2009 Recap
Andrew Decelles Wins the First Annual Dandelion Run
On Saturday, May 23rd, Andrew Decelles of Newport, Vermont won the First Annual Dandelion Run with a time of 95:53 as IROC kicked off its 2009 Summer Series of special recreational athletic events. The half marathon of 13.1 miles was run largely on dirt roads passing through fields of Dandelions in Derby, Morgan, and Holland, Vermont, deep in the heart of the Northeast Kingdom. Overall, there were 118 registrants of all ages who participated in this charity run and walk to support the Orleans County Victims’ Assistance Fund and free public access to IROC’s Rotary Walking Track. Runners came from cities and towns throughout Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts and as far away as Texas, and even South America.
The weather was perfect, in the upper 60’s during the morning run, and the dandelions were at their peak. The runners absolutely loved the route for its beauty and its challenge. (This is Vermont after all and there are a few hills on these back roads). Major underwriters of the event were the Community National Bank, Jay Peak, and Louis Garneau, along with numerous other local sponsors including The Town of Derby, Derby Village Store, Hayes Ford, Vermont Heritage Water, Lo's Tavern, McDonalds,Vermont Highland Cattle Company, Vermont’s North Country Chamber of Commerce, Price Choppers, Paul Decelles Investment Planning, The East Side Restaurant, Griff’s Pub and Kinney Drugs, as well as the Boston Sports Club. Full results are now posted on the Dandelion Run website. Here are the highlights:
- NCUHS runner, Andrew Decelles, of Newport, Vermont was the over all winner with a time of 95:53, winning a Jay Peak Season Pass. Will Rothstein of South Royalton, Vermont placed 2nd in the Men’s Division at 98.42; IROC’s own Chris Shafer placed 3rd at 99:46.
- Jessica Kallis came in first in the woman’s division with a time of 96 minutes winning a weekend Condo at Jay Peak. 2nd and 3rd place went to Veronika Posner Schwartz of South America at 111 minutes and Mindy Propin at 119 minutes 20 seconds.
- Winner of the four person relay division was Team Jebs of NCUHS, consisting of Brett Gervais, Selina Sykes, Ebony Howard, Joseph Bourgeois. They came in at 90:42, winning movie passes, soda, and popcorn at Waterfront Cinemas plus four Dandelion Run hats.
- The winner in the two person relay division was Ryan Moore and Cory Poulin with a time of 98.03. They won two Dandelion Run hats.
- A Newport Recreation Track and Field team took first place in the 5 mile youth run around Derby Pond. They also were awarded movie passes, soda, and popcorn and Waterfront Cinemas.
- Tammy Hinton, won the Last One Back to the Barn award which is given to that participant who demonstrates true persistence and the “fist in the face of reality” attitude so common among residents of the Northeast Kingdom. The prize consists of the complete set of autographed works to date by Howard Mosher.
- The Stanstead College Relay Team, consisting of Michael Wolfe, Tania Portelli, Dugie Ross, and Laura Laramee was awarded this same prize for having the oldest collective age of any team at 181 years.
- Lindsay Krauss of Brighton, Mass was the highest individual fundraiser at $515, winning a complete set of Howard Mosher’s works to date. Her team, Go Girls of the Boston Sports Club raised a total of $840, the most money by a team in support of the event. They won a set of Dandelion Run hats and a four pack of lift tickets at Jay Peak.
Overall, the event is expected to raise about $3,500.
Pete Kellaway, General Manager of IROC said he was pleased with the turnout for this inaugural run, organized out of the Derby Beach House on Lake Salem. “The local support was impressive, the youth teams were terrific, and the locals and the out of area participants just plain loved the course.” Phil White, Chairman of the Board at IROC praised Pete Kellaway and Julie Gunn of IROC for laying out a truly wonderful course and all of the staff and volunteers at IROC for organizing this event. “The course has been put to the test and passed with flying colors. The best part of the event was the wonderful and contagious spirit of the runners and walkers, young and old alike. They truly reflected the spirit of the Dandelion Run: ‘Just for the Fun of It.’”
White added that he is especially pleased with IROC’s growing partnerships with Jay Peak, Louis Garneau, and the Boston Sports Club all of whom contributed prizes and are actively helping to promote IROC’s special recreational athletic events. Upcoming IROC events this summer include
Tour de Kingdom, June 6th and 7th, 2009 www.tourdekingdom.org,
The IROC Scramble June 13th, 2009
Kingdom Swim July 25th, 2009 www.kingdomswim.org
Kingdom Triathlon August 15th, 2009 www.kingdomtriathlon.org.