Lordina Button Earns 2025 VT100 Stoney Award: For the Ultimate Volunteer
Featured image: The start banner at the Vermont 100, reading 'Welcome Vermont 100 Family. It all starts here"; with the VT100 and VT Adaptive logos on either side.
We give the VT100 Stoney Award to the person each year who exemplifies the spirit and importance of being a rockstar volunteers. While we owe a debt to everyone who helps the Vermont 100 take shape and be successful, this person is “the ultimate volunteer” of the year!
Lorinda Button has been involved in the Vermont 100 for the past decade. As with many, her tenure started with volunteering at an aid station in her first year. The following year, she came for the entire weekend helping with everything from parking cars, to aid station support, to helping with the finish line food. She was so involved, available, and willing to do anything that she was saved in race committee member’s phone simply as ‘Super Volunteer’.
In 2017, Lorinda officially joined the race committee to captain the aid station supply coordination. This means she procures all the supplies that you see at every aid station – the food, safety, serving and cooking supplies. She spends days ahead of the race coordinating a team to divvy the supplies for the aid stations. Over the years, she has developed an excel file to detail what is needed and how it is divided up. When aid stations are closed, she details every supply returned to modify the formula. Her spreadsheets can provide answers such as how many pickles each runner consumes at the race, on average. Or, how many watermelon are consumed on a hot year vs. a mild year. This task takes months ahead of the event to coordinate, then spare weekends in the month leading up to the race, and several days before and after the race to complete. Lorinda does it all, often behind the scenes and unseen by the participants.
Lorinda is also someone who never says ‘no’ to anything, she always finds ways to help and fill the inevitable gaps. At this year’s race, when a last minute gap in the restock team came up, Lorinda stepped up to fill the void and worked the entire Saturday driving a restock truck around the course to ensure that aid stations didn’t run out of supplies.
We are grateful for the years and hours of dedication that Lorinda has given to the Vermont 100 over the years. While most participants may not see Lorinda, her passion and efforts impact every runner, rider, volunteer and pacer throughout the weekend.
… Want more content like this?
Read about 2025 VT100 Pinky/Hutchinson Award winner, John Geesler.
