December 2021 Newsletter

This issue of the UVRC newsletter represents a farewell of sorts. Amanda Kievet and I have been editors of the newsletter since November 2018 (with a big assist from Lauro Petto during that period). We’ll be stepping down as of this issue, but we’ve got a great team coming in to take the reins. Nicole Losavio, Anne Farrell, and Joffrey Peters are going to be doing the newsletter assembly, and Hannah Taska and Robert “RJ” Jones are taking over on article collection. And never fear, myself and Amanda are still around for backup if needed.

So, with that in mind, I had the thought to reminisce about the UVRC newsletter and its history. Thanks Gramps! (Note: not actually a grandparent yet; my kids are still a little young for that.) You can find the archive of the UVRC newsletter here if you want to look back, as well:

https://uppervalleyrunningclub.org/all-newsletters

The older issues are in PDF, and not quite as pretty and formatted as the newer issues, but still there. Actually now that I look closer, two issues, January and February 2012 aren’t actually on the website, but I’ve got them on my hard drive. Better upload those soon before I forget!

UVRC was formed in early 2011, coming out of an existing but disorganized running community. One of our early goals was to have a newsletter, but we didn’t actually get going until January 2012. Steve Andrews and myself served as the first newsletter editors, with myself doing article collection and Steve putting the newsletter together. Steve was really passionate about getting the newsletter up, as he was previously in a running club that really affected him. He felt like a good newsletter really gave a running club a personal touch. Great work Steve!

One thing that plagues looking back on newsletter history is the lack of much commentary or attribution. So, in November 2012, with no announcement, we switched from a PDF format to just publishing the newsletter as a WordPress article. (These old newsletters still show up as PDFs in our current website). There is no tagline of who edited the newsletter, but it seems to still be myself and Steve Andrews.

In January 2013, I became president of the UVRC and around then, I seem to have stopped co-editing the newsletter (with no announcement in the newsletter). Steve was then solo editor for around a year.

In April 2014 Steve announced that he was stepping down as editor, in the interest of balance in his life. Being solo editor of the newsletter takes a toll on folks, and we’ve always done better as a club, when it is a shared task. Steve moved to Colorado some time after that and is no longer in the club, but deserves a ton of credit for the newsletter in those early years.

At this point, the newsletter went on hiatus for a little over a year. In July 2015 the newsletter returned with a vengeance, with Susannah Gravel (then Colby) as editor. Dave Sullivan became involved soon after that as well, sadly not noted anywhere _in_ the newsletter. Susannah put in a good two years as editor, and did a great job. However, the toll of solo editing eventually got to her, ending that era of newsletter with the April 2017 issue.

In June 2017, a familiar face returned to edit the newsletter after we skipped one month. The new editor, same as the old editor, was myself. This time, I led the newsletter article off indicating that I was taking over, and announcing plans for such things as “Letter from a Board Member”, “Ask the Coaches”, and “Things I See when I am Running.” In December 2017, Laura Petto came on as co-editor, as we took turns collecting articles and doing actual newsletter assembly.

November 2018 is the first mention I can find of Amanda Kievet coming in to help with the newsletter. An expert web developer, we put her to work on newsletter assembly, while Laura and I continued to do article collection. Towards the end of 2019, Laura moved (part time) out of the area, and stepped down from her role. The three of us put together some good newsletters during that time!

At this point, starting 2020, Amanda and I were feeling a bit stale and hoping to recruit some new helpers. Maybe even step down from our role altogether. And then, pow! Pandemic! We decided that recruiting folks to help with a newsletter, for a running club that wasn’t meeting in person, was a tall order. So, to keep our community together, we decided to keep the newsletter going through the pandemic, with the intention of finding some new folks when things were back to “normal”.

That brings us to the present. Maybe things aren’t as “normal” as we could hope, but we’ve got a good team coming in. I look forward to seeing what they do, and the new voices that come into the running club. Over the years, the newsletter has been a vital resource to our club. A way to get to know our fellow runners beyond, “How far do you want to run today?” Go UVRC!

The Hanover Turkey Trot was the final race of the UVRS and the final results of the UVRS can be found at https://uppervalleyrunningclub.org/2021-upper-valley-running-series

The series finishers are as follows:

• Megan Faris
• Danielle Dunn
• Keriann Ketcham
• Karen Wright
• Katie Faris
• Chris Wolfe
• Pam Moore
• Carey Stillman
• Laurie Reed
• Marie Parizo
• Ryan Scelza
• Kyle James
• Jotham Burnett
• Matt Delmont
• Eric James
• Jason Faris
• Scott Sanders
• Sean Wolfe
• Michael Goudzwaard
• Geoff Dunba
• Jim Westrich
• Todd MacKenzie
• Michael Herron
• Charles Morgan
• Charlie Buttrey
• John Valentine

The total number of races completed by participants was 280 with a grand total of UVRS points equal to 21017.

The top scoring individuals (with corresponding points in parentheses) in each age group are as follows:

• F0-29: Daniela Allee (290), Megan Faris (282)
• F30-39: Danielle Dunn (460), Keriann Ketchum (426), Hannah Taska (400)
• F40-49: Karen Wright (446), Katie Faris (442), Chris Wolfe (397), Yuki Burnett (390)
• F50-59: Pam Moore (500), Carey Stillman (415)
• F60-69: Laurie Reed (500), Maria Parizo (460)
• F70+: Betsy Gonnerman (400)
• M0-29: Gunner Currier (282)
• M30-39: Ryan Scelza (454), Kyle James (445)
• M40-49: Jotham Burnett (500), Matt Delmont (460), Eric James (434), Jason Faris (403)
• M50-59: Geoff Dunbar (500), Jim Westrich (460), Todd MacKenzie (429)
• M60-69: Charlie Buttrey (500)
• M70+: John Valentine (500)

The NHGP results are up:

https://www.nhgp.org/

UVRC placed third; edged out by GDTC in the last race. Congratulations to age-group winners Pam Moore, Laurie Reed, and Joe Burnett. Pam and Laurie were 1st and 2nd scoring females overall!

We're planning some exciting stuff for 2022 to try to get UVRC fired up to compete; back to our old winning ways? Stay tuned!

“Are you vaccinated?” Michael asked as I saw him at the AVA gallery parking lot.

I hadn’t seen him in a few years, my art teacher. I was so happy seeing him after so long, I wanted to hug him. When he asked me if I was vaccinated, I knew it was because he wanted to hug me. He stepped toward me and me towards him.

“Yes, and I am boosted too,” it felt so good to say.

We hugged and caught up on the happenings of the last few years.

Today was day 511 on my running streak but this morning I thought I might quit. My rules are at least one mile running and it must be outside. My goal is 1000 days in a row. I usually do two miles but I wanted the daily goal to be realistic and easily attainable. The outside part is the hardest for me. Lots of people say they are an outdoorsy person. I’m not. I grew up in the city, afraid of dogs. So running outside really challenges me.

I’m getting sick of it though and I feel like quitting. Why bother with this? Why even have this goal? I just did the Hanover Turkey Trot and I was the last to finish. No matter that my pace was a 12-minute mile which is fine for me, I was still last. But worse was that I was out of breath, sore and tired.

Deconditioned, or out of shape. I like the term deconditioned; it sounds more athletic. But I need to get stronger. I’ve been doing yoga on Mondays but nothing else besides the daily run. My once a week long run has dwindled to as little as six miles. Ugh.

So today I thought, “This doesn’t really matter, I am going to quit, it’s not doing me any good, I am getting old and weak. I need to do classes at the CCBA or something.” Somehow my brain was thinking if I wasn’t doing a daily run, I could more easily do classes at the CCBA. As if it has to be one or the other. But I thought, “Come on, do at least one mile.” I parked at the Lebanon Green, put on map my run and started out. I decided to run through the AVA Gallery parking lot to get some inspiration for art. I like to paint and draw. That’s when I spotted Michael. What a gift and a joy to see this old friend. He explained he’d gotten cancer, another scan coming up to check on what he hopes is remission and he recovered from getting hit by a car as a pedestrian. I got a reward for running today. Then I came home and did a virtual strength class at the CCBA. I don’t have to do this all or nothing. That’s my tendency- black and white thinking. But today I saw that getting out in the sunshine, feeling the cool air on my face and the fresh air is also a reward.

Why do I run? Why run outside? Why a streak? The streak gets me out the door. Many days I might have been indoors all day if not for the run. The run outside gives me time for myself. If I run on my treadmill, I’m still available for questions from my kids. So running outside is good for my mind and good for my body because I get vitamin D. I think the sunshine and running helps me not get depressed.

Why do you run? I’ll keep going.

Route: Lower and Upper Ballard/Lower Blue Ribbon/Brookmead/Parcel 5 in Norwich Trails 

Percentage Runnable: 100%

Distance: about 8 mi. 

Elevation change: moderate ups and downs

Parking: Lower Ballard Lot, Beaver Meadow Rd just before intersection w Brigham Hill Rd. (and several others)

Norwich Trails Website

Perhaps I'm the only trail runner in the Upper Valley who doesn't already know the Norwich trails. If you don't know them either, you have some good runs in store! I had been on a couple of the trails for two shorter trips with knowledgeable friends, and in late November I decided to give them a try on my own, wearing plenty of blaze orange, and with a headlamp along just in case. The trails are well-mapped. For the most part, they are also well-signed,  well-maintained and blazed, although some segments are a little less clear. As in the Boston Lot, the other large trail system in our area, I would recommend starting with a well-signed area, perhaps trying out-and-back routes at first, and then branching out as familiarity grows.  There are several places to park, in order to mix up your routes. And there are miles and miles of trail!

For my run, I tried out the Ballard-Blue Ribbon loop listed on the webpage, and tagged on Lower Ballard up and Beaver Meadow Rd coming back, as it was growing dark, for a total of 8 or so miles. I found the Parcel 5 finish to be less easy to follow. Next time, I might park at the Parcel 5 parking on Beaver Meadow Rd, and try the trip the other way. The Ballard trails on the south/west  side of Beaver Meadow Rd are for foot travel only, and  the Blue Ribbon/Brookmead trails on the north/east side are also for bikes.  Since it was a quiet and dark November afternoon, I was the only one out there; on a busy day, I would keep my eyes open for walkers, dogs and bikes. 

This month's column includes a quiz. These trails cross water frequently, and there many well-maintained methods of getting over with dry feet. Which one of these [photos] would I NOT choose as a safe way to cross a brook or wet area? 

With thanks to all the volunteers who have helped make these trails safe and navigable, see you next month!