Tour de Woodstock/Northwoods Athletics and UVRC runners - Teammates with a dash of friendly competition?

Will UVRC and Northwoods Athletics (organizers of the Tour de Woodstock) compete for members in the future or will we be able to partner up and share our strengths? That’s a question several team-mates and board members were asking as we learned more about this new club in town which Ben True, Dan Curts and Fred Huxham, all professional runners, are organizing.

So far, I’m optimistic overall that we can cater to different subsets of the local running population, and also share some of our assets with each other. As a board we discussed how UVRC appeals to people running at all levels and of all ages. While Northwoods would also like to draw in a variety of runners, initially they have attracted largely a younger, faster crowd. UVRC has been around for a pretty long time and has built up members, funding and the ability to host events, among other perks. Northwoods is new, operating for free currently, and despite large turnouts for the Tour de Woodstock, doesn’t have the member base of UVRC. The two clubs also are apt to pull in people who live near the location of any given run.

One area in which we might compete a little is for runners who are pushing the boundaries of local and regional competition, and those who gain particular inspiration from professional athletes. These runners might be caught between having faster company for a week-end run and perhaps having more variety of company. 

In our conversation as a board we agreed that many runners, including those who might benefit from some “competition” on some of their long runs, have something to gain from both clubs. And it is to the advantage of both clubs too to help each other out too.

Tim Smith and I met with Ben, Fred, and Dan to talk with them a bit about their club and the opportunities for working together. One of these ideas was to join in each other’s runs and other events (e.g. when we are able to congregate again for UVRC picnics and pub nights). I decided to invite the Tour de Woodstock people to join in a Saturday run en masse and to invite UVRC to do the same at a Tour de Woodstock.

I was impressed by the large number of people who showed up from UVRC and the Tour de Woodstock for a Lebanon run in mid-December, especially given the cool and rainy conditions. While we separated onto a couple of different routes, people seemed to enjoy both and to even rally for hot drinks from Lucky’s, enjoyed under the bandstand at Tim’s suggestion. 

The Tour de Woodstock was also well-attended by members of both groups. There was a good small crowd running around my pace as well as faster and slower people, both with company. We had a chance to talk with those of other paces afterwards outside the Abracadabra Coffee Company. 

Admittedly I am not completely up to date on the Tour de Woodstock runs, as I tend to mix up my week-ends with a Sunday ski or hike after the Saturday morning group run. I do, however, look forward to first- or second-hand updates soon on how these runs are going in the late winter and early spring - let me know if you’d like to share your experiences. I’m always open to new ideas on how to inspire runners of all kinds to get out there. And I also hope to see Tour de Woodstock regulars at future community and state-wide races and training runs with UVRC!