Mother natureís gift to runners

By
John Morton
Posted November 1st, 2002

On October 5th, before dawn,
the wind howled and rain
swept the landscape in sheets. As forecasted, the remnants of hurricane Lili drenched New England before dissipating over the North Atlantic. August had been so dry, no reasonable person could complain about the weather, but in Thetford, there were plenty of furrowed brows.
Saturday, October 5 was the 12th  Annual Woods Trail Run, a gathering of high school cross-country athletes that has grown during the past decade to attract almost 2,000 competitors from as far as New Jersey and Pennsylvania. As the sky brightened and the rain subsided, scores of volunteers scurried about, preparing for the races.
Race director Dan Grossman, the organizational guru behind the cross-country events in Thetford, now has a list of more than 400 townspeople and running enthusiasts who willingly donate their time and energy to be part of  “Dan’s Team.” After more than a decade of running events at Thetford Academy, volunteers have become proprietary about their roles. You can count on Byron Hathorn and Dave McGinn to judge the close calls at the finish line, while Linda Ide makes announcements over the P.A. system and selects music as varied as “Chariots of Fire,” “The William Tell Overture,” or Scottish bagpipes as the runners thunder out of the start.
Fortunately, hurricane Lili left only a few branches on the trail, and a brilliant autumn sun broke through the clouds as the races began. Roots, rocks and occasional slippery footing are all part of cross-country running, but angry yellow jackets are not, so when several early finishers reported to the first-aid tent for treatment of their stings, a volunteer was quickly dispatched to dispatch the insects.
Most of us who are fortunate enough to live in rural Vermont, are well aware of the natural beauty which surrounds us, even if we sometimes take it for granted. Listening to the high school runners who participated in the Woods Trail Run, many from urban or densely populated suburban communities, was a great reminder of how truly lucky we are.
The next day, October 6, was crisp and brilliant, a classic autumn day. The foliage was close enough to peak to validate the name of the popular Leaf Peepers Half Marathon and 5K in Waterbury, Vermont. This is one of those wonderful running events that is successful in most every regard. The race is popular enough to be well organized and to attract a good field of runners, yet not so big that parking and registration are a hassle. The combination of a half marathon and a 5K provides something for everyone: a challenging, 13-mile event for the dedicated competitor, and a manageable, 3-mile course for those who want to participate, but aren’t interested in the longer distance.
At the starting line, several hundred eager competitors listened patiently to a recording of the Star Spangled Banner, a tradition that began last year following the terrorist attacks. I glanced over at the runner I had just met in the parking lot, a young guy wearing an Annapolis T-shirt. He was a retired naval aviator who had seen combat in the Persian Gulf War and in Bosnia. I doubt the playing of the National Anthem was simply a formality for him, nor was Vermont’s remarkable autumn beauty something he took for granted.
The course is gently rolling—a combination of paved and dirt roads along the Winooski River in the shadow of Camel’s Hump. We ran past diehard anglers casting into promising pools that reflected the fiery colors of the maples and sumacs. I smelled a wood-burning stove from one of the farm houses, and I heard the excited honking of geese overhead, as they followed the spine of the Green Mountains south for the winter.
The half marathon course is out and back on the same road, so approaching the turnaround point you see the leaders and how the race is developing. Once you make the turn yourself, you exchange greetings and encouragement with the other participants in the race.
No matter what your level of conditioning, a half marathon is an exhausting race. But the fatigue on the faces of the finishers at the Leaf Peepers was tempered by the satisfaction of accomplishment and the joy of experiencing one of Mother Nature’s gifts to the fullest.