Another suprise reveal at the University of Vermont Indoor Track for the third member of Meb's Vermont City Marathon Relay Team!

Welcome to the team Brooke Pietrafesa!

Brooke's Submission

It was a warm sunny summer afternoon in late July when a single split second changed my life forever.

As I sat in the passenger seat of my grandmother’s tan Toyota corolla in my cotton t- shirt and shorts, the hot afternoon sun streamed through the window. The cool summer breeze blew through the car, blowing the long hair in my ponytail all around. I wondered what we would be doing at cross country practice today as we drove the same route to Crawford Park that was all too familiar to us now. As we drove across a heavily trafficked four-way intersection a bright flash of metallic silver paint caught my eye. Impact. My head driven into the dashboard. No airbag to catch me. My ears ringing. My head throbbing. The world spinning around me. Stumbling out of the totaled vehicle I saw bright flashing lights. Sirens screaming out, my world spinning sending me into a UVM Running Club Celebrating with Brooke[/caption]

runners of all abilities to join our welcoming community as I know how hard it can be to start up running after quite some time off. I emphasize to each and every one of them that hard work and determination, along with the passion for running will undoubtedly help them improve. I try to pass on the ideology that every run should be cherished and our club tries to facilitate an environment that supports that. All of my hard work and dedication to inspire and support my team has paid off. I am proud to say that this was the first year ever that the UVM Running Club women’s team qualified and successfully competed in the NIRCA Cross Country National Championships this past fall in East Lansing, Michigan. Looking back, I have come a long way from that first high school cross country race, and now proudly hold a PR of 19:40 in the 5k.

That split second that changed my life forever is something that I wouldn’t change for the world. The resulting hardship has shaped the person and runner that I am today. Still to this day, I live every day like it is my last. Runners like Meb have been role models to me, showing what the human spirit can overcome. I hope to one day have the same effect on people as Meb has had on me and many other runners around the world.

Meb appears courtesy of VermontVacation.com, Seventh Generation, Burlington Telecom and the Vermont Convention Bureau.

More information about Meb at The M&T Bank Vermont City Marathon