Another Weekend in the Books
Well after two long weekends of racing the GRP athletes and the Craftsbury Outdoor Center staff can take a moment to relax and celebrate what they have accomplished. The GRP had a great showing last weekend, ending with Gordon Vermeer’s 2nd place in the mass start classic race on Sunday. Clearly he is peaking just in time for the Birkie. Congrats Gordon on a truly impressive finish in an extremely competitive field.
More importantly, I wanted to write this post in order to congratulate all the Craftsbury Outdoor Center staff on pulling off a couple of incredible weekends of racing. I doubt that many people think about the kind of preparation and work that goes into hosting events such as these. Especially race weekends that combine EISA college carnivals with Super Tours with Eastern Cups with Marathon Series….that is a monumental task and requires an immense amount of work.
First off I want to send a huge thank you to Dick and Judy who are behind the scenes in just about everything that happens at the outdoor center and with planning and executing these events. I’m not sure how there is enough time in the day for these two to do as much work as they do but somehow they pull it off.
Secondly, I want to thank everyone who helped with setting up the race course and stadium for the past two weekends. Especially the grooming crew (Lucas Schulz) who laid out some amazing race courses. Had to have been the best conditions I’ve skied all year anywhere in the country.
I can’t forget to thank the kitchen staff who never cease to impress with their quality of food even when they are attempting to serve hundreds of people a day. One race day I heard that they made 60 gallons of Chili…. yes that is not a type-o. SIXTY. Unbelievable. The amazing food at the center is constantly receiving praise and it has to be one of the main reasons people come back year after year. Keep up the good work kitchen staff, we all appreciate it so much.
Finally, I want to send a big thank you to all the volunteers over the last couple of weeks. There’s no way these races could’ve happened without all of your help. It always amazes me how many people are willing to spend there day standing out in the cold helping out in any way that they can. It’s hard work and all the staff and especially the athletes appreciate everything that the volunteers do during these big race weekends. Thanks again.
This raps up the climax of the racing season at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center this year and I think it is safe to say that many people are ready for a break. It has been a crazy, hectic couple of weekends but everything went off extremely smoothly and the events were a huge success. Again, I can’t stress how much work this takes and how easy it is for one little thing to go wrong and ruin the whole day. I have only heard positive feedback about the racing these past weekends and that is all due to the hard work of the staff and the volunteers.
Thank You