2025 Bitter Pill – Results
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.
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!
Lastly, check out this set of heat maps that show how often CPs were frequented! Sample:
