After a break of several years, we were very excited to return to our roots with our longest standing race, The Bitter Pill. The 2025 edition ventured into new territory in the wilds of the Northeast Kingdom.

Racers started the day with a dark and misty 4:15AM arrival to Burke Mountain Hotel where they loaded buses and set off for a yet-to-be-disclosed starting location. As the ride progressed, some teams began to get nervous about just how far this bus was taking them. A few racers took the opportunity to get some additional sleep!

After the mysterious forty-five minute ride, they arrived and found themselves on the southern fog-drenched shores of Moore Reservoir in Littleton, NH – the first time the Bitter Pill has ever been outside of Vermont proper.

Still with no idea of what exactly lay ahead, teams received sealed envelopes, a short verbal introduction, and then the clock started at about 5:50AM as they revealed their maps and course instructions for the first time. As of that moment, they were on the clock, with an official end of race cutoff at 6:10pm. (Ten extra minutes! GMARA must be getting soft…)

For the first leg, teams could gather up to 13 points using a combination of paddling and trekking. While a few teams headed straight for the boats to brave the dense fog that was hiding TA1 on the other side of the reservoir, most folks set off on foot, jogging down the snowmobile trail toward CPs 2-5. Aside from some briar-ravaged legs (we warned you!) and a few bee strings (bad luck), racers reemerged from the woods in good spirits and headed for the water.

The reservoir presented some unique strategy decisions. There were 3 points (CPs A, B, C) on the opposite shore where teammates could split up and gain efficiency by dropping a team member at one point and picking them up farther down the shore. There were also two points that could be gathered on this stage or in the following stage by bike, saving a couple miles of paddling in exchange for some added miles of biking and a short swim.

Teams started trickling in off the water to TA1 at the Waterford boat launch (back in Vermont, phew) around 9:00AM where they were greeted by a group of friendly volunteers and their bikes.

From there started the longest leg of the race with a minimum of 16.5 miles and more than 2000’ of hills ahead. Aside from a few grassy logging roads to access some optional points along the reservoir, most of the ride northward was on classic VT gravel, class four (unmaintained) roads, some ATV trails and only a couple hundred yards of pavement. Those who skipped CP10 on the paddle could also zip down a rough trail on bikes and swim ~200ft out to the flag perched on a buoy.

Navigation was generally pretty straightforward, but a surprise Saturday visit by the Victory town road grader gave racers an extra challenge with loose gravel and clouds of dust along the final long climb to TA2. While some conspiracy theorists may implicate GMARA in arranging said grader, we promise it was just a pleasant coincidence.

By the time teams reached TA2 in the heart of Victory State Forest, the heat and humidity had climbed at about the same pace as the elevation gain. Luckily, fresh water and surprise freeze pops awaited them for a double action boost to morale and blood sugar.

Once teams had finished their pops and planned their Stage 3 trek, they headed into the woods on foot. There were a total of 13 CPs available (all optional) spanning high elevation reentrants to lowland points around “Bog Pond” – who could resist! (well, actually everyone except one team. It’s almost like people have some memories of GMARA and bogs and ponds and swamps, oh my. Note: we’ll have to try to find Bog Swamp Pond for the next race.)

There were two points that teams could retrieve on foot during this stage or on the following bike stage; teams definitely took differing strategies here which we love to see.

The woodland travel was extremely variable, ranging from open deciduous forests and beaver ponds, to moss covered evergreen groves and dense cedar swamps. Teams who stayed close to the TA had relatively simpler navigation, and things got trickier the further afield they ventured.

Course instructions recommended returning from the trek and leaving TA3 by 3:45PM in order to make time for the last bike stage back to the finish line. While only a minimum of 8.5 miles, it packed another healthy dose of elevation (at least 1500’) as the route snaked around and up the back side of Burke mountain. Teams could choose a more direct route with extra elevation that ascended single track trails before dropping down to the rough, unmaintained CCC Road, or take a longer route that back tracked down Victory Hill Road and entered the CCC Road on mellower terrain (at least to start).

While mostly biking (plus some bike pushing, let’s be honest), this last stage also offered optional points to trek up the steep ski slopes of Burke Mountain, or up the Red Trail to a beautiful mossy saddle. Seven teams also took the option to drop down onto some more technical mountain biking trails, and make their way back to the finish from below, while the rest of the field decided to ride the rough and rocky, water bar-filled CCC Road down to the Toll Road and back to the finish!

The finish line was an exciting place to be as most teams rolled in between 6:00 and 6:10PM, squeaking in right under the time limit to a crowd of cheering friends, family and fellow racers. Everyone was down safe and sound by 7:00PM and welcomed by cold Shrubbly beverages (one of our sponsors), a hearty buffet, plus awards and raffle at the resort.

Thank you to all the racers who showed up and gave it their all on a big and challenging course. And a huge shout out to and thank you to all the volunteers, friends, family and partners whose ingrained knowledge & go-get-it-done attitude keeps the gears turning and the freeze pops flowing.

And special thank you to our sponsors!
– Mammut
– Outdoor Gear Exchange
– Shrubbly
– New Chapter
– Ski Vermont
– Cabot Cheese

In the premier 3 person coed division, team GMARA edged ahead of Rootstock Racing by just 2 points to take first place. Interestingly, across the course there were 3 CPs that were only visited once, two of them by GMARA and one by Rootstock. Other division winners were Chaos Required (2 person male), NYARA-Ubuntu (2 person coed), Out of Control (3 person male), Snack Attack (3 person female) and Meowtain Cats (2 person female).

And here are the full race results, in either a google sheet or excel format, down to every last CP punch! And be sure to check out the copious race photos.

If any teams have GPS tracks or writeups, please send them our way and we’ll include them here!

– Chaos Required Race Writeup

Lastly, check out this set of heat maps that show how often CPs were frequented! Sample:

Note: This went to racers in early June.

Hello Racers!

With May and all its 40° rain and snow behind us, it felt like a good time to send a thread of warmth from the summer everyone’s been patiently waiting for.

We’re very excited to see this year’s Bitter Pill filling up fast, with only a couple 2-person team openings left, and a few more in the 3-person category. If you have friends or family who want to join, now is the time to sign up! Speaking of which…

Please Register Your Teammates!
If your team has not filled its roster yet (e.g. you have a 3 person team, but only 1 or 2 people signed up so far), please do so ASAP. We will be placing an order for shirts very soon, and we need everyone’s shirt size from the registration form to make that happen. The sooner you do this, the less nerve wracking it is for us (and the more likely it is you’ll get the right size shirt). Thank you! (Link to Registration)

Accommodations & Bike Rentals
The East Burke area is abound with options for places to stay, but our host, Burke Mountain Hotel, has kindly offered a 10% discount on hotel rooms. Just ask for the GMARA room block and the discount to be applied to your stay. If you’ve already booked a room, you can call up reservations (866-966-4820) and ask them to move your reservation into the GMARA block and the discount will be applied retroactively.

Also, whether you need a bike for the race, or are making it a long weekend and want to rent something beefier for before-or-after fun on Kingdom Trails or the Burke Mountain Bike Park, there are multiple shops around town that offer great rental options.

Every Course Detail You Could Ever Want
Just kidding. But what you can look forward to is some beautiful paddling, all sorts of different biking, as much trekking as you want, a particularly diverse set of strategy decisions, and maybe a few surprises thrown in along the way. Also, note that there will be one mandatory bike leg of significant distance on (mostly) VT dirt/4th class roads that might be worth preparing for with some longer rides over the next month and a half.

We hope your training is going well and look forward to seeing you in July!

Cheers,
The GMARA Crew

More details coming soon, but in a surprise to even us we ARE bringing the Bitter Pill back in 2025, in an entirely new area of Vermont. More soon! Registration soon! Get adventuring now!

We’ve fielded lots of questions about our 2024 schedule. It’s exciting to see all the interest!

Thanks for your patience while we sorted through what was possible. After hosting last year’s USARA National Championships, we needed some time to see who had energy to focus on this year’s events.

We will be hosting the 24-hour Hard Fall in southern Vermont. We expect this event to sell out well in advance, so please sign up as soon as registration opens to guarantee your team a spot. We are determining if we can also hold a shorter Test Your Nettle event that same weekend; we’ll have an update on that front in a few weeks.

We’ll also be hosting, in partnership with Women of AR, a weekend training clinic to help women grow in the sport. Details will be posted to the site soon.

And inclosing, some disappointing news to many – we will not be holding a Bitter Pill in 2024. Our organizers are either focused on the two events above or spending some time racing themselves. We do expect the Bitter Pill to return in 2025!

What’s that you say? The USARA National Championships are coming to Vermont in 2023?

In this case, the rumors are very true! GMARA is proud to be designing and hosting Nationals next year. We are hard at work on designing a worthy 30-hour race course. The race is currently full and many teams are on the waitlist hoping that a space frees up.

If you are new to GMARA and wondering what type of events we offer, we suggest you peruse our various write-ups from two decades of putting on adventure events large and small. We look forward to showing you what Vermont has to offer.

We’re exploring options currently to see if we can host a Test Your Nettle event in 2022. There’s a chance we’ll be able to align one with the Bitter Pill. If it comes together we’ll update the site and announce it via our mailing list.

We’ve decided to wait a year to bring the Hard Fall back. It’s a lot to put on two major summer events; it’s important that we keep our organizers energized and our volunteers happy. Never fear – we expect to return with another 24 hour race in 2023!

The Bitter Pill Returns!
We’re excited to announce that we’ll be opening registration for the Bitter Pill on 4/1. Event basics are posted. It’s safe to say you’ll get to enjoy all the summer classics – paddling, trekking, navigation, and mountain biking.

We do expect to fill up again, and fill quickly, regardless of how many boats we can source from our suppliers. If you plan to race, sign up quickly to reserve your spot!

Taking place in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, the course highlighted the beauty, the challenge, and the remoteness of this amazing area.

Teams received their maps after completing registration early Saturday morning in St. Johnsbury. Depending on when they completed check-in, they had almost two hours to review the course and make their plans.

They were then loaded onto buses at 9am to take them the race start at the north end of Lake Willoughby, Vermont’s deepest lake.

There were no checkpoints on this initial section section, just a paddle due south to the far end of the lake to get to the first transition area (TA).

Teams looks determined on the beach as they heard the final set of pre-race instructions. They had spent months getting ready for what was moments away. As they looked out at Lake Willoughby, the magnitude of the challenge took shape.

In 1915, Robert Frost wrote about this body of water:
“I see it’s a fair, pretty sheet of water,
Our Willoughby! How did you hear of it?
I expect, though, everyone’s heard of it.
In a book about ferns? Listen to that!”

If only it were a sheet of water…in reality, there were incredibly strong headwinds greeting racers as they stood on the beach. It was clear their paddle wouldn’t be a fast cruise over glass, but instead a brutal paddle straight into the wind and through some whitecaps.

Given the wind and waves, boats were taking on water faster than most teams would have liked. A few teams did indeed capsize, and in true adventure racing fashion, either self-rescued or were assisted by other teams. Many teams stopped at least once to drain their boats and continue on.

In contrast, the last quarter mile was quite smooth!

After reaching the first TA, racers headed into a multi-hour trek with a twist. The points in this area were worth varying amounts (25, 50, 75 or 100 points). Every one hundred points would count as one full checkpoint. There were 1100 total points available, and racers could score up to nine checkpoints in this section. This led to lots of strategy decisions: Which points to get? How many to get? What order to get them in?

There were some truly spectacular views from a few of the points – well worth the hike even when not part of an adventure race!

After finishing this trek at TA 2, racers got on their bikes for the first time and biked to a mystery discipline, picking up one checkpoint in a culvert along the way. There was a lot of speculation from racers as to what this would entail. Everything from axe throwing to summer dog sledding was suggested, but several teams got it right: a corn maze!

Teams arrived to TA 3 at the Kingdom Corn Maze, with not one but three corn mazes. In an adventure racing first, racers would actually be biking in two of these mazes, and trekking in the largest of the three. Racers had a detailed map for the two larger mazes, but only knew where the next checkpoint was located at any time, discovering the next one as they went.

For most teams, the sun was setting as they were in or just leaving the corn mazes. It was a glorious evening! Teams now headed off to bike the Kingdom Trails – a massive network of excellent biking trails, a true gem of this area. There were many points which could be retrieved in any order. Teams again had to decide which points to get and how to attack them.

To finish this section, most teams had to hike-a-bike, gaining more than 600 feet, and then coasted down into TA 4. Some teams found other creative ways to wind their way to TA 4. Here they were greeted by the volunteer staff with access to their gear bins, water, a hot meal provided by Good to Go, and a warm fire. That fire was seductive, tempting teams to stop moving.

From TA 4, teams had the option to head out onto a fully off-trail bushwhack to retrieve more points, before returning. An altimeter was definitely an asset in this section.

Teams then had a fairly short bike ride to get to TA 5, where they would begin the second paddle of the race.

Far from open water with chop, this was on the slow moving Passumpsic River. Water levels had dropped considerably, and racers found themselves initially having to pull their canoe or kayak over rocks and sandbars until things got a bit deeper. The ability to read a river and pick the best lines was definitely an asset here. Most teams had the sun rise while on this paddle, and a fresh batch of daylight definitely helped keep away the sleepies.

Just in case the in-river boat dragging wasn’t enough “fun”, teams were treated to multiple required portages. On their third portage, about 8 miles into the paddle, racers were surprised with their bikes. Given how slowly the paddle leg was going, race organizers called the audible to cut the paddle short and get them on their bikes earlier.

A tough call to make during the race, but overall this allowed the majority of teams to experience the timing of the race course as designed and not be overly penalized for something outside of their control.

Racers then biked a few miles to TA 6, and for those teams with time to spare headed off into the St. Johnsbury town Forest for three quick trekking check points. Finally, teams biked a short distance via a specific route on their map, to the finish line, where a breakfast buffet and hot coffee awaited them!

Special thank you to our sponsors!
– Mammut
– Outdoor Gear Exchange
– Good to Go
– Kingdom Coffee Roasters
The premier 3 person coed division was incredibly close, with the top 3 teams being separated by a mere 2 checkpoints. In the end, it was Strong Machine AR that edged out the competition and took first place overall, with an impressive 51 checkpoints! Check out the full detailed results here.

Thanks to all the volunteers, and racers for making this another great day in the woods. We couldn’t do it without your support!

A special thanks to spouses and kids who put up with adventure-planning craziness. They know that these events aren’t just a huge amount of work, they’re a huge amount of fun – like a family reunion — but a family with some really odd traditions.

Photos are up in the usual spot. If you’ve got photos, videos, blog posts, GPS tracks or stories from the trail, please send a note to staff@gmara.org with details and we’ll get them up here.

– Writeup from Strong Machine
– Writeup from NH Trail Vets
– Writeup from Rootstock

Thanks for racing!

– The GMARA Crew

The 2021 Bitter Pill featured a record number of teams, discipline changes, and comments about swamps and marshes. All of which were completely positive! People love swamps. And marshes.

This was our first course in Craftsbury since 2012, so we were excited to explore some new terrain and showcase what the Craftsbury Outdoor Center has to offer.

Teams received their primary map at check-in that morning, giving them longer than usual to plan overall strategy.

We held back the map for the first leg (a six-point navigation section on Craftsbury Outdoor Center property) until 5:58am, to help add that feeling of frantic confusion customary at the GMARA starting line.

Planning on their feet, racers hit the trail network. Thankfully, some early rain made sure that nobody overheated.

Teams switched to bikes after the first section. With rain increasing, they followed:

• remote roads
• trails that once were roads
• trails that were never roads
• former roads that became small ponds

Racers expressed their appreciation for the intense storm, keeping them cool and preventing these not-really-roads from being too fast.

They arrived at TA 2, a pond near Eden Mountain Lodge & Dogsledding, where one team stayed the night before! We enjoyed listening to their conversation as they realized where they were. Sad for them, the beautiful cabins were on the other side of the road, and pausing for a hot shower would lead to a DQ.

Leaving from the pond on foot, racers began the most navigationally-challenging section of the day. Twelve points, two of which were more difficult and worth extra credit.

After a surprise gear check, teams were back on bikes. Some took a calculated risk to see if a trail not on the map was a shortcut through the woods (it was!) and a few chose to get a bonus point along the way. For most teams, the sun started coming out on this leg, and the day became quite lovely.

Provided they made it to TA 4 by 2:00 p.m., teams were given a detailed orienteering map including fields, woods, a small river crossing or two, and a magnificently terrible yet wonderful swamp/marsh experience. With volunteer-made cookies and rhubarb-ade, most headed out to grab those three checkpoints.

This section was amazing in many ways, especially for race directors who love to plan a good swamp-whack. A few teams mentioned that missing the cutoff for this section may have been a good thing…

After leaving the morasses of the marsh, they biked back to the Craftsbury Outdoor Center to find six checkpoints on the mountain biking trails and one on a swim buoy in Little Hosmer Pond.

The prospect of a short but refreshing dip in (relatively) clear water encouraged some teams to send multiple racers on the swim, despite the rules which only required a single teammate in the water.

Teams finished their bike leg at TA 6, where they grabbed their tandem kayak (2-person teams) or canoe (3-person teams), enjoyed a short portage, and then paddled to four points around Great Hosmer Pond.

After portaging their boat back, they had a short ride to the finish. Every team made it to the finish on time, which is a bit surprising given the number of teams out on the race course. Lots of happy smiles as teams finished a very unique course in picturesque Vermont terrain.

Teams ended their day spread across the large field at Craftsbury Outdoor Center, with the Caja Madera food truck providing excellent post-race tacos.

Thanks to all the sponsors, partners, volunteers, and racers for making this another great day in the woods. We couldn’t do it without your support!

A special thanks to spouses and kids who put up with adventure-planning craziness. They know that these events aren’t just a huge amount of work, they’re a huge amount of fun – like a family reunion — but a family with some really odd traditions.

Photos are up in the usual spot. If you’ve got photos, videos, blog posts, GPS tracks or stories from the trail, please send a note to staff@gmara.org with details and we’ll get them up here.