Tag Archives: Vermont100

Vermont 100

Van Cleef, Lapierre Victorious as VT100 Returns from 2-Year Hiatus

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The Vermont 100 has been a staple of New England ultrarunning for more than three decades. It’s the region’s first and largest 100-mile race, and it literally has served as a family reunion of sorts for ultrarunners and supporters in the Northeast for generations.

The COVID-19 pandemic upended activities and family gatherings for millions of people in the United States and worldwide during much of 2020 and some of 2021; the Vermont 100 wasn’t spared from the disruption. The race, which passes through 30 pieces of private property, was forced to cancel two years in a row due to the pandemic, putting the annual ultrarunning reunion and race entrants’ planning on long-term hold.

Continue reading Van Cleef, Lapierre Victorious as VT100 Returns from 2-Year Hiatus →
The Extra Mile

After VT100 Cancellation, Resilient RD Rusiecki Finds New Ways to Support Vermont Adaptive

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Barely a month into the COVID-19 pandemic, Amy Rusiecki’s world as a race director began to crumble.

The first race of the 2020 season that she was slated to direct – the Mt. Toby 50K – was forced to cancel as orders from Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker restricted the size of public gatherings, schools were closed, and businesses statewide largely shut down or transitioned to work-from-home environments. A few weeks later, Rusiecki was forced to cancel the popular 7 Sisters Trail Race as the pandemic worsened. As the year wore on, her three remaining events all were canceled.

Continue reading After VT100 Cancellation, Resilient RD Rusiecki Finds New Ways to Support Vermont Adaptive →
Vermont 100

McConaughy Handles the Heat, Places 2nd in 100-Mile Debut at VT100

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Joe McConaughy is no stranger to pushing the pace in pursuit of major mileage, having established Fastest Known Times on the 2,660-mile Pacific Crest Trail in 2014, the 2,189-mile Appalachian Trail in 2017 and the 70-mile Wicklow Round in Ireland in 2018. Every day had big mileage on those efforts, including a grand 110.8-mile push in the final 37 hours on the Appalachian Trail that ended on a mountaintop in a hailstorm.

Still, for all of McConaughy’s endurance feats, he’d never raced a true 100-mile ultramarathon until July 21-22 when he took part in the 31st annual Vermont 100 in West Windsor, Vt. While the race itself was a new experience for McConaughy, the unforgiving conditions he endured during his FKT pursuits prepared him for the grueling weather he encountered on race day. The Vermont 100 is known for its heat – usually in the upper 80s by mid-afternoon – and sticky humidity, but the temperature reached 90 degrees by 11 a.m. on race morning and threatened triple digits by that afternoon. Continue reading McConaughy Handles the Heat, Places 2nd in 100-Mile Debut at VT100 →

Vermont 100

Soutiea, Swenson, Pandiscio, Lowe Lead Large Bay State Contingent at VT100

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It wasn’t exactly a changing of the guard, but two Massachusetts residents who have been mainstays in the top 10 at the Vermont 100 for most of the past decade opted to race the 100K instead of 100 miles in 2018. That meant the Bay State had new standard-bearers at the 30th annual Vermont 100 on July 21-22 in West Windsor, Vt. Continue reading Soutiea, Swenson, Pandiscio, Lowe Lead Large Bay State Contingent at VT100 →

Features, Vermont 100

Robidoux Runs 100: Teamwork, Tenacity Propel Runner with Visual Impairment at VT100

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A month has passed since Kyle Robidoux took his final strides uphill, stepped across the finish line of the Vermont 100 and was engulfed in a raucous round of applause, hugs, and tears from a few dozen friends, well-wishers, and fellow finishers.

It was Sunday morning, July 16. He’d just run 100 miles. Continue reading Robidoux Runs 100: Teamwork, Tenacity Propel Runner with Visual Impairment at VT100 →

Vermont 100

Wetzel Crafts Feel-Good Final 100-Miler on Familiar Turf at VT100

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WEST WINDSOR, Vt. – One of the Vermont 100’s most consistent performers made her farewell run at the 100-mile distance July 15-16 at Silver Hill Meadow.

“This is number 11,” said Lori Wetzel, 44, of Danvers, Mass. “It’s my 20th hundred overall, and my last 100-miler. I was thinking I’d end where I started.”

Wetzel has taken on a variety of other 100-milers in other locations through the years – Mountain Lakes in Oregon, Wasatch Front in Utah, Leadville in Colorado, and the legendary Western States Endurance Run in California, just to name a few – but Vermont has always claimed a special place in her heart and called her back year after year. Continue reading Wetzel Crafts Feel-Good Final 100-Miler on Familiar Turf at VT100 →

Vermont 100

Rusiecki Finds Redemption, Dissinger Demolishes Goal at Vermont 100

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WEST WINDSOR, Vt. – Four weeks after finding himself sitting on the side of the trail in Deadwood Canyon about 46 miles into the Western States 100, his head spinning while struggling to breathe in temperatures well above 100 degrees, Brian Rusiecki returned to familiar territory and a familiar feeling on Saturday, July 15. Continue reading Rusiecki Finds Redemption, Dissinger Demolishes Goal at Vermont 100 →