May 24th -- the original date of the People's United Bank Vermont City Marathon & Relay.

Runvermont.com 27 | Huntington Race 4 Sundaes The 5K, 10K or 1-mile race starts on the pavement of the Main Road in Huntington and then travels on Camel's Hump Road

— a dirt road that passes grassy fields and a scenic river as it gently slopes up toward Camel's Hump! Free or register by donation only. http://huntingtonrace4sundaes. weebly.com/

JUNE 1-19 | Virtual Spring Fling 5k/10k, Shelburne Choose a 5K run/walk or 10K run and run it any time between now and June 19 – the last day of spring 2020. Upon registration, you will receive instructions for how to submit your results, get a finisher’s medal and a race bib, which can either be picked up at Shelburne Field House or mailed to you.racevermont.com 1-14 | Virtual Run/Walk for Mental Health 5k: 50 States/50 Days, Burlington In 2018, Adel B. Korkor, M.D. set out on a mission: to run a 5k in 50 states in 50 days. During the month of May, triple your impact by inviting two other friends to take part and receive a free race t-shirt. fivefiftyfifty.com/race-series/ 7 | Virtual Saint’s Shuffle, Barre Choose your own location, distance, and locomotion to safely show your support for St. Monica - St. Michael School. All participants will receive an exclusive special edition t-shirt, and kids receive a medal.

This event has traditionally welcomed walkers and runners for a 2.5K or 5K but we invite you to challenge yourself to more- or less- you decide! https://runsignup.com/ Race/VT/Barre/SaintsShuffle 20 | 19th Annual Basin Harbor 5k & 10k, Vergennes Run a spectacular summer 5k or 10k race along the grounds of the Basin Harbor Club against the backdrop of the Adirondack mountains and Lake Champlain. racevermont.com 20 | Virtual West River Trail Run, Londonderry & Jamaica Run or walk 11 miles on your own and log your miles or defer your entry until next year. You still get a swag bag! thecollaborative.us 20 | Virtual Get Out, Give Back 5K: Second Leg The 'First Leg' of a 3-race virtual 5K series being held on May 24, June 20 and July 18. Run or walk your virtual 5K anywhere -- trails, parks, roads, treadmill, backyard -- and donate to the United Way. Runvermont.com 21 | 10th Equinox Trail Race, Charlotte Try out some new terrain in a fun, yet challenging trail run through fields, single track and old sugar wood roads followed by a post-race barbecue. gmaa.run

JULY 3 | Montpelier Mile, Montpelier Kick off Montpelier’s Independence Day parade with Vermont’s fastest mile! This classic one-mile race starts at 6 p.m. and runs through historic downtown in front of thousands of spectators. Stick around after the race for fireworks. Cvrunners.org 4 | 37th Annual Clarence DelMar Road Race, South Hero Run a scenic 5K out and back on South Street in South Hero. Don’t miss the ¼-mile kids race in the schoolyard before the 5K. gmaa.run 11 | 42 Annual Bear Swamp Run, Middlesex Loop course on mostly dirt roads climbs 450 feet first 3 miles, then gradually descends to the finish. Part of the CVR/ORO Race Series 2020. Cvrunners.org 11 | Brain Freezer 5K How fast can you run a 5K and eate a pint of ice cream? The Brain Freezer 5k is your chance to see! Run 1.5 miles, eat a full pint of ice cream, then run the rest of the way back. http://brainfreezer5k.com/home/ 12 | 40th Stowe 8-Miler and 5K, Stowe A rolling course that ambles across the countryside then through the heart of downtown Stowe. . Starts at the recreation fields on Weeks Hill Road and finishes in front of the Golden Eagle Resort.

Stowe8miler.com

Limitless.

Come ride our demos and feel th e difference.

49 Brickyard Lane, Putney Vermont

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MAY/JUNE 2020 | VTSPORTS.COM 29

17 | 40th Goshen Gallop, Goshen Starting at the beautiful Blueberry Inn, this 10.2K race or 5k runs on beautiful crosscountry trails of the Moosalamoo National Recreation Area. Goshengallop.com

15 | 28th Scholarship Trail Race, South Burlington.

A 5K cross country race on the dirt trails in Red Rocks Park with overlooks of Lake Champlain. Gmaa.run

20 | Virtual Get Out, Give Back 5K: 3rs Leg The last leg of a 3-race virtual 5K series.

Run or walk your virtual 5K anywhere -- trails, parks, roads, treadmill, backyard—and donate to the United Way. Runvermont.com

15 | 100 on 100 Relay, Stowe The 100 on 100 Relay is a challenging relay experience where friends converge from across the country to complete 100 demanding miles together along Vermont’s historic Route 100 from the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe to Ludlow. 100on100relay.com

18-19 | Vermont 100 Endurance Race, Windsor An ultra-marathon starting at Silver Hill Meadow is one of the four 100-mile races that comprise the Grand Slam of ultrarunning. A 100 km race is also offered. It features running or horseback riding for 100 miles, with 17,000 vertical feet in a 30hour race. Vermont100.com 25 | Barre Heritage 5K, Websterville Head out from the Town Forest parking lot on a 5K. Custom Barre granite awards to the first overall female and male and top age group finishers. Cvrunners.org 25 | Round Church Women’s Run, Richmond A 5K and 10K are both out and back on Cochran Road, starting and finishing at Farr Road, diagonally across the main road from the historic Round Church. The courses are all paved with a few rolling hills. Gmaa.run

30 | Race to the Top of Vermont, Stowe As many as 800 hikers, bikers, and runners climb Mt. Mansfield, Vermont’s highest peak. The course climbs up the historic Mansfield Toll Road 4.3 miles in length, and 2564 ft. For vertical ft. catamounttrail.org

SEPTEMBER 5 | Slate Valley Scramble, Poultney Run on some of VT's newest and best single and double-track trails in 8 km or half marathon on our Slate Valley Trails. Now is the time to check out Slate Valley Trails (SVT) by participating in this inaugural trail run race and fundraiser. slatevalleytrails. org/svt-scramble 11 | Archie Post 5 Miler, Burlington Start at the Gutterson Field House at 6 pm.

Open to all over 12 or accompanied by a parent. Gmaa.run

26 | Mansfield Double-Up, Stowe The race is capped at 70 competitors who must meet the qualifying times. The terrain is extremely technical and unforgiving, but it's one incredible course of 11 miles with 5,000 ft. of elevation gain on challenging terrain running up and down Mt. Mansfield.

Nativerendurance.com

12 | Maple Leaf Half Marathon and Kotler 5 K, Manchester The Maple Leaf Half Marathon traverses truly gorgeous southern Vermont landscapes.

Your run will take you from the downtown community to picturesque village settings to country roads past farmlands back to the finish. Manchestervtmapleleaf.com

AUGUST

20 | TAM Trek, Middlebury There is a race for everyone at TAM Trek.

Our 19-mile course attracts serious trail runners from our local community, around the state, and outside of Vermont. There’s also a challenging 10K course for runners or a 2-mile family fun run. Everyone starts and finishes in Wright Park and celebrates at the finish line with live music, great local raffle prizes and post-race buffet. https://www. maltvt.org/tam-trek

8 | Sugarworks 5k Trail Run, Shelburne Walk or run one lap (1.5 miles) or run two laps for a full 5k. The course is somewhat hilly and winds through the woods on the beautiful trail system at Shelburne Sugarworks. racevermont.com 8 | Moosalamoo Ultra, Goshen Head to the Moosalamoo Ultra for a 36mile trail race through the Green Mountain National Forest starting at Blueberry Hill Inn in Goshen. moosalamooultra.com 15 | Craftsbury Beer Run, Craftsbury Common Craftsbury Outdoor Center presents this point to point trail and dirt road half marathon from the Craftsbury Outdoor Center to Jasper Hill Farm. The hilly course runs through working fields and forests to an after-party with some great Vermont food. craftsburybeerrun.com

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20 | Maple Leaf Marathon, Springfield Run eight laps of a 3.3-mile course for a full marathon or four laps for a half marathon. newenglandchallenge.org/maple-leafmarathon 26 | 47th Art Tudhope 10K, Shelburne Start at Shelburne Beach for a scenic run through Charlotte apple orchards along Lake Champlain. Gmaa.run

27 | Vermont 50 Run and Bike, Brownsville Run a 50-mile or 50-kilometer trail race, or mountain bike. The course is point to point on dirt roads and trails that cross beautiful private lands, to raise funds for Vermont Adaptive. Based out of Ascutney.

Vermont50.com 27 | Causeway 5k, 10k & 15k Race, Colchester Run from Airport Park and follow a gravel trail out onto the historic Colchester Causeway before turning around to run back on a relatively flat course with views of Lake Champlain. colchestervt.gov

OCTOBER 18 | 50th Green Mountain Marathon and Half Marathon, South Hero A certified (VT15006JK and VT15005JK) marathon and half-marathon begin and end near the house where Clarence H. DeMar, seven-time Boston Marathon Winner, once lived. The full marathon course is out and back on the west shore of South Hero and Grand Isle; a land of farms, apple orchards, and summer cottages. The terrain is flat to rolling and about half dirt road (hard packed and well maintained). The halfmarathon course is also an out and back.

Gmaa.run 25 | Vermont City Marathon & Relay, Burlington Rescheduled from Memorial Day with a Virtual Run option as well as one or twoyear deferrals. More than 7,500 runners and 20,000 spectators come to Burlington for the marathon and relay—the second largest marathon in New England. Run around the scenic Queen City in a full, half or relay. The Timberlane Dental Group Mini Marathon will be held on May 24. runvermont.org

BICYCLING MAY 5/4 – 6/20 Virtual Vermont Adaptive Charity Ride While the event at Long Trail Brewing is canceled for this year, we are determined to celebrate this event with the best virtual ride and party possible with a virtual event April 20-June 20, 2020 and a day-long live stream celebration on June 20. Now more than ever we must raise $300,000 for our programs! Join the Free Vermont Adaptive Strava Club and create your individual profile for the virtual ride. Use a different app to track your fitness? That’s fine – track your journey however you want and manually enter your activity into Strava to be entered to win weekly prizes.

Vermontadaptive.org

JUNE 6/26-7/11 Virtual The Dirty Project The 2020 event, part of The Prouty, is a three-stage virtual Audax in which participants attempt to cycle long distances within a pre-defined time limit. You will have 16 days between June 26 and July 11 to complete these 3 unforgettable dirt road rides and raise funds for the Norris Cotton Cancer Research Centera. theprouty.org 13 | 4 x 4 Gravel Ride, Poultney A rough ride through some of the nastiest roads in the immediate Slate Valley area: 40-ish miles, class four roads, and as little pavement as possible. Analogcylces.co

JULY 11 | Virtual Prouty, Hanover, N.H. Ride your bike 20, 35, 50, 77 or 100 miles or find other ways to participate in this huge virtual event that raises money for the Norris Cotton Cancer Research Center. dhmc.convio.net 18 | Raid Lamoille, Craftsbury Based out of the Craftsbury Outdoor Center, this ride takes you on 50 miles of some of the sweetest gravel roads in northern Vermont. Finish up after with a Lawson’s Finest. Raidlamoille.com 25 | Rasputitsa Gravel Ride, East Burke A new date for this legendary spring gravel classic, to be hosted out of Burke Mountain Resort with either a 100K or 70K of gnarly dirt road or off-road gravel riding.

Rasputitsagravel.com 26 | Vermont Overland Maple Adventure Ride, East Burke A new date and location for this notoriously mud-ridden off-road adventure ride.

Vermontoverland.com 24-26 | Outerbike, Killington A weekend of demos, bike rides, a tent village of products to check out and a consumer bike show. outerbike.com

AUGUST 1 | Virtual The Point to Point, Powered by VSECU, Montpelier FE Get on your bike or pull on your running shoes and register for a virtual century, half-century or 25-mile road ride, a 40mile gravel grinder or a half-marathon run support the Vermont Food Bank and help to fight hunger. thepointtopoint.org

2 | Rooted Vermont, Richmond Ride 48 or 82 miles of stunning gravel roads, Class IV paths and rugged climbing, including Lincoln Gap. Ride from Cochran’s Ski Area and end there, with live music, local food and beer. rootedvermont.com 13 | The Vermont Challenge A four-day tour of south & central Vermont.

Limited to 100 people offering three routes each day. And each day's routes are different than the last. There will be two groups for each route all led by seasoned ride leaders providing you with information about the area and stopping along the way for snacks at local markets and country stores. Vtchallenge.com

SEPTEMBER 4-7 Green Mountain Stage Race, Burlington The largest pro-am cycling race east of the Mississippi returns for its 20th year with the Burlington criterium scheduled for Labor Day weekend. Gmsr.info 12 | Kelly Brush Ride, Middlebury One of New England’s iconic charity rides this family-friendly event includes 10, 20, 50, and 100 routes through Vermont’s stunning Champlain Valley to raise funds to help people with spinal cord injuries lead active lives. Kellybrushfoundation.com 20 | ACORN Tour de Farms, Vergennes Pass through the beautiful pastoral landscape of the Champlain Valley and visit four to eight farms depending on your distance — a 30-mile route and a more relaxed, family-friendly 10-mile distance. .

Acornvt.org

23 | Overland Grand Prix, Reading A 44-mile dirt road bicycle race featuring 5,700 feet of climbing, seven sectors of “Vermont pavé” (unmaintained ancient public roads), two well-fortified sag stops, a magnificently scenic route.

Vermontoverland.com 29 | The Ranger, Tunbridge Ride 38, 18 or two-to-five miles in this epic gravel riding celebration. The 38-mile gravel enduro race is a loop of dreamy hardpacked dirt roads sprinkled with minimally maintained Class IV riding. therangervt.com

26 | Peacham Fall Fondo, Peacham Join former pro cyclist and Tour de France veteran Ian Boswell for a 80k/50-mile gravel ride around his neighborhood, with an option to finish the ride at the 35km apple pie stop Peachhamfallfondo.com

WATERSPORT & MULTISPORT JUNE 14 | LCI Father’s Day Fishing Tournament, Lake Champlain One of the oldest and largest fishing derbies in the East is happening. Open to all ages with a variety of prizes for catching all kinds of fish. Set a new Lake Champlain record for one of the eligible species and win $10,000.

Mychamplain.net 28 | Brattle Paddle Canoe, Kayak & SUP Race, Brattleboro Enjoy a nine or 3.5-mile flatwater paddling race on the Connecticut and West Rivers to benefit the West River Trail. neckra.org

JULY 11 | Virtual The Prouty, Hanover, N.H. Paddle up the Connecticut River 2.5 miles to the SAG at Kendal Riverfront Park and then back down 2.5 miles to end at the Ledyard Canoe Club as part of the Prouty. dhmc.convio.net

AUGUST 2 | Stand Up for the Lake, Burlington One of the largest stand-up paddleboard

races in the Northeast. A 6-mile or 3-mile (one lap) course open to all ages and elite to recreational abilities with a $3500 cash purse and free onsite camping for participants. Proceeds support scholarships.

Standupforthelake.com 2 | New England Marathon Paddlesport Championships, Brattleboro Canoe, kayak, stand-up paddleboard and surf ski races on the Connecticut River.

The New England Canoe and Kayak Championship race is 12 miles; recreational course is 5 miles. Neckra.org

SEPTEMBER 12-13 Spartan 50 K Ultra and 21K Beast, Killington Spartan Beast is a half marathon, 30 obstacle race engineered to push you out of your comfort zone. Spartan Ultra is a 50 km, 60 obstacle race built to break your limits over the world’s most difficult terrain Spartan.com.

18 Spartan Ultra World Champion and Super, Killington Top 25 finishers from Spartan elite and eage group ultra events convene for the World Championship. Spartan.com

W H E R E VE R M O N T E ATS P I Z Z A

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IKE SHOPS

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AROUND THE REGION advertising section

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BATTENKILL BICYCLES

99 Bonnet St., Manchester Ctr, VT 802-362-2734 | battenkillbicycles. com Manchester, Vermont's bicycle shop since 1972, Battenkill Bicycles is a Trek and Specialized Bicycle dealer offering advice and sales to meet all your cycling needs.

The service department offers tune-ups and repairs for all brands of bikes. Come to the shop to rent a bike or get information about local group rides or get advice on where to ride your bike in the Northshire. Battenkill Bicycles is the Number One eBike seller in Southern Vermont and is an authorized Bosch eBike systems service center.

BERKSHIRE OUTFITTERS , r e St., , 4 3-743- 900 | e o t n.net e are a full-service bike shop at the base of the Mt. Greylock State Reservation. e also border a beautiful 12-mile paved rail trail. e carry amis, Rocky Mountain and G.T. e offer sales, repairs and hybrid bike rentals for the rail trail.

WHY BUY LOCAL? These days, more than ever, it's important to support you local, independently-owned bike shops.

Here's why

1. Trust: hen you shop locally, you know if something goes wrong, they're ready to help.

2) Fit: there are few wrong bikes, ust wrong fits.

3) Local knowledge. ant to know where to ride. Here's where you'll get your local beta.

4 o e hat's more fun than oining a small group for a great ride 5) They make it happen: these are the shops that help build trails and volunteer their support at local charity rides. Do right. Support them.

32 VTSPORTS.COM | MAY/JUNE 2020

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BOOTLEGGER BIKES

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Ma n treet e ers n e, VT 802-644-8370 | oot e

E UI E S ORT e

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A full-service shop near Smugglers' Notch. e offer new, used and custom bikes as well as custom-built wheel builds for mountain, road, gravel, fat bikes, bikepacking and touring. Rentals offered at our Cambridge unction shop on the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail. Bikes are a passion here.

BRADLEY S RO SHO SKI S ORT e ot St. Manchester ente , 0 2 802-367-3 8 |

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Bradley s ro Shop Ski Bike is the premier bike shop in Southern Vermont e are located in Manchester Center.

Always known as your go-to ski shop we are now your go-to bike shop. e have one of the best bike mechanics in Vermont on staff, Dan Rhodes. Many of you know of his reputation as a master bike mechanic.

Dan runs all aspects of our bicycle operations. e carry the full lineup of Cannondale and GT bikes mountain bikes, gravel, e-bikes, BM and hybrids. e are a full-service operation with sales, service, accessories and rentals including e-bikes. e always offer a great bike tune-up price

CHUCK S BIKES

4 B e St. M rr s e, VT 802-888-7642 | e 802. o utting smiles on people's faces for over years. Bikes by amis, Transition, Norco, KHS, Davinci, Raleigh, Marin and Diamondback. Hours Mon - ed and Fri 1 - , Sat and Thurs 1 -2. Be well by being smart.

e o t. o

ith locations in the Stratton and the Mount Snow valleys, E uipe Sport offers a wide range of services including sales, rental and repair. e sell bikes from G.T., Santa Cruz and Rocky Mountain and have a rental fleet of Rocky Mountain bikes.

EARL S CYCLERY ,

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VT , on e, 802 297 2847 | e te

FITNESS

FIRST STO BOARD BARN 8474 o te 4, 802-422-90 0 | o

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th B n ton, 802-864-9 97 | e e . o Earl s Cyclery has been serving Vermont's cycling and fitness needs for more than years. ith over 12, s uare feet at the new location, Earl s has the largest selection of bikes from Trek, Giant, Scott, Bianchi, Electra, Haro, and more. The service center at Earl s has professionally trained technicians who are certified to work on all makes and models of bicycles, not ust the ones we sell. hether

te tB e 802-626-32

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e are the original home to Kingdom Trails. Located in the heart of town, we pride ourselves in e pert knowledge while providing friendly customer service. A fullservice shop awaits you and your repair needs. e have 1 rental bikes with an enormous selection of clothing, parts, and accessories. Hours 9 - every day

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Killington s authorized Cannondale and Trek dealer. e also carry Fo , Giro, Shimano, FiveTen, G-Form, earl Izumi, Smith, Spy, Oakley and more. e ve helped outfit first timers to world class athletes since 1979. e have a Service Center that can fix practically anything and a Rental Demo Test Center that lets you try e uipment before you buy. e have Gear Experts who can help you find the right gear, right now. If you re not sure where to get started, give us a call or stop by—we’re open 365 days a year.

1 EAST BURKE S ORTS

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FROG HOLLO

Ma n t , e , 802-388-6666 | o o o e . o Take advantage of the most advanced and courteous service in our region, with uick turn-around time in our service shop downstairs. Upstairs in the sales room, we offer the best in new and used road, mountain, lifestyle, and children s bikes and new gear. e carry brands that offer superior products that balance innovation and performance with reliability and value.

Hours Mon. - Sat. 9 , Sun. 11 .

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GREEN MOUNTAIN BIKES

0 . n Rochester VT 800-767-7882 | een o nt n e . o

St.

Located in the center of Vermont, in the heart of the Green Mountains, we are surrounded by terrain that calls to mountain and road bikers alike. Whether you ride twisting trails or back to back gaps, we service, sell, and rent all styles of bicycles, featuring Kona, Jamis, Juliana, Raleigh, Santa Cruz, Transition, and Hinderyckx bikes - hand crafted by our own Rochester boy Zak Hinderyckx. So STOP READING and RIDE YOUR BIKE! Hours: 7 days a week, 10 – 6.

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HIGH PEAKS CYCLERY

2733 Main St., e , 8- 23-3764 | e e . o Lake Placid’s source for bicycling and outdoor gear since 1983! Sales, service, rentals and tours. Bikes by Intense, B.M.C., Salsa, Surly, Giant and Scott. Your information headquarters for Lake Placid and the Adirondacks for gravel road, mountain biking and road riding adventures.

Free maps. ADK80 and Ironman race info and course conditions. New! Basecamp lodges. Hours: Mon – Fri 9 – 6, Sun 9 – 5.

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MALLETTS BAY BICYCLE SKI

794 . e oe . o e te , 802-863-24 3 | e. o

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Bicycle & Ski

Service, rentals and sales. Located on the shores of beautiful Malletts Bay, our shop offers expert repairs, top quality rentals, a fine complement of accessories and new bicycles from KHS, Swix, Intense and Reid.

Rent a bike from our Airport Park location and be out on the Colchester Causeway, the ewel of the sland ine rail in minutes

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MOUNTAINOPS

1 Mountain Road, Stowe, VT 802-2 3-4 3 o nt no t. o

We offer bike sales and service, fast and friendly with no attitude. We sell a full like of Rocky Mountain bikes for all abilities and riding styles. ou’ll find tons of clothing and accessories in our converted 1893 barn.

Our techs have decades of experience with all types of bikes and our knowledge of local trails is awesome. We rent cruisers and performance mountain bikes for Stowe’s sweet collection of trails and are a Scott Demo Center!

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OLD SPOKES HOME

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POWERPLAY SPORTS

33 o t noo e., B n ton, 802-863-447 | o o e o e. o

3 o t n St. Morris i e, VT 2 7 o e ot. o

Vermont’s best selection of professionally refurbished used bikes and new bikes for touring, bike packing, commuting, fat biking, and simply getting around town. Named one of the country’s best bike shops for it’s plain-talk advice and no nonsense service. non profit as of January 015, Old Spokes Home uses 100 of its revenue to run programs creating access to bikes in the community. And don’t miss their famous antique bicycle museum!

Hours: Mon. – Sat. 10 - 6, Sun. 1 - 5.

North Central Vermont s Trek and Giant Dealer nestled in the heart of bike country.

Selling new and used bikes for every budget and every type of rider from beginner to expert. We service all manner of bike and sell tons of accessories and apparel. Bike rentals for the Lamoille Valley

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OMER

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311 Mountain Road, Stowe, VT 802-2 3-27 3 | n t. o

BOB’S

Ranch Camp is Stowe’s mountain bike base lodge, and your hub for bikes, gear, and culture! Ranch Camp offers a full-service mountain bike shop, tap room, and fast casual eatery, featuring sales and demo bikes from Specialized, Evil, Yeti, Rocky Mountain and Ibis. Looking for top of the line mountain bikes and components? Got ‘em. How about local brews from ew England s finest purveyors of craft libations? You bet. And if you need a thoughtfully crafted graband-go meal for your ride, or a place to sit down and refuel afterwards, Ranch Camp has you covered. Best of all, Ranch Camp is situated trailside with its very own public access entrance into Stowe’s iconic Cady Hill trail network.

2 ano er St. e non, 603448-3 22 | o e n o . o The Upper Valley’s bike shop since 196 .

We carry road bikes, mountain bikes and kids bikes from brands including Trek, Specialized and Colnago.

Featuring a full service department offering bike fitting bike rentals and a kids’ trade-in, trade-up program. Hours: Mon. – Fri. 9 – 6, Sat. 9 – 5.

ONION RIVER OUTDOORS

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20 n on St. ont e e , 802-22 -6736 | on on e . o

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ORO is Central Vermont s premier bike, car rack, and outdoor gear shop. Friendly and knowledgeable sales and service. We carry Specialized, Niner, Rocky Mountain, Salsa, Surly, and Yuba, and a large variety of clothing and accessories, including Giro, Smith, Club Ride, Patagonia, and more.

OUTDOOR GEAR E CHANGE

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SKIRACK

Main St. B n ton 2 3313 . o

Locally owned since 1969, Skirack provides gear, clothing expert fitting and accessories for all cyclists, with full service tuning and repairs...plus complete bike suspension service on most forks and rear shocks.

Designated one of America’s Best Bike Shops, Skirack is blocks from Lake Champlain. Open 8 a.m. Mon. - Sat. for bike service, car racks and rentals.

n ton,

OGE offers riders a premier bike shop with a knowledgeable, friendly, and honest staff. We have commuters and gravel grinders from Marin and KHS, mountain bikes from Pivot, Transition, Rocky Mountain and Yeti and a wide consignment selection as well as a demo fleet so you can try it before you buy it.

Our service department is capable of everything from tuning your vintage road bike to servicing your new mountain bike and offers full Fox shock service. Come see us on Church Street! Hours: Mon. – Thurs.

10 – 8, Fri. – Sat. 10 – 9, Sun. 10 – 6.

RANCH CAMP

22 9

STARK MOUNTAIN

7, n t t e , 2 ind on e oo

Located at the lowest spot in the Mad River Valley so you can coast in when you break your bike on a ride! 1 years of advise directions and fixing anything that pedals. Thinking about a Yeti? Come ride one of ours,we have been selling Yeti since 006! Hours: Tues-Fri 9-6 , Sat 9- , and Sunday 10- . Close at 5 on Thursdays for the Shop Ride.

2

THE GEAR HOUSE

6 e nt St., n o 2 13 e o e. o As Vermont s newest full service shop, The Gear House brings fresh energy and excitement to the state s cycling scene.

Randolph has newly-revived MTB access that mixes classic old-school singletrack with some machine-built zones. Start the 1 1 a loop from the shop for 38 miles of smooth, safe road miles. Or map out a day ride entirely on the gravel. The shop is also home to R.A.S.T.A. s outdoor trail hub with a state map including every VMBA chapter, as well as 3D topographical maps with epic rides. Park in the municipal lot next to the shop and say hi before exploring the area!

2

VILLAGE SPORT SHOP

11 road St. n on e, 802-626-8448| e ot o . o

Established in 1978, we are a family-owned, passiondriven sporting goods store serving customers for four seasons of adventure.

Strongly focused on bike and ski, we have highly skilled knowledgeable technicians and sales staff to assist in all needs of purchase, rental and service. With two locations, one nestled trailside on the world-renowned Kingdom Trails, and the other in downtown Lyndonville, we’re here to make your adventures happen!

2

WATERBURY SPORTS

South Main Street, te ,

802-882-8 9 |

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o t t. o

A full service bike shop selling Trek and Giant bikes in one of Vermont s most convenient locations. Nestled in downtown Waterbury a short distance from the Perry Hill MTB trails, WBS services all bikes and can handle any repair you might have. We also have a fleet of demo bikes and and an excellent selection of parts and accessories.

Open 7 days a week!

2

WEST HILL SHOP

49 B ne, tne , 2 3 7 71 et

o

o

Since 1971, West Hill Shop has been a lowkey, friendly source for bikes ‘n gear, service and rare wisdom. We are known regionally as the go-to place for problem-solving technicians. ur bike fitters speciali e in comfort without sacrificing efficiency.

Recently, we’ve focused on stocking gravel road bikes, with awesome dirt road riding out our door. Join our West Hill Grinder in September, a rural adventure on scenic gravel roads or wily trails. Hours: Mon.-Fri. 10-6, Sat. 10-5.

MAY/JUNE 2020 | VTSPORTS.COM 33

ENDGAME

YOU COOL WITH INSECTS?

WHY, IN THE MIDDLE OF BUG SEASON, SHOULD YOU CONSIDER CAMPING WITHOUT BUG SPRAY OR EVEN A TENT? THE ANSWER LIES WITHIN. BY LEATH TONINO

F

irst things first: I am not cool with insects. I want to be cool with them, but I am not cool with them.

Regularly, they rile me. Frequently, they freak me. More often than less, instead of being cool with them, I am hot with them, as in fiery hot, as in blood boiling, as in angry and swinging punches, trying my damndest to knock them into oblivion, out of existence—or, at the very least, shoo them from my lips and nostrils, my tender wonderful beautiful vulnerable face.

Sure, I find the orders Hymenoptera, Zygentoma, and the like fascinating— the wings and external skeletons, the many hairy legs, the weird evolution, the biological mystery-miracle—but my face, the probing of it with a proboscis, the stinging of it with a stinger, that’s a (pun alert) sensitive subject. And the inching over my ankles, en route to my undies, that too tends to make me jump, i.e. do a crazy two-step, slap and shout, curse all insects and all their kin, a plague o’ both your houses, and your neighbor’s house, and his neighbor’s house, ya little sonofa…

The issue is that I camp a lot in the Green Mountains, never bring bug dope, and rarely bring a tent (a tarp to prevent the rain from splattering my tender, wonderful, beautiful, vulnerable face is enough). Depending on the season and the weather, this means that, in the evenings, especially, I find myself sitting at the center of the wild world, the center of some wilderness valley, exposed to the merciless wrath of—ouch, grrrr, sonofa!

And why, exactly, do I eschew the use of bug dope or a tent? Simple. Because as a guy who is not cool with insects, but badly wants to be cool with insects, I feel obliged to confront them, to engage them, to be challenged by them, to learn from them.

Learn from them?

Here, in a mere 10 letters, is the thing I’m hoping to learn, the essence of what I call Cool With Insects: acceptance.

Though it might sound nonviolent, this actually has little to do with the first Buddhist precept—refrain from killing— because, well, just ask a moose up in a Barton marsh or a Huntington swamp.

Ungulates are known to literally lose their minds at the relentless behest of swarming mosquitoes, and if a sweet gentle deer thinks it’s OK to terminate a dozen with a spastic kick, heck, who am I to judge?

Eventually, we all feed the same soil, enrich this one shared world. We’re in it together, that’s what I’m saying, and

34 VTSPORTS.COM | MAY/JUNE 2020

Sling a hammock in a forest in June and you'll find a million buzzing bedmates ready to cozy up. Consider this a test of just how cool you really are... with insects.

death is the togetherness we’re in.

Yes, in it together—there’s the acceptance I’m driving at, the acceptance that is, for me, the essence of “Cool With Insects.” I do not vow to save all skeeters, not during the frenzied agony of an attacked earlobe or eyelid, but I do vow, and vow vociferously, to appreciate the mutuality of all earthly life.

It’s an ongoing endeavor, of course.

I must persist in my project. I must continue to camp without protection, without mediation from the nature that is home to an estimated 10 quintillion (not a make-believe number) individual creepy-crawlies.

Which returns us to the center of the wild Green Mountain wilderness and to my tender, wonderful, beautiful, vulnerable face.

At dusk, alone, sitting on a muchused and much-abused foam Therm-aRest pad, I have beheld the golden sun sinking low in the west, illuminating every single insect floating between me and the horizon. Thousands upon thousands of bright shining delicate creatures! Millions of backlit bodies hovering, helicoptering, zooming and zipping, scribbling the emptiness of air with their drunken cursive dynamic presence!

Gazing across a pond or a meadow, mesmerized, hypnotized, I understand that the atmosphere is itself a kind of broth, that we of the kingdom Animalia swirl in a kind of soup, that what’s on the menu is everyone and everything at once.

Writes Robert Aitken, the late roshi of Honolulu’s Diamond Sangha: “My life and yours are the unfolding realization of total aloneness and total intimacy. The self is completely autonomous, yet exists only in resonance with all other selves.”

So as to avoid reducing Aitken’s elegant and expansive lines with a static arthropod interpretation, let me change the subject and recount a dream that I dreamed a decade ago.

I was outdoors, exploring a jumble of big blocky rocks beneath a hazy sky. A monster-bug—black and yellow, large as a walnut, buzzing like a chainsaw— rose up, rose up again, rose up three times, each time attempting to gain access to my right ear. I ducked, swerved, evaded. And three times—I knew.

Knew what?

Simple. That this odd dude, this emissary from the 10 quintillion, wanted to tell me

something of the greatest importance, something about all of us being together, not only in the dying, but in the living as well. I woke with a start, instantly aware that an opportunity had been squandered, that a desire for comfort, safety, and specifically a secure-from-intruders airspace around my tender wonderful beautiful vulnerable face had denied me a priceless gift.

I woke, in other words, instantly aware that I was not yet ready for the fundamental truth, not yet Cool With Insects, and, furthermore, that I needed to keep trying, trying, trying, day after day, year after year, wilderness after wilderness, gnat after gnat, wasp after wasp, earwig after earwig, breath (inhale) after breath (exhale).

As T.S. Eliot avers: “For us, there is only the trying.”

As the hip-hop group De La Soul echoes, with a slight tweak: “But are you willing to try?”

Vermont writer Leath Tonino is the author of two essay collections, most recently The West Will Swallow You (Trinity University Press, 2019). A version of this essay originally appeared on tricycle.org.

REGISTER ONLINE TODAY www.thepointtopoint.org A VIRTUAL BENEFIT EVENT FOR

THE VERMONT FOODBANK

THE POINT TO POINT, POWERED BY VSECU, IS GOING VIRTUAL! We are going virtual, but the goal stays the same. Get outside, have fun, and ride or run to help fight hunger! Due to COVID-19, the Vermont Foodbank needs support more than ever.

The good news is that you can help NOW! We have reduced the cost of entry and are putting all our effort into meeting this urgent call.

Get on your bike or pull on your running shoes and register for the Point to Point, powered by VSECU. All funds go to the Vermont Foodbank as you raise them.

Between July 17 and August 2, ride or run our road, gravel, or trail courses; choose your own course; or log miles on your virtual trainer.

All participants will be entered in fundraising challenges and receive a gift bag with an event t-shirt and much more.

HELP FIGHT HUNGER.

www.thepointtopoint.org

LET’S FIGHT CANCER TOGETHER,

EVEN WHEN WE’RE APART Keep the 39-year tradition alive and

participate in this year’s Prouty …

VIRTUALLY

TM

You choose your activity with social distancing – indoors or out – anytime between June 1 and July 11, to support cancer research.

Visit TheProuty.org to learn how it works and to register.