Randolph Runner Will Run

For Another in Burlington

By M. D. Drysdale

Long distance running means many things to many people, and with the Vermont City Marathon coming up this Sunday in Burlington, a Randolph native has found it has taken on a deeper meaning for him.

Brian Townsend, a 1995 graduate of Randolph Union High School who is now an IT manager for the Vermont Department of Education, has always taken his running casually. But three years ago he entered a marathon "just to see if I could finish."

He did finish, but he decided he could do better if he could train with somebody. Though he lives in South Burlington, Townsend found his training partner in Fort Myers, Fla.—Carie Small, who spent three years with his RUHS class before graduating in 1995 from Middlebury High School and then from UVM. Carie had already run several marathons and would be a great training partner.

They targeted the Vermont City Marathon, which has become one of the better-known marathons in the country. They couldn’t run together, of course, but they planned their training runs together and contacted each other by email to share experiences and encouragement.

Then, a few weeks into the training sessions, Carie dropped a bombshell: she is battling stage three cervical cancer.

"It was a shock," Townsend said this week, "but she mentioned it, not as an affliction but rather just as something she has to deal with. "It inspired me to add ‘meaning to my miles.’"

As a result, Townsend signed up to run this year’s race as an American Cancer Society Charity Runner. This program allows a runner to join the endurance race of choice in honor of someone who has or has had cancer. Townsend, of course, will run in honor of Carie.

The Charity Runner program set him up with a website to manage fundraising and acknowledge his sponsors, and it provides ribbons to carry with him in the race, which can be inscribed with the names of people who have battled cancer.

Already, he said, he has raised more than $2800 from friends, family and colleagues and has gathered more than 30 names to carry with him on the marathon course.

Carie, too, will be running the marathon Sunday, though she has had to cut back training considerably for radiation treatments. She plans to start studying nursing next month.

Townsend, after graduating from RUHS, received a B.A. from Indiana University, working as a computer consultant for two years before moving back to Vermont. His wife Anca is from Romania.

To contribute to Townsend’s run, or just for information, go to http://register.charityrunner.org and go to Brian Townsend.