December 2025 Newsletter

Jingle Bell Run

Tuesday, December 9th

5:30PM

Join us for a ~2 mile fun run from Ramunto’s!

What to bring: 

• Your most festive running outfit, lights encouraged
• A dessert to share, if you feel so inclined
• A small raffle item (regifted and/or thrifted items welcomed!)
• A boatload of holiday spirit

Banquet Recap

Thanks to all who joined us in Enfield to celebrate another great year of running and community. We’d like to send a special thanks to the following folks for their contributions that make UVRC such a wonderful club:

Thank you, to Keri Niles, for leading the charge for Couch to 5k and making the program the supportive community that it is! Thank you also to all of our volunteer coaches who support Couch to 5k week after week: Jackie Albanese, Matt Sherman, Kristen Esty, Elisa Carloni, Susan Emerson, Scott King, Anne Farrell, and Kristen Coats.

Thank you, Seth Stemmer, PT, for donating your time and expertise for our running panel discussion back in October!

Thank you, Sean Meissner, for organizing the first annual UVRC Campout in the Whites back in June!

Thank you, Anne Farrell and Nicole Losavio, for all the time you dedicate to ensuring our newsletter is published on the website every month! Thank you also to Helene Sisti and William Ren for joining our publishing team!

Thank you, William Ren, for creating and organizing UVRC’s Strava segment challenge!

Thank you, Beth and Scott Prescott, for taking on countless tasks for the club, from organizing pacers to baking muffins to setting and cleaning up at the banquet. We couldn’t do what we do without you! 

Thank you, Geoff Dunbar and the UVRS committee, for your enthusiasm and organization around the Upper Valley Running Series, and congrats to the 2025 finishers!
Thank you, Tim Smith, for your years of service on the board, including many weeks of leading TNT workouts. We appreciate your time and dedication!

By Geoff Dunbar

Upper Valley Running Club: We did it! Another Upper Valley Running Series (UVRS) is complete. Congratulations to everyone who participated; it was our biggest year ever!

The final race was November 23, the Hanover Turkey Trot 5K/10K. You can see results here:

https://fiveksport.com/race-results-2025

The final standings are on the UVRS website:

https://uppervalleyrunningclub.org/upper-valley-running-series/

66 Finishers this year, a new record! We’re working on the prizes now. Expect the prize ceremony to be at the January “Runner’s Night Out”. Stay tuned to the UVRC mailing list for details.

Don’t know what the UVRS is? Check out our website above. It is suitable for all UVRS members; give it a shot next year!

Want to help out with the 2026 UVRS? Let me know; we’ll be organizing next year’s series soon.

Happy Running!

Geoff and the UVRS committee

By John Saroyan and Helene Sisti

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John: The Middlebury 1/2 has been on my bucket list of races for over five years. When I did register in 2020, COVID shut things down and I never got round to registering again until this past fall. At TNT UVRC secretary, Helene Sisti, and I decided to run it. 

An early morning drive from Norwich to the ample parking and well organized friendly race was ez-pz. The course headed north through neighborhoods before turning south to the campus then down into a final three mile loop in open fields before the final stretch uphill back to the start. Ample food and shaded grass made for a welcome recovery and relaxation. The best surprise was that Middlebury foliage appeared to be just past peak despite the rest of the state having been well past. Will definitely look to run it again next year. How about you, Helene?

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Helene: The Middlebury Maple Run was also my favorite race of the year. When I first moved to Vermont 8 years ago, I searched for road races to do. Back then, I was only doing 5k’s. I had fond memories of the rolling hills and the bucolic views of Middlebury’s campus from a long-ago visit when I interviewed for a track coach position there. Excited to settle in and explore my new state, I registered instantly. They had fun music, friendly volunteers and pancakes with syrup at the finish line.

Since then I have run many 10ks (Thanks, UVRS!) 3 half-marathons and 1 full marathon. I was looking for another half-marathon to do in the area this fall. When John asked me if I was interested in doing the Middlebury 1/2, without hesitation, I said, yes, let’s get registered!

Once again, the race organizers (and Mother Nature) came through! The foliage was peak, the weather was ideal (for those who ran the CHaD, it was THAT day) and again they had fun music and great energy. No syrup this time but plenty of bagels and fruit. The scenic drive back and a short visit to one of the VT general stores capped off a beautiful morning. I’d love to run it again!

Triple Dam.

Nice course through rolling hills with water views.

Good weather.

Best snacks of all the races. The honey energy gels. -Emily C

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The Sprouty 5k. My favorite moment was watching my son race for the first time ever and finish 6th overall. He is much faster than me! Also I loved that it took place in Sharon, VT because my name is Sharon. -Sharon M

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Moosalamoo Ultra: It was a super laid-back scene on a beautiful course. The trails were a nice mix of rugged terrain, some dreamy singletrack, and a thigh-high swamp crossing to keep it spicy! Highly recommended! -Kristina S

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My favorite race of 2025 was XTerra New Jersey Trail Marathon. I know what you’re thinking: “New Jersey??? Your favorite race of the entirety of 2025 was in New Jersey? And you live in a really cool state and next door to another really cool state, both with really awesome trails? Dude, you’re whacked!” Those are all fair statements.

This race was at Wawayanda State Park, which is the “hilly” part of New Jersey. And this state park is pretty rad! It’s big, has a nice lake in it (perfect for post-race soaking and clean-up), and its trail network is quite incredible (not AT, or Greens, or White incredible, but much more so than one would think for NJ incredible).

Regardless of whether or not I’ve actually sold you on New Jersey, what really made XTerra New Jersey Trail Marathon my favorite 2025 race was Kristina, my wife (and one of our co-presidents). I got to run the entire race, all 26 miles and 385 yards, with her! It was the first time in our dozen years together that we had ever run a race together. And it was AWESOME!! I asked her about 15 minutes before the start if she’d mind if I ran with her, assuring her that I’d let her set the pace the entire way…and she agreed! We’d run much longer adventure runs together, but those are pretty relaxed, and things change once people pin a number on their shirt. But we had fun, made some friends, chatted, ran in silence, and just genuinely enjoyed each other’s company for 5 hours, 23 minutes, and 43 seconds. And it was wonderful.
Thank you, Kristina, for the super fun race date! – Sean M (p.s. — my second favorite was The Eastern States 20 miler, a super fun DDT – Dudes Day Trip – with Ryan Scelza, trip organizer and chauffeur, William Ren, young buck who’s always up for a good race, and Jim Westrich, the old wise one and beer connoisseur. It’s always a fun day when I get to join these 3 dudes, and Eastern States was no exception. We got to run 20 in-your-face windy miles along the coast from ME to NH, then played along the way home with a solid stop at Rockingham Brewing for beers and burgers. I’m looking forward to more DDTs in 2026! – Sean M

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Mt. Ascutney Vertical Backyard was my favorite race this year! It was my first backyard ultra, and I fully fully loved the experience. Particularly, I enjoyed the camaraderie found in a community of like-minded people who were all out with me on every yard. I think this is even heightened for this course specifically, where walking is a necessity and thus you get to spend a significant portion of each lap with the people around you. Highly recommend to anyone who’s looking for a cool event to do next year. The term “Backyard Ultra” can maybe sound intimidating, but really I find it just means you get to choose a lot of your own adventure in terms of all the planning, setting your own limits, and how you’re going to approach yard strategy, etc. – William R

By Julia Neily

Name of the Race: Hanover Turkey Trot

Race/Event Distance: 10k

Date: 11/23/25

Describe the Event: One of the features I liked about the race is that they had food donations for the Haven. Each item brought earned a raffle ticket. I won a basket full of running related items, such as Gatorade zero packets, cliff bars, some hats, a shirt and a frisbee. A raffle is the only way I’d win a prize.

How did you prepare for the race/event? Before each race I set process and outcome goals. I usually set an A, B and C. The A goal is usually a stretch for me which for me would be to run about a 13-minute mile. Even though I was slow, I reached my A goal today. The B goal is usually a 15-minute pace, and the C goal is to finish. My process goal was to enjoy connecting with others.

I also try to make my races and runs a spiritual practice. I wore six bracelets each with a different loved one’s name. I dedicated each mile to praying for a different person.

Any notable moments? I’ve done the Hanover Turkey Trot for many years. It feels like a tradition. This time I wore a Dunkin Donuts suit for fun. The truth is, I wore it because my brother had me order it for him and it was too small for him. He wanted me to have it. It feels so good to laugh with him.

Dunkin Rap and Race

My name is Julia Neily, my brother Danny is a rapper

And when I wear this Dunkin suit, I really look quite dapper

He gave the suit to me and said

Would you wear it in a race?

I did and I had so much fun,

Even if I was in last place

I wore the suit with gratitude because he is doing well

He is a better rapper than me,

Which you can probably tell.

The suit made people smile,

It really made my day.

I think we all could use more joy

Is what I want to say.

There only was one problem

I didn’t have a matching Dunkin hat

I saw somebody wearing one and I said

Hey where did you get that?

He ran the New York City Marathon

He inspired me to set that goal

I’ll have to hurry up and do it before I get too old

I’d like to blame it on the suit that I was really slow

But the truth is that’s the pace

That I usually go

So if you want to have some fun

Just wear a Dunkin suit

It really kept me toasty warm and

I made new friends to boot.

What do you wish you had known about this race/event before starting? That it would be really hard to run in a dunkin suit. ha ha