Halloween weekend had a dreary look to it as mother nature looked to bring down some cold autumn rain on Northern Vermont. It was a busy weekend for the running community in Vermont with many other events going on, including the VT high school championships where a lot of local runners looked to shine. 12 hardy runners showed up to take on the challenge of the hills at Hard’ack.
The runners took on course number 1, which is now the traditional week one course. This course avoids the flat meadows, and instead opts for the main loop in the woods section of the trail system. It is almost never flat, and certainly not conducive to a PR, but the perfect course for those who like rugged hilly terrain. Runners were dressed for cold, dreary rain, but by race time, the rain had cleared, and temps were around 50 degrees. It turned out to be fantastic running conditions, though most runners were overdressed and trying to shed layers as they ran.
There was a one lap option, but all runners opted for the full 2 lap 5k. Evan Fortune, a 5th grader from Georgia middle school who didn’t want his season to be over chose this race for his first ever 5k, a great accomplishment on a tough course. It was nice to see some familiar faces, as the Sargent family returned to the course, and Jackson, the youngest, ran away from his father Roy this year to better his time by 2 minutes!
Brendan Ellis took the win with a time of 26:10, followed by Laurie Orzech, taking the top female honors and 2nd overall with a time of 27:54. It was a small crowd, but a great crowd. We had some familiar faces, and I always love to see some new faces I’ve never seen before. Thanks so much to everyone who came out to run! See you next week!