Students and townspeople participate in Middlebury Maple Run

Author: Amy Francisco

This past Sunday, students waking up before noon may have noticed the yellow flags, cheering supporters and almost 200 racers participating in the newly created "Middlebury Maple Run - The Sweetest Half." The name refers both to one of Vermont's quintessential winter activities - maple syrup-making - and to the race's half-marathon distance. A nine-person committee, including Middlebury swim coaches Peter Solomon and Andy Weinberg, women's cross country coach Terry Aldrich and Special Assistant to the President David Donahue, organized the event.

"It is a great way to promote the Middlebury area and the run itself while also promoting one of Addison County's - and Vermont's - best known products: maple syrup," said Angelo Lynn, another committee member and publisher of the Addison Independent. "It's just the kind of race that could eventually bring hundreds of people to the area from around the Northeast and Montreal areas. It's the right distance for the right time of year - and the picture we paint of the race, with its quaint Vermont theme, just sounds fun."

Runners began the 13.4 mile racecourse in the Porter Hospital parking lot, running through downtown Middlebury, across the Pulp Mill Covered Bridge and through Weybridge past the UVM-owned Morgan Horse Farm before eventually ending back at the starting point at Porter. Local runners Benj Deppman and Keith Wilkerson put together the course, one designed to be relatively flat and fast, while offering gorgeous views of the Adirondacks, the Green Mountains and other Vermont scenery, including Otter Creek and the Middlebury campus. While there were no huge prizes for overall and age-group winners, they did receive small containers of locally produced maple syrup. Also, all runners who registered by April 15 received a t-shirt and gift certificates to local businesses, such as Two Brothers Tavern and the Vermont Book Shop. A portion of the race's proceeds go toward the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Despite the gray, drizzly weather and the newness of the race, 185 participants turned out this year to run the half marathon, including a good number of Middlebury students. Weinberg anticipates double or triple this number in future years, and judging from the reactions of several college participants, such numbers should be no problem. Both Mike Graham '12, first-time half marathon runner, and Katie Siegner '12, who ran a half marathon in Shelburne, Vt. earlier this year, emphasized the importance of the support of local townspeople and students all along the course.

"It was definitely harder than the first half marathon I ran, but being in Middlebury was awesome because of the people you know cheering, and also the support of the townspeople," said Siegner. "On the racecourse we kept passing little kids with signs saying 'Go Mom,' and through the town people turned out in pretty big numbers. Some people even brought their cars out to play music for us. The fan support was definitely a huge factor." Graham described the atmosphere of the race as being very "relaxed and friendly," despite the mix of runners training for full marathons and college students who had never run even a half marathon before.

For photos of the race, see page 7.