This past Thursday was the 2017 Vermont Corporate Cup Challenge and State Agency Race in Montpelier. Every year the CTA staff takes the evening off, toes the starting line, and then do their best to run a quick 5k time. Last year we had the crazy idea to tell people we’d run the race in ski boots if enough individuals donated to our Trail Fund Campaign. Last year our goal was 200 individual donors, and we reached that goal. So, last year when we arrived in Montpelier we didn’t have running shoes on our feet… No. Amy had telemark boots, Laura had nordic boots, and Greg had alpine touring boots.
The truth is… The experience wasn’t so bad that we swore never to do it again. So, this year we upped our goal to 230 individual donors and started preparing mentally for the thirty some odd minutes of suffering that were most likely in our future. Unfortunately, we never reached our goal, and at this time only 150 people have contributed to the Trail Fund.
But, not reaching our goal didn’t stop us. We had been preparing for this mentally, and last Thursday when we started the drive to Montpelier there were three pairs of backcountry ski boots in the trunk.
This year, 2017, was super fun. We spent a little more time and effort getting into character and when it was all said and done we shaved almost 3 minutes off our time from last year finishing 5 kilometers in 33 minutes and 18 seconds. Unfortunately for us, this is now a tradition that I think we will continue in the future. Maybe next year we can recruit some of our supporters to come out and run in ski appropriate footwear with us!
In the meantime… We are still accepting Trail Fund Donations. Contributions support development, maintenance, and improvements to the Catamount Trail, and support terrain development in conjunction with our chapters. So, if you haven’t done so already please make a contribution today! Any amount will help, and together a lot of good work will get done.
