About
OUR PURPOSE
GMARA is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to serve adventure racers in Vermont and the rest of the Northeast US. The club works to promote and grow the sport through a variety of activites. GMARA is made up of athletes with a variety of backgrounds and race experience levels.
HISTORY
GMARA was officially founded December 2003, although the club got its beginnings several years before when a group of racers based in Burlington began attending races together. The group grew from an initial nine to forty in a year. Two races were held privately for club members. The club founder met other area racers who were motivated to make the club official, and GMARA was created.
501(c)(3) Status
The Green Mountain Adventure Racing Association is a non-profit corporation. As a 501(c)(3) organization, donations to GMARA (including membership fees) may qualify as a charitable deduction for federal income tax purposes. We will provide donation receipts on request. Please consult with your tax advisers or the IRS to determine whether a contribution is deductible.
Meet The Team
These folks give countless hours to keep GMARA running and make our events awesome.
GMARA is 100% volunteer-run. We appreciate your thanks!
Chris Yager
Founder, President
Way back in 2002 Chris saw the Eco-challenge on TV and decided it would be fun to give that sport a shot. 20+ years later, we’re still doing this thanks to his leadership. Chris is a frequent course designer and race director as well as the person who keeps the organization going.
When he’s not outside with his family, Chris helps navigate at software engineering organizations.
Shawn Freebern
Executive Director, Board Member
Shawn coordinates the checkbooks, cameras, checklists, code, checkpoints, courses, communication, anything starting with the letter C. When he’s not working behind the scenes to keep GMARA running, Shawn spends time with his wife and daughters. Like many GMARA volunteers, he also donates time to IBM in exchange for stress and money.
Tim Curtin
Founder, Board Member
Tim is one of the founding board members, a racer, director, and the original graphic designer (inventor of the “gearflake”). Lately, he’s been spending most of his time trying to cross that uphill tyrolean from Frigid 2012. When he’s not stuck on a rope over a ravine, Tim spends time at a well-known chip design company and organizes fabulous events for Back to Black VT.
Tom Martin
Board Member
Tom found adventure racing in 2015 and decided a 10 hour winter event was the perfect date/relationship tester. Fast forward 2 national championship races, 1 multi day expedition race, international competition, and of course getting lost in the woods too many times to count – In 2019 Tom was finally convinced to join the dark side – race directing! As a member of the GMARA board, Tom works with local land trusts, scouts terrain, trains new racers how to navigate with map and compass, and many things in between – all in an effort to help get people out and exploring the wilderness in a way unlike any other sport can!
Amanda Martin
Board Member
Amanda found adventure racing in 2015 and decided a 10 hour winter event was the perfect date/relationship tester. Fast forward 2 national championship races, 1 multi day expedition race, international competition, and of course getting lost in the woods too many times to count. As a member of the GMARA board, Amanda works with local land trusts, scouts terrain, trains new racers how to navigate with map and compass, and many things in between – all in an effort to help get people out and exploring the wilderness in a way unlike any other sport can!
Ross Lieblappen
Board Member
Ross is a long time GMARA racer and race director who has a soft spot for swamp hike-a-bikes. He perhaps holds the record for most different race partners in GMARA races (although probably not something to be proud of?). Ross loves maps: navigating with them, creating them for future GMARA races, and using them to research Arctic sea ice. When he is not racing with GMARA, he is either out adventuring with his family or teaching science at Vermont State University.
Kit Vreeland
Board Member
Kit’s first adventure race was the GMARA Bitter Pill in 2007. The Bitter Pill race day was her favorite day of the year for almost a decade before expanding her AR pursuits both nationally and internationally, including short sprint-style races to expeditions as long as 9 days. Her role on the GMARA board primarily includes anything that requires being in the woods, such as course testing, setting and retrieving flags, and ensuring the presence of nettles. She is currently one of the members of the 2023 USARA Women’s Division National Championship team, and is an advocate for increasing visibility of women in the sport.
Colin Rose
Board Member
Colin makes races happen – scouting course, laminating checkpoint tags, picking up 35 gallons of water, hanging flags, collecting paperwork, moving bikes, analyzing post-race results, taking photos, talking to sponsors, staffing TAs… without him these races would be a mess.
Colin was co-director of the 2014 Bitter Pill. He spends his free time alternating between volleyball and knee surgery.
John Davison
Volunteer of Doom
If you’ve raced with GMARA, chances are good that John checked your gear or checked you in at a TA. He has volunteered at more events than anyone except Chris. He knows how a GMARA race runs, inside and out, from timing to tyroleans.
Graham Bates, Board Member Emeritus
Graham is a racer (a member of the legendary “Wet Yeti Contest”), race director, and primary course designer for many Frigid Inflictions. Graham spends his nights and weekends in Rochester, VT scouting course for a future event in the Green Mountain National Forest. During the days, he loans his brain to Global Foundries as a Copper CMP process engineer.
Kate Yager
Kate has skills that the rest of us lack, like being able to write a paragraph without 3000 commas. We appreciate the help with press releases and easily parseable text.
Eli Moulton, Board Member Emeritus
Eli is a founding board member. He used to race more often, now he mostly handles GMARA’s legal work, makes sure we pay our taxes and keep our insurance up to date.
Eli is a founding partner at The Moulton Law Group, providing legal services for businesses.
Here are things a few of our racers had to say about our races. One of our favorite parts of putting on these events is talking with racers afterwards. Messages like this make it all worthwhile.
Thank you so much for organizing the adventure race on Saturday! It was my first one and I had so much fun. I enjoyed getting to know all the wonderful people who participated in or facilitated the event and could not be more proud of what my teammates and I accomplished. Thank you so much for making this past weekend so memorable, successful, and exhilarating. It was fabulous!
– Abigail Bliss, Team Knights
We have been adventure racers for many years and have a great deal of respect for the people that organize the races. GMARA, in particular, does a great job making all the participants feel like they are part of an elite group of athletes. From the first timers to the veterans, it is well-known that the experience will not vary. It ranges from nervousness at the beginning of the race, exhilaration at the sound of the gun, pain at the onset of the first hill, cursing at the sight of the second hill, joy on the downhill, smiles at all of the checkpoints, a sense of accomplishment at the finish, and gratefulness to the people who are willing to spend hours upon hours setting and vetting a course to give you every emotion on the spectrum.
Without question GMARA provides this type of service and they are some of the best in the business. Our many thanks for an exceptional race this year, and we look forward to August and the BITTER PILL.
If you get a chance and are in the area during one of their races – give it a try. I promise you will do well and have a great time.
– Team Granite AR
Thanks again for a great race. I was amazed at how fast results were posted with such detail! Although the hills on the bike portion really tested us, the views of the rolling hills were spectacular. We are in for next year and also for the winter race!
– Don Hess, Team D Cubed
I wanted to send you a quick e-mail to thank you for organizing such an incredible event. It was my teams first adventure race and we left beaten battered and bruised but with smiles on our faces. I have to say the bike portion was insane, by the end I didn’t want to see another hill in my life.
We learned quite a bit through the race and know what we need to remember and improve on for next year! Cant wait to do it again.
– Chris Thiesen, Team The Professional Amateurs
Just wanted to thank you for a wonderful race and excellent introduction to adventure racing. Yes, it’s a great sport and I can’t wait to do another one. Your staff, your organization, and the volunteers were all first class. Nice work! Loved the tyrolean crossing, bonfire, smiles everywhere. Cozy, family, straight-on attitude by all. Nice.
– Robyn Metcalfe, Team Young and Younger
Hey GMARA gang, thanks for putting on another great show. Your races are pretty much our favourites now, so those dates are solid in our calendar once you’ve posted them! There’s so many things that make your races a success:
– the price is reasonable
– the atmosphere is friendly
– the navigation is challenging
– the terrain is interesting
– the scenery is beautiful
– extremely well-organized
– an army of motivated, fun, like-minded volunteers
– the courses are excellent, providing challenge to experienced racers and newbies alike (and allows for tactical decisions — this is hard to accomplish in a short race format)
– the after-race party is fantastic, and the food is second-to-none
– free massage!!
– the prizes are amazing
– results and pics are posted in record time
– your results page is superb for post-race analysis
– etc……
We haven’t stopped telling our friends what a great time we have at GMARA races. It’s hard to think what could be improved.
– Scott & Pascale, Team Slow Transition
Thanks for another great race! The Frigid Infliction is becoming a tradition that I look forward to more than most holidays, and you guys put on another wonderful event this year. Thanks on behalf of all the kids we brought up, too…as I was talking to them later in the evening I got the distinct impression that they all had a real adventure, which I always think is the more important of the two elements in adventure racing anyway.
– Brian Staveley, Team UltraBambi
Thanks again for a great race. This is my second year (last year with “who brought the beer”.) Your race summary and results made it easy to share the experience with friends and family – thanks for such a description summary.
Great fun with great friends. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
– David Dix, Team Dixie and Chicks
The Bitter Pill was awesome! (awesomely challenging that is – thx GMARA –“uphill both ways” makes sense to me now).
It was an amazing experience. Our goals were (1) to live (2) to finish, and (3) to have fun. So as far as we are concerned, we won!
– Jenn Lee, Team Armadillo VooDoo Lovey Dolls
Yeah, I really enjoy Adventure Racing. In the past when I’ve done long events, like 24 hr Mt Bike races, I’ve said “never again” during or right after the event. I thought that might be the case with AR, or at least take a couple weeks to get over it. But, with all the events so far I’m basically itching to go again the next day. It’s a LOT of fun.
– Geoff Elder, Team Santa Cruz
“I just wanted to add my voice to the thanks for a great event. It was my first ever adventure race – and your event turned out to be a good one to cut my teeth on. Just keep on ordering up that perfect weather!!
Thanks again, and I’m sure I’ll be seeing you again. Hopefully by that time I will know how to nav. Oh yeah – the jerseys are great. Proudly wearing it for the 3rd day in a row!
– Scott Forsyth, Team Slow Transition
“We had a great time at the Frigid Infliction, even with one geriatric teammate and one illin’ one that couldn’t speak. If it weren’t for getting lost for two hours on the first flag, maybe we would have even finished the whole course!
You all deserve a lot of credit. It couldn’t have been a simple task to organize the race, and you guys did a great job. So thank you.
We’re looking forward to this summer already.”
– Clara Funk, Team Funky-mak
“I wanted to briefly write to say thanks for again putting on an awesome race. For Chris and I this race was our first winter adventure race, and our second adventure race ever (the first being last year’s Bitter Pill race). We were both impressed by the planning and execution of this race. The tyrollean traverse and second leg of snowshoeing were my personal favorites. We look forward to this years Bitter Pill.”
– Andrew Maki, Team Framptons Still Alive
“This was my fifth twelve hour race, and I found it to be the best course, and best run race that I’ve participated in. ”
– Dan Smith, Team Srgt Poncherello
“You put on a great race….not only because it is so well organized, but because it incorporates both experienced and beginner racers without either category feeling short-changed. It is obvious how much work you all put in and it is very much appreciated by all of us. I can’t imagine ever doing a race that feels more supportive to the racer yet challenges each person to their limits!”
– Lisa Koitzsch, Team Hammerhead
“I want to thank you and your crew for the awesome job you did with planning the race. This was our first adventure race and we were impressed with the race itself and everything surrounding it – from the pre-race info to the dinner/awards ceremony. Nice work! We’re looking forward to the next one!”
– Greg Dean, Team 3M
“We had a great time. We plan to return, sharpen our backcountry skills and return for additional doses of whatever beatdown you can give us.”
– Will Bohmann, Team Lost Boys
“Thanks for putting on a great race! Our team had an awesome time!! For us living in CT., we hardly saw any snow this year. So, WOW !!, traveling to Bolton Valley we found winter. The snow was much deeper than we had imagined, which made for a very adventurous 10 hours of racing! You put on fantastically challenging race and some how managed to keep it FUN!! Oh yeah, I can’t forget to mention the post race food !! It was a great spread!!”
– Kerri Moore, Team Berlin Bike
“Thanks again for putting on an amazing race. This event was an unreal introduction to adventure racing and I can’t wait to do it again. As a member of the Jackrabbit Jamboree, I can tell you that it was a highlight of each of our college years.”
– Bernard Rocca, Team Hyperactive Jackrabbit Jamboree
“Sheila and I would like to thank you and your team for an excellent AR. It was amazing and we could not have asked for better weather. It is such a great area. We will be back, if possible, for more AR with you guys in the future.
– Michel Pinault, Team Forest Wild Canucks