The Vermont 100: How It All Began, According to Many-Time VT100 Ride Finisher Steve Rojek

NOTE: The following perspective was written by Steve Rojek, who has hosted the Vermont 100 start/finish area on his property at Smoke Rise Farm for years, and now owns half of Silver Hill, the current start/finish area for the Vermont 100. Steve has also completed the Vermont 100 many times over the years.

We thank Steve for sharing his perspective on the humble start of the Vermont 100, some of the history of the event, as well as his generosity and support of the event over the years. We also echo his gratitude for Sue and John Greenall, who own the other half of Silver Hill, as well as the running event’s founder, Laura Farrell.

“In 1977, at the pre-ride briefing of the Tevis Cup 100 mile ride* in Squaw Valley, California, Wendell Robie in his “how-it-all-began” speech made mention of the Green Mountain Horse Association and their 100 mile event that began in 1936.

When I got back to South Woodstock I was so bent on having a Tevis-like ride here in Vermont. Riders Betsy Cook and Sonny Holt and myself, along with Cornell Veterinarian Dr. Steve Roberts, made it happen in 1980. For the first three years we held the ride in Pomfret at Bill Emmons’s Cloudland Farm and attracted riders like Dr. Matthew MacKay Smith, Maggie Price, Valerie Kanavy, Nancy Beacon, Robin Culver (now Groves). The ride was not held for a couple years because riders were not pre-entering and the volunteer workers felt it was too much work to do not knowing if riders were going to show up.

Then in 1985, I brought the ride to our Smoke Rise Farm where it was held until 2004. Endurance rider Laura Farrell from Brownsville Vermont decided to run the “human” 100 mile marathon at the Old Dominion in Front Royal, Virginia, winning the fastest woman award. Laura was hooked and approached me with the idea of combining our Equine 100 mile event with the Human 100 mile marathon, and I thought that would be great. The year was 1988 and the event would be a benefit for the Vermont Handicapped Ski and Sports Association (now known as Vermont Adaptive Ski & Sports), a very worthwhile and appropriate organization.

Gordon Ainsleigh was the person who turned the Tevis into a ride/run when he decided that his horse was only slowing him down. He became the first person to run 100 miles. Gordon came to Vermont to run in 1999. Tevis, Old Dominion, and Vermont were three events that had horses and runners on course at the same time. Eventually the Old Dominion and the Tevis ride/run split into two separate events, leaving the Vermont 100 the last and only event with horses and runners competing on the same trail.

For many years we had Tuxedo-clad piano player Ed Chenoweth playing “Chariots Of Fire” under the light of a Liberace-like candelabra beginning at 4 A.M. for the start of the run and again at 5 A.M. for the start of the horse endurance ride. There were fireworks off in the distance announcing the start of each event as well. The night before was a sit-down supper in the indoor arena for participants and their crews and the volunteers. Then on Sunday, the Hartland Volunteer Fire department put on a Chicken Barbecue for the same group before the completion belt buckle awards were given out.

In 2004, the ride venue was moved just up the road to Jose Bernatchez’s Silver Hill where her big field was perfect for horse rigs and tents. Sue and John Greenall worked so hard to put on a class act for everyone involved. Managing Volunteers (and there are so many) and getting permission from so many private land owners, along with hiring Veterinary judges and marking trails is a monumental task. Sue and John are unsung heroes in my book.

*Tevis Cup 100 mile ride is the horse ride event that the Western States 100 run event spurred from. They follow roughly the same course.

Do you have a story from the early days of the Vermont 100?

We’d love to hear it! Email Race Director Amy Rusiecki.