"Demong Supports Hometown Trails"

[From Fasterskier.com]

SARANAC LAKE, NY (Oct. 5) – There are two significant road signs along the winding highway leading from Lake Champlain to the Adirondack Mountains.

The first is stark green and marks Fletcher Farm road in Vermontville, population 853. It reads “Home of Billy Demong, Olympic gold and silver champion.” Roughly 10 miles later is another welcoming travelers to Saranac Lake. This one plainly states “Home of the 1996 State Champion Cross Country Team.”

Demong referenced the second when addressing a group of hundreds Monday at the village owned Dewey Mountain Ski Center, half were piled into a blue and white tent, the others spilling across the lawn. Waist high children made loops of the tent and adjacent playground as proud parents looked on. His mother Helen and father Leo among them. It was there that Demong and fellow biathlon Olympians Tim Burke trained for that 1996 Saranac Lake High School title.

Finish the article here.

a day away from the range

Uihlein Ironman Sports Fund Athlete Grant

One way to go from here...

...to here...

....is through locally supported ski programs.

I thankfully have been through a couple of those types of programs through the years and I'd like to take note of the philanthropic arms of region that have supported both those programs and their athletes along the way.

The Uihlein Ironman Sports Fund Athlete Grant Reception is held today for its 2010 recipients at Heaven Hill Farm in Lake Placid. I am unable to attend while training here in Utah, but would like to extend my thanks to Uihlein Ironman Sports Fund Grant committee and the Adirondack Community Trust for their continued support.

The Grant's mission:

• Provide financial support for competitive, local, young athletes with regional, national and international promise in traditional winter and summer sports. 
• Provide general program support to local nonprofit organizations that expose area youth to traditional summer and winter sports.

This type of support is representative of the belief in the value of local athletes and the benefit of sport, both for the individual or non-profit group, as well as the community and Olympic region as a whole. 

My athletic career has evolved right along with this Grant, and I appreciate that it has grown with me and helped me meet my financial needs as a full-time biathlete. Its benefits are mutual however. Over the years it has also placed the responsibility in my hands for giving back to the community that has helped me along the way. Thus it has been both the  motivator and enabler of such projects. This is my 6th year receiving this local athlete grant and I am psyched to put in another year of visiting classrooms, skiing with youth programs and promoting the benefits of skiing in the Lake Placid region.

Thanks UISF and ACT!

USOC's Beyond Sport Summit

"We all believe sport can bring youth away from and into very important things, away from crime, away from violence, and into academics, into sport, into character development," Pat Ryan, the head of the Chicago 2016 bid and chairman of World Sport Chicago, said in his address.


I came across this article on TeamUSA.org, "Aiming to affect great, lasting social change" and the above quote to well express the power to of the Olympic movement that can happen on a daily, individual and community level. 

With that said, the Lake Placid Ski Club sign up is Saturday October 30th from 10 till 2 at the at the St. Agnes School in Lake Placid. See you there!

Fall Equinox

The last day of summer:

The first day of fall:

Thanks Rudy Project!!!

Gym Class

Its been awhile since I've been to Gym Class, and this year, Monday's visit to Mr. Young's class at the LP Elementary School will be the first of quite a few. In the past I visited kids in their classrooms. However, this year I wanted to take a different approach. Being active with kids and working along side those who are already promoting activity and healthy choices, seemed to be a more effective way, naturally. On Monday I visited 4th and 5th grade gym classes.

This project is a bit free form, but the intention will always be clear: I think role models are really important figures in our lives. In the environment of gym class and school, an athlete can be a meaningful, local and real life example to learn from. I know this reads a bit like NPR's "This I believe," but I am excited for what another year holds.

The theme for Monday's class was cooperation and teamwork, hence the ball between our heads while doing a push-up. Not easy - give it a try.

The next visit is slated for the end of October once I am back home from a National Team Training Camp in Utah.

a successful trail run on a beautiful fall day

Participants of the Jackrabbit Trail run started in the cool fog Saturday morning, passing along the beaded Kenyan gecko from runner to runner from Paul Smiths to Lake Clear to Saranac Lake to Lake Placid and ended at Keene's Rock and River Inn and guiding service.

While on the trail just past the beaver dam:

I had some special company at the end of my run in addition to the ladies above. Jenna, a student and Bill Koch skier, whom I met at the Lake Placid Elementary school last year, joined me for the last mile or so. Getting to go for a run and chat was great fun. I hope we get to do it again some time!

The joint effort made us both a bit "taller" and stronger that day:

Here's the crew that finished out the last leg of the run from Mountain Rd. on Rt. 86 to Rock and River. Well, actually I was the only one to join in for the last leg. The others were having such a great time that they continued on leg after leg of the journey to make it to the end.

Thanks for hosting such a fun event Keela! Glad it has been so successful for Reason 2 Smile!

If you think you can do a thing or you think you can't do a thing, you are right.

-Henry Ford

I listened to a St. Lawrence University Sports Psychologist Professor speak today about Motivation. A lot of what she had to say I had heard many times before, but it never hurts to revisit the things that drive you forward.