“I moved to the Upper Valley in 2013 to get my Master of Public Health from Dartmouth. I had never stepped foot in New Hampshire until the day before class started. I came from the suburbs of Philadelphia, so New England and a rural place was a whole new experience for me.
When I graduated, I got a job at the hospital, and I worked there for three years. At that point, I still didn’t understand why people lived in the Upper Valley. The winters are so cold, and I hadn’t really found my community.
I remember in one of my classes my professor kept talking about the Upper Valley Running Club. She would show us these pictures of her at races with another professor in the program, and she was always telling us about her quest to break a four-hour marathon.
I had been too shy to show up at the time, but two years later I decided to just do it. I was planning on doing this Ragnar Relay, which is a 200-mile, 24-hour race with a relay team. You run through the whole night. It’s very fun. So, I showed up and said, ‘Hi, I’m planning on doing this relay, but I don’t really know anyone. Does anyone want to join?’ This guy Kevin walked up to me immediately and said: ‘I’ll be your friend. I’ll be on your team.’ That was sort of a jumping off point for me. That really got the ball rolling and introduced me to this whole network of people in the Upper Valley. It was really transformative.
Going to the running club for the last 10 years has been a great source of community for me. I try to be really consistent in going to the Tuesday night practices and making new friends. They asked me to be one of the presidents of the club. So now, I feel like I have the opportunity to pay that experience forward, to encourage people to just show up, even when it’s cold, when it’s dark, when you don’t have anyone to run with. Just show up and it will make your day.
I think it’s important to just say yes to things. Living in the Upper Valley, if you’re not open to new things, it can be a bit isolating. But if you open your eyes, there’s a lot to do here — and a lot of amazing people. You need to find your crew and embrace doing the things you love. That’s been the most helpful for me.”
Interested in making new friends? Join us at the Upper Valley Running Club! https://uppervalleyrunningclub.org/
Cara Baskin, Thetford, VT
