After the first re-running of Mad River Valley fave, the four-event Mad River Valley Triathlon, event partner Friends of the Mad River provides some stats about the event.
With nearly 300 participants, 100 volunteers, and the after-party at Mt. Ellen, it's fair to say that the return of the Mad River Triathlon was a success. “Initial feedback has been incredibly positive. Visitors to the area loved the charm and quirkiness of the event. Long-standing local community members felt like this year's rendition harkened back to what made the event so special for so many years. Newer additions to the community got a taste of a fun event that has helped to shape the culture of the Mad River Valley,” FMR wrote in a recent newsletter.
By the numbers:
- 276 registered participants.
- 40 -- estimated number of members of Team Zetty, participating in honor of Rosetta "Zetty" Weber, who was killed in a car crash the Thursday before the race.
- 87 -- community members who volunteered as course marshals, aid station support, river safety personnel, and numerous other jobs.
- 1-- kitchen-sized trash bag worth of waste collected at the aid stations. With a concerted effort to minimize packaging and to encourage people to bring their own water bottles, the three aid stations along the course generated a single kitchen-sized bag of waste. For comparison, most races of similar size fill several contractor bags worth of paper cups, Gu packets, wrappers, and other miscellaneous items.
- 20 -- number of dozens of items of baked goods prepared by volunteers to serve along the course.
- 300 -- estimated number of shuttle bus rides provided by Green Mountain Transit and our GMVS volunteer drivers.
- 1 -- cancelled river cleanup event. Organizers had hoped to do a river scout and cleanup event the day before the event, but the river was just too high to do it safely. Keep an eye out for future opportunities coming up this summer.
This event was hosted as a collaboration between Friends of the Mad River, the Mad River Path, the Mad River Riders, and Mad Valley Sports.
