Cecilia Luce is a Thetford Academy student working with the Underground Workshop, a network of student journalists across Vermont partnering with Community News Service.
The population of Thetford is around 2,500. But each year on the first Saturday of October, that number doubles.
The annual Woods Trail Run, affectionately known as “Woods Trail” by Thetford Academy runners, brings thousands of runners and spectators from across the Northeast to compete on the school’s five kilometer race course.
The Woods Trail Run has taken place at Thetford Academy every year since 1991 (except for 2020 due to the Covid-19 shutdown). David McGinn, the current Woods Trail meet director, said that the first Woods Trail Run only had about 50 competitors, and the largest race had more than 2,100.
“It has certainly come a long way over the years,” McGinn said.
How does such a small town manage the high volume of visitors? Community volunteers.
Karen Heinzmann, a French teacher at Thetford Academy and a volunteer at Woods Trail for more than a decade, currently oversees the parking process on race day. Heinzmann described the importance of making a good first impression on behalf of the entire community.
“You’re the first face that people see when they get to the school,” she said.
Loretta Gray, secretary of the Thetford Academy Alumni Association, also strives to help Woods Trail competitors and spectators enjoy their time at Thetford. Gray coordinates the food tent at the race, and often gets compliments about the quality of the concessions.
Gray said that it’s “rewarding” when visiting teams, coaches and bus drivers say that Thetford has the best concession stand of any meet that they attend.
“That makes you feel good,” Gray said.
Heinzmann used to oversee the entire team of Woods Trail volunteers before stepping down to only coordinate the parking crew. Along with parents, faculty, staff and Alumni Association members, Heinzmann said that students make up a large portion of the volunteer force.
Heinzmann said that on a typical year, 50-60 Thetford students help out on race day. Along with parking, tasks include distributing water to runners, running behind competitors to make sure anyone who gets injured is accounted for, trash patrol and even holding up a banner for the winner of each race as they cross the finish line.
Runners on the Thetford Academy cross country team also help to set up the race and clean up after the awards ceremony.
“Ultimately, while no one expects the cross country team to help out, a lot of runners end up helping out at the end,” Heinzmann said.
McGinn has also seen the Thetford community come together and help with the race throughout his years as meet director.
“Everybody does such an amazing job picking up afterwards,” he said. “It’s amazing to think that we double the size of Thetford on the day, and yet at 5 o’clock it looks like almost nothing happened.”
Whitney Lewis, a 12th grader at Thetford Academy, has been involved with Woods Trail both as a volunteer and as a competitor. Lewis volunteered with the results crew and the awards ceremony at Woods Trail in both 2021 and 2022. This year, she decided to join the cross country team instead.
“As a runner, I can definitely see all the work that was put into making the race happen,” Lewis said. “It’s actually really heartwarming to see all the community members who come together to make Woods Trail happen.”
Lewis said that she enjoyed her time volunteering, but is also glad to have had the chance to compete at the race.
“It was a great day to be running,” she said.
Editors’ Note: Cecilia Luce is a member of the Thetford Academy Varsity Cross Country team.