The Mad Marathon! A beautiful marathon with the course running through the Mad River Valley in Waitsfield VT, located in central Vermont. So pretty! This was a fantastic New England marathon, winding through the Green Mountains, back country roads, quaint little center of towns and along farmlands. Driving through New England to get there was super pretty as well!
We’ve skied in Vermont numerous times, but this was our first trip during the warm months. We had to stop by the Kilington Pico sign because Nico would call himself Nico Pico. So there it is, Nico Pico!
Driving into Vermont seeing the mountains covered in low clouds with at times there would be light rain then sunshine and then fog. Green Mountains were very green indeed!
We stayed at Sugarbush and as we approached you could see the ski mountain trails.
Beautiful resort/hotel! Refurbished to resemble a barn, it had so many great amenities!
We were building our house at the time and we loved the look of the SchoolHouse here. Took tons of pics!
If you’re ever making a New England getaway, this is a great place to go! Sugarbush located in Warren VT
A view from the backside, the gazebo looking building is a restaurant!
The grounds and decor of the place is so spectacular! I imagine it’s probably just as great snow-covered!
And across from the restaurant is a pub where they had an outdoor fire pit going one evening. Nice and spacious walking grounds between buildings and up to the lifts!
Since my last marathon in September 2009, I became pregnant in early 2010 and had our son in 2010! Thereafter, I went through a rough period of living an unhealthy lifestyle. It took some time to recover which is what this entire blog is about! Living a well-fed, well-ft, well-defined, whole life! I was able to pull myself through and get back to running. Sadly though, my biggest supporter and the one who got me started running, my dad, was unable to travel with me anymore. Throughout the years I was running marathons the most before I had kids, he was there with me on our trips to Alaska, Tennesseee, Maine, Nevada, with the last being California(not to mention he made a trip to New Jersey for the very cold Cape May marathon and then we visited Atlantic City). Lake Tahoe was our last one together, it is bittersweet to think of, but I have so many great memories, you can find them all in the well-run section of my blog! Going forward, it’s now my husband as well as my kids as my support! My marathon traveling team! My sister also was my marathon traveling partner on a trip to Louisville KY for the Derby Half Marathon in 2016!
So here in VT my husband and my son enjoying ice cream! This was fun!
The next day we went into the town of Waitsfield VT to grab some breakfast from the Big Picture. Super cute movie theatre that is also a diner!
Bagels and coffee! Too pretty to see a movie today. Plus, we have so many fun activities to do outside!
Cute little play house next to the diner where Nico could play while we ate!
Artwork on the wall.
Next we went into the center of Waitsfield for the packet pick-up and to walk around the farmers market and craft faire. Nice Free-Spirited Vermont country atmosphere! This is where the finish of the race is located!
Back to the hotel, there are so many fun activities to do such as mountain biking and zip-lining! Hiking all over and there is some great river swimming nearby!
We did have a two and a half year old, which he could have done some really good hiking, I didn’t have a backpack hiking carrier at this time, plus he’s a big kid! So he kind of limited us when it came to doing some really great outdoor adventuring… we still had the best time though!
We had tons of fun, they had kid oriented fun things to do and we did go swimming in the pool!
Lunch over at the Pub!
Next, driving through Waitsfield and Warren to see the views along the marathon course! Here we go, Vermont Route 100! Hiking Trail to the right, road to the left.
Map of the marathon course! Loved running through the towns and through the country roads!
Infamous covered bridge in Waitsfield! I have a Christmas Ornament of this bridge! You run through it at the start and then again at the finish! Below are some of the views you get while pushing yourself through 26.2 miles! It re
Final stretch of the 26 mile run! I was hurting during the last mile and Dan found me as Nico was sleeping in the jogger stroller, so he came up beside me and ran the last half-mile in along with me while pushing Nico! It was great!
The day before the race I found a four-leaf clover!
I guess it gave me some good luck, I finished! Not with the greatest time or with the greatest strength or performance. But it was the first marathon coming off an unhealthy stretch so it was improvement from where I was just a year prior! I finished 7th in the 30-34 age group at a time of 4:36. I began at about a 9:00 pace but backed off and even walked a bit in the last few miles as my knee was bothering me and overall I wasn’t strong enough to run at the 8:00 – 9:00 pace I used to; my pace averaged around 10:33 when factoring in the walking. A time of 4:36 isn’t bad, but when I compared it my marathons in the 3:50’s, I was kind of sad. However, again, I was on the right track and on my way to being more and more well-fit! As well as nutritiously well-fed! Only getting better from here! I am so lucky to have my health and the awareness to know I need to take care of myself!
