Vermont
‘My homeland’: Former local high school star powers to victory at Vermont City Marathon
![‘My homeland’: Former local high school star powers to victory at Vermont City Marathon](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/authoring-images/2024/05/26/PBUR/73862639007-bur-0526-hannah-rowe-vermont-city-marathon-womens-winner.jpg?auto=webp&crop=1606,904,x0,y241&format=pjpg&width=1200)
When it comes to racing, Hannah Rowe favors much cooler temperatures than the sunny and warm climate of the 2024 Vermont City Marathon & Relay on Sunday morning.
Rowe is, after all, a Vermont native.
“I prefer snowy conditions,” Rowe said.
But after navigating the twice-looped, 26.2-mile course in Burlington, Rowe had no problems dealing with hotter weather. Her time and finish tell that story.
In her VCM debut for the marathon, the 2010 St. Johnsbury Academy graduate stormed to first place in the women’s open division, clipping the line at 2 hours, 46 minutes, 56 seconds. Rowe, 32, currently resides in Boston.
“It means a lot. I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time,” Rowe said, who previously ran a two-person relay at VCM with her husband. “Vermont is always my homeland.”
When she did live in Vermont, Rowe was a star high school athlete at St. Johnsbury, located in the Northeast Kingdom. There, she was a four-time Gatorade runner of the year between cross-country running and track and field, and was on SJA’s first girls basketball state championship.
In 2017, Rowe was inducted into the Vermont Principals’ Association Hall of Fame. And last summer, Rowe was the top women’s finisher at the USATF national trail championships held in New Hampshire.
RESULTS: Click here later Sunday for full marathon and relay results
Sunday’s marathon reminded Rowe of her high school days. Stretches on the bike path brought back memories of racing at the Burlington Invitational.
“It was a really cool moment,” said Rowe, a 2014 Dartmouth College graduate.
To avoid overheating, Rowe said she executed a “conservative” race strategy. “I was definitely trying to not blow up and staying within myself,” she said.
“I knew it was going to be a PR day. That didn’t matter to me, it was just being here and being with the crowd.”
Kiplangat Terer, a Kenyan native who spends half the year in Amherst, Massachusetts, captured the men’s open division in 2:23:13. The 37-year-old said he’s won half-a-dozen marathons in his career.
Top Vermont woman overcomes heat, quick start
Joanna Fortier nearly went out too fast.
“I really wanted to push myself and I paid for it,” the 34-year-old from Richmond said.
But Fortier regrouped, motivated by family, friends and thousands of cheering spectators, to complete the 26.2-mile course and claim top prize as the first Vermont resident to finish Sunday’s marathon.
File coverage: Course record shattered at the 2023 Vermont City Marathon & Relay
Fortier completed her fourth marathon in 3:09:04.
“I had no idea,” Fortier said about being the top Vermont woman. “I would say it was very hot. I’ve never blown up so much in my life. But I wanted it. It was rough, but really the community is so special.
“Having everyone cheering you on and screaming — it’s the best feeling ever.”
Nick Orlando of South Burlington was the first Vermont man to finish on Sunday. Orlando toured the course in 2:36:53, which was good enough for 10th overall and just ahead of Ben Groleau of North Ferrisburgh by 16 seconds.
Handcyclist champion raves about Vermont City Marathon course
Devann Murphy has won the handycle division at the Boston, Chicago and New York City marathons. Nothing, though, compares to the nearby Vermont City Marathon for the native of Keeseville, New York.
“This one is home, it’s that home crowd. It’s the race that hugs you,” said Murphy, a cancer survivor.
Murphy praised the race — VCM handcyslists have competed in a half-marathon in each of the last two years for safety reasons with the double-looped course for marathoners — and the atmosphere in retaining her crown from 2023. Sunday, she recorded a performance of 57:33.
“It was a little toasty and few bumps here and there, but the crowds made up for that,” said Murphy, who has raced at VCM for the better part of a decade.
Erik Corbett also repeated on the men’s side for handcylists. The Conway, New Hampshire, resident finished in 57:16.
Contact Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @aabrami5.
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Vermont
Gondolas Snack Bar Opens in Morristown
![Gondolas Snack Bar Opens in Morristown](https://media1.sevendaysvt.com/sevendaysvt/imager/u/facebook/41233730/sidedishes2-teaser-41d5d7cb830ae145.jpg)
Locals can now pull up, cool off and chow down at Morristown’s newest roadside destination, Gondolas Snack Bar. Owner Louis Ferris opened the creemee and burger spot on June 7 at 3107 Route 15.
A real estate professional with experience working in commercial kitchens, Ferris wants his new business to be ingrained in the community. After the former occupant of the spot, Mountain View Snack Bar, closed during the pandemic, he saw an opportunity to re-create his best memories of Vermont summers and give them back to people, he said.
“I’m just so excited to bring everyone together here,” Ferris said. “Our customers stay and hang out long after they’re finished with their creemees.”
Gondolas whips up triple-scoop cones in flavors such as maple, tutti-frutti and cotton candy, plus smash burgers, fries and onion rings. Ferris wants the snack bar to be authentic, which to him means locally sourced ingredients, such as creemee mix from Kingdom Creamery of Vermont, and live music on Saturday nights.
“We’d love to see anyone from Little League sports teams or friends having a reunion here,” Ferris said. “We just want to be that fun place for the community to get a treat.”
Gondolas operates daily from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. until October. Find out more at gondolassnackbar.com.
Vermont
Vermont National Guard facility set to reopen after major PFAS spill
Operators at a South Burlington wastewater treatment plant first noticed something strange Friday morning. A tank was filling with bubbles, like someone had filled it with laundry detergent.
“It looked like a white bubble bath,” said Bob Fischer, the water quality superintendent for South Burlington. “I could tell it was firefighting foam, but I didn’t know what kind.”
Fischer was right. The night before, 800 gallons of highly concentrated firefighting foam had spilled over the floor of the Vermont Army National Guard aircraft hanger in South Burlington.
It gathered in the landing gear of a Black Hawk military helicopter, before some 150 gallons flowed down a drain and entered the town’s wastewater system, according to National Guard estimates. The material reached a nearby pump station before entering the water treatment plant, which sits next to the Winooski River.
This type of firefighting foam is called aqueous film-forming foam or AFFF. It’s used for fires that involve flammable liquids, like burning jet fuel. The state of Vermont has banned its use because it contains relatively high concentrations of manufactured chemicals known as PFAS, which have been linked to cancer, liver problems and a myriad of other health issues and can be toxic even in tiny doses.
The Vermont National Guard hadn’t released the material for years — it wasn’t even supposed to be used in the case of a fire.
“If the fire suppression system discharged, all it would discharge is just water — we essentially bypassed the AFFF tank,” said Col. Jacob Roy, the construction and facility management officer at the National Guard. “We realized that the risk to the environment was pretty significant, and we did not want a chance having either a purposeful or accidental release.”
Vermont Army National Guard
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Courtesy
Roy suspects the spill Thursday night was a mechanical failure in their containment system. He said there’s been no evidence of a fire.
Since Friday morning, contractors have been out every day cleaning and testing the National Guard facility, the sewer lines, the pump station and the wastewater treatment plant. Roy expects the facility to be open to staff by Wednesday morning.
And test results from the Winooski River should come back within a week.
In the grand scheme of things, a release of around 150 gallons — about the size of a hot tub — is pretty small within the bigger river system, said Matt Chapman, who directs waste management and prevention at Vermont’s Department of Environmental Conservation.
“It’s good for perspective purposes to appreciate that on a normal day in the Winooski River, the river has a flow rate of about 5,000 gallons per second,” he said.
April McCullum
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Vermont Public
While he’s not overly concerned about contamination in the river, he said what’s less straightforward going forward is how to properly dispose of the 650 gallons of foam that’s been collected. The EPA released interim guidance this year that includes incineration, storage in landfills and underground injection, but none of the options are good.
“I think it’s fair to say there’s no guidance from EPA,” Chapman said.
“One of the reasons why we still have this product over the years onsite, [is] because it is not an easy product to get rid of,” echoed Roy.
He said the disposal method will ultimately depend on the concentration of PFAS found in testing and directed further questions about the disposal process to the National Guard’s waste disposal contractor, Republic Services.
A spokesperson for the company said they operate several hazardous waste landfills across North America, which are engineered to safely and responsibly manage this type of waste.
Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message.
Vermont
Gatorade names record-breaking North Country star VT’s top girls track and field athlete
North Country junior Sabine Brueck has been selected as Vermont’s top high school girls track and field athlete for the 2024 season, Gatorade announced Tuesday morning.
Brueck is the second athlete in program history to receive the award, which recognizes outstanding athletic excellence, high academic achievement and exemplary character.
The 5-foot-7 Brueck swept the 100- and 300-meter hurdles at the Division I state meet earlier this month, while also taking second in triple jump and third in long jump. Then at the New England championships, Brueck broke her own state record in the 300 hurdles (43.90 seconds) to nab third. Last week, she also reset the Vermont decathlon state record with a winning total of 5,755 points.
More: State records fall at 48th annual Vermont decathlon championships
Brueck has volunteered locally as a youth track, basketball and soccer coach and has also donated her time as a summer camp counselor, the Gatorade release said.
“Sabine has excelled in a variety of events this year,” Mount Mansfield coach Bill Eschholz said in a statement. “From the sprints to the hurdles to the jumps, she is, without a doubt, the best all-around athlete in track this year.”
Brueck has maintained an A average in the classroom. She will begin her senior year of high school this fall.
As part of Gatorade’s commitment to breaking down barriers in sport, every player of the year also receives a grant to donate to a social impact partner.
To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com.
Become a member of the Vermont Varsity Insider Facebook group at https://bit.ly/2MGSfvX.
Contact Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @aabrami5.
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