The following story was submitted by Mark Granger, President, Schroon Lake Association. We couldn't have said it better ourselves,

ADIRONDACK MARATHON COMMUNITY SPIRIT- IF WE COULD ONLY BOTTLE IT!

I am writing this in the afterglow of the 18th Adirondack Distance Festival and my first experience with this amazing Schroon Lake institution. As a life-long trial lawyer I have always been “somewhere else” and not in our town for this amazing event. This year I dropped right into the middle of it as the Director of Public Safety.

“The Marathon” was an amazing collection of moving parts. Three towns (Chester, Schroon, Horicon), two counties (Warren and Essex), four police groups (Essex and Warren Sheriffs, State Police Troops B and G) and eight ambulance companies (from E-town south to Bolton Landing) all worked together like a well-oiled machine. Cheerleaders came from multiple schools. Hundreds of volunteers went where they were supposed to and did their jobs. Spectators stood with water, cowbells and horns along the roads. Roads were closed from 9 am to nearly 3 pm without incident. AND EVERYONE HAD A GREAT TIME!

Kudos, of course, to Joel Friedman and his Team- an amazing group of people which I had the honor of joining this year. But the biggest CONGRATS goes to the people of the Schroon Lake Area! They were clearly enthused and caught up in the community spirit. They were joyful and cooperative and helpful to the thousands of guests and each other.

The Marathon Weekend clearly showed that Schroon Lake’s whole is greater than the sum of its parts. A large number of groups participated- Friends of the Library, the Lions, various churches, Word of Life, fire departments and ambulance squads, Schroon Lake Association, ESSLA, the Historical Society, municipal employees and many others. Everyone had one purpose- to make it the best day possible for the Town and its guests. And by the way, those guests had a great time. The Marathon has received a lot of positive feedback from runners and their families.

They will be back. Last year a Kent State University study showed the Marathon brought

$1,000,000 into our area economy. But money cannot match the joy of simply being here and being a part of this event.

The jewel in the crown of this wonderful blue skied weekend was our beautiful lake. Much of the race was along its crystal clear waters. The runners and their fans got to see how spectacular this place is and how blessed we are to be here. It made all the meetings, boat launch stewardship and political action to preserve our watershed worthwhile.

So let us all make a pledge to bottle the wonderful cooperative spirit we saw this weekend and let it out in small doses over the year. In the midst of freezing, gray weather and difficult policy and financial problems, let us open a bottle of September 28th sunshine and relive the cooperative spirit that made for such a great day.

Enjoy the Fall!
Mark Granger
President, Schroon Lake Association