running together
The first official marathon in the United States took place on April 19, 1897. That first year, there were fifteen competitors and only ten that crossed the finish line. In 2024, it was estimated that more than 465,000 runners completed one of the approximately one thousand marathons that are hosted in the U.S. each year.
Once the territory of elite athletes, the marathon–a grueling 26.2 miles–has now become something of a rite of passage for many, including weekend warriors, casual runners, and even couch potatoes turned first-time athletes. Some run for a cause, raising money or awareness for a personal passion. Others run as a personal challenge or in search of transformation of body and mind. Many become marathoners in search of community.
“Marathon participation rates in the U.S. have risen 255 percent since the 80s, and there’s like 1.3 million people worldwide that run marathons,” explains Peter Delaney, former longtime director of RunVermont, a non profit organization dedicated to promoting the sport of running and hosting premier running events in the state of Vermont. “There was even a movie that came out a few years ago called Brittany Runs, a sort of a coming-of-age movie about a woman who’s training for a marathon. Marathons are really part of the cultural lexicon now.”
Delaney joined RunVermont as its executive director in 2009 after working in the ski industry for three decades. He retired in 2024 after fifteen years at the helm, passing the baton to Anthea Dexter-Cooper who now serves as executive director.
Today RunVermont produces seventeen races in the state, including the M&T Bank Vermont City Marathon (VCM).
Held every year since 1989 on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, the VCM is the largest single-day sporting event in Vermont, attracting more than five thousand runners from around the world, twenty thousand spectators, and eight hundred volunteers.
“The marathon is very important for us because of the economic benefit that it brings to Vermont and to Burlington,” Delaney explained. “It brings attention to Burlington and shows what the city has to offer, what the state of Vermont has to offer. It’s an opportunity that brings a large group of people together for something good. It’s a powerful weekend.”
VCM features a range of race options to appeal to a variety of competitors, including the full 26.2 mile marathon, a two-person relay, and a three-to-five person relay. VCM was the first U.S. marathon to include relay events as a regular offering, making the event uniquely attractive to both amateur runners and competitive runners.
Another attraction? The course winds runners along the shimmering Burlington waterfront, including five miles along the banks of Lake Champlain with its stunning views of the Adirondacks.
“We tend to take it for granted because we see it every day,” Delaney admits. “But it really is a world class venue. Some of our well-known local runners will be at, for example, the New York Marathon, but that just doesn’t compare to the scenic beauty of running on the course we have here.”
Named by Runner’s World Magazine as one of the twenty best marathons in the United States, the VCM has been sponsored by M&T Bank for the past decade. For Kathy Schirling, vice president and senior program officer for the M&T Charitable Foundation, working with Delaney to ensure the event is a success is more than a job, it’s a passion project. Not only does she live in the community, right along the marathon course, she has worked at M&T her entire career.
“When my colleagues talk about their progressions through the bank, a lot of them start as a teller. I didn’t start that way,” Schirling explains. “I actually started when I was in high school. I had a friend at the bank who needed some photocopying help. So I’d come in the evenings and do that, and I ended up coming back after college. I was doing advertising work, and then slowly moved into different positions, and then had the opportunity to do philanthropy and community events and I was drawn to it. It’s just something you feel good doing.”
To Schirling, the VMC is an ideal fit for the M&T Charitable Foundation.
“We look for opportunities that support the community as a whole, and support low to moderate income communities, and opportunities that are healthy,” she explains. “We’re always working with nonprofit groups to try to encourage more activity. For example, the Burlington Police Department has a running group that works with some of the community centers around the city to bring in kids.”
In her decade of helping to plan and execute the marathon, Schirling has watched it grow in size and in impact on the community she and Delaney both call home.
“It’s a powerful event. The first year that we were the title sponsor, we were walking up the hill to where the start line is, and you just feel the emotion–the amount of people, the runners, the spectators, how early in the morning it is,” she explains. “Everyone is there, and they’re happy, you know, because everybody’s out there for a positive reason.”
What sets the VCM apart, both Schirling and Delaney insist, is the community that supports it. Known for its quirky culture and free spirit, Burlington is a city of about forty-seven thousand residents that enjoy thriving art, music, and restaurant scenes, all against the gorgeous backdrop of Lake Champlain and the Green Mountains and Adirondacks.
“What’s unique about our race in Burlington is it really is the community coming together. It’s hard to describe. It’s something you really need to experience,” Delaney explains. “You know, Burlington is just like any other city. It’s got all its politics, you know–this controversy and that controversy. But the great thing about marathon weekend is everybody comes together, the entire community, and they put all that
stuff aside.”
Neighborhoods pull out all the stops that day, introducing runners to Burlington’s unique personality.
“They have garage bands. They’re putting out their own aid stations. They’re cutting up oranges. And they’ve got hoses and signs and all kinds of stuff goes on for the entire footprint of the race,” Delaney explains. “For most marathon courses, you can find some places that are pretty lonely and pretty quiet, but not here.”
The runners are not the only competitors that day. For the past ten years, M&T has given a community spirit award, determined by asking runners to vote for the community along the course that best represents the spirit of the VCM. According to Delaney, enthusiasm for the event has grown over time and shows no signs of waning.
“Some of our volunteer groups, you know, manning the aid stations, the water stops–a couple of these groups have been doing it since 1989. Yeah, I challenge you to try and tell them that it’s time to retire,” Delaney says, laughing. “They’re not going to.”
While the Burlington community is rallying for its thirty-sixth VCM, more than a few competitors will be arriving in Burlington for their very first marathon. It’s something that Delaney takes very seriously.
“We get a lot of first-time marathoners at VCM. It’s really a life-changing event for a lot of people,” Delaney says. “When your key constituents have that much invested in it, you’re going to go the extra mile, to make sure you can deliver.”
Some marathoners run one race, then check it off their bucket list. Others run yearly, or set even more ambitious goals like running a marathon on every continent. Some of us admire the tenacity of the marathoner, but prefer to cheer from the road side. Delaney insists that the VCM is for everyone.
“We want to treat you like you’re our next-door neighbor, and we want you to come back,” Delaney says.
And come back they do. The 2025 race, held on May 25, hosted nearly 1,900 runners and one thousand relay teams, as well as thousands of spectators who lined the streets. And then there were the many Burlington residents who happily opened their city and their neighborhoods to the runners. To Delaney, the generosity and hospitality shown during the VCM is not a once-a-year anomaly, but the definition of who the people of Vermont, and his neighbors in Burlington, truly are.
“We had a past board member who described it as a weekend of inspiration and aspiration. If you’re not running, you’re on the sideline, cheering, and it gives you energy, you catch the vibe,” said Delaney. “The race is not just a reflection of Burlington, it’s a reflection of Vermont and its good, old fashioned, down-home values.”
To learn more about the Vermont City Marathon and RunVermont, visit www.RunVermont.org.