Saturday morning, it’s 4:45 and I pounce on my alarm so it doesn’t wake up my husband. In my quiet kitchen I slowly drink tea and eat oatmeal while packing my running vest. Water, Tailwind, stroopwafels and gummies. It only takes 5 minutes to drive to the trailhead. Once there, I leisurely warm up while waiting for the rest of this morning’s runners. Today’s route is a 10-mile loop through Camden Hills State Park. We’ll climb 3,000 feet of elevation, summiting both Megunticook Mountain and Mount Battie twice. FIve other local runners are joining this morning. Catching up, catching our breath, laughing, and stopping for selfies and snacks.

There is not a moment of this run that I’m not savoring.

The thing that actually makes this so extraordinary is that it’s not unusual. Trail running, building community and connections around trail running has been a huge part of my life for the last four years.

In early 2020, the pandemic made me an unemployed yoga teacher. I didn’t know how desperate I was for an outlet until I found it. The first time I turned my sneakers off the road and into Camden Hills State Park, I was hooked. Running on trails filled me in a way that road running never had. It quieted my mind in a way that yoga used to. I felt free and completely attuned to my body. Soon running would make me appreciate my yoga practice more and in time it would make me a more informed yoga teacher.

A good friend noticed my runs on Strava and we started heading out together. Runs got longer. I bought a vest. In May, she joked that we should sign up for the Megunticook 50k, a new trail race that was taking place in Camden Hills State Park. By July, we were signed up. I ran my first 50k in September 2020. More friends joined us on our runs, and we started making new friends on the trails. I began joining the Trail Runners of Midcoast Maine group runs.

I can’t remember exactly when I got the idea to start hosting running retreats. I do know that once that idea hatched, I couldn’t let it go. Trail running, yoga, sharing beautiful Maine trails, cultivating sisterhood. It had to happen. In the spring of 2022, I hosted my first retreat in midcoast Maine. It was everything I hoped it would be, a way to truly bring all of my passions together and have a lot of fun doing it. Over the next two years, I hosted multiple retreats, each one deepening my love for weaving together running, yoga, and community. For now, I’m taking a pause from retreats while I focus on directing the Megunticook Trail Festival, but I know I’ll return to them when the timing feels right.

In the winter of 2023, I learned that the Megunticook 50k and its little sister race, The Wicked Tough 10, needed a race director. The event wouldn’t continue if someone didn’t step up to take the role. I have raced this race every year since it started. I love the course and am truly proud to have this event in our local state park. While talking it over, along many miles of trails, with all of my running friends, I knew that if I took the job, I wouldn’t be doing it alone. In my new role as race director, I’ve added a 3rd race and renamed the whole event the Megunticook Trail Festival. I am excited to have this new way of sharing Camden Hills State Park with runners!

I am honored that people trust me to take them on adventures. I am so grateful to this sport, this community, and this wonderful state that I get to call home.

My journey into coaching and leadership has been somewhat unique but looking back fairly intentional.  I do not know if I would have been able to articulate my passion for leadership as a recent college grad, but things that were always important to me, helping others, using my voice for those learning to use theirs, contributing to a larger cause, working harder so others didn’t have the same struggles, and creating opportunities through sport.  As a new mother of two young girls, I have found these passions to be even more intensified.

I’d be lying if I said it was easy to keep the fire and that at times I wasn’t tired of fighting the same things over and over.  Tired of watching people in power not make proactive decisions to protect certain demographics.  Tired of being put in positions where I have to correct people because who I am doesn’t match their assumptions.  In coaching specifically, I can’t count how many times people have gone up to my male assistant coach and assumed he was the head coach, despite my having one of the most successful programs nationally every year.  The thought of stepping away becomes more of a reality every year.

However, one night while I was giving my 2-year-old a bath before rushing off to practice – I looked at her and said – “Blair, should Mumma coach next year?” She answered, “Yes, Blair coach!” And that simple phrase reignited my fire.  It is so important to me to be the representation that not only my daughters need, but any young girl in Maine needs who aspires to get into coaching, leadership, or any historically male-dominated industry.

I also realized I was tired of complaining about the issues and not taking action.  After numerous conversations with friends, I decided I wanted to somehow get in touch with the “Just a Kid from Maine” creator to see if he could help bring my vision to life.  Kyle was immediately supportive and helped bring to cloth a series of “Just a Girl from Maine” T-shirts.  Alongside Teresa Esposito and many other strong amazing women, we are also launching the first annual Just a Girl 5k, in coordination with the Just a Girl from Maine T-shirts as a larger fundraiser to support Strong Girls United, a local organization spearheaded by Lani Silversides which focuses on empowering college athletes and community leaders to mentor the next generation of girls in sport.

Without needing to look outside of the contacts in my phone, we were able to create this amazing event, led by women in Maine who are leaders in their professions, and profoundly impacted by their sports backgrounds.  Our hope is to make this an annual event and spread the word that Maine girls can set the bar high, achieve their goals and do really hard things!

MSC’s note: Coach Stannard, a standout as a college basketball player at Bowdoin, captain her senior year and 1000 point scorer, member of the Maine Girls + Women in Sports Community and a strong voice during virtual workshops on leadership and coaching, is now continuing her impact with her role in helping to host this new event, Just A Girl 5k.

Coach Stannard and Lani Silversides, Strong Girls United, are working tirelessly to make a difference in the lives of younger girls, including their daughters. They are each guiding two toddler and teen daughters along their journeys. 

Featured here left to right are Coach Stannard’s daughter, Blair, former player Ashleigh Mathisen, Coach Katie, former player Tara Flanders and daughter Poppy during Poppy’s first birthday party.

As the daughter of a Rhode Island beach girl who answered the adventurous call of Maine, and a Dexter farm boy who became Maine’s first whitewater raft guide, I grew up outside. In fact, I remember my mother locking my brother and me out of the house for an hour a day to “go play.” We lived on 60 acres of mostly forestland, so we built a lot of tree forts.

Throughout my school years, and even to this day, I was never drawn to or successful at organized team sports, but I loved competition. Since playing midfielder on the soccer field didn’t suit my independent personality, I fed my competitive drive with horseback riding and alpine ski racing. With alpine racing, I loved the team culture and personal performance. When preparing for college, I had no idea what to study. Still, I knew a career indoors and away from nature would not work for me, so I entered the parks and recreation program at the University of Maine on a whim. I took that expensive degree and worked seasonally at ski mountains and on Maine’s rivers as a raft guide until I was 27. Eventually, it became unsustainable for me, and I needed to move into a career I could scale and grow.

By the time I decided I needed a change, I had already been writing short stories and realized my love for storytelling, so I enrolled in Southern New Hampshire’s master’s program for marketing and communications part-time. At the same time, I took a job with Main Street Skowhegan as their program coordinator, planning their annual events, most of which celebrated Maine’s outdoor economy and assets. I was marrying my love for outdoor recreation and tourism with marketing—carving out a career that fit my creative energy and outdoor lifestyle.

Six years after that first “big kid job” and a couple others, I proudly own my own marketing agency, MXH Marketing, with a fantastic client list and an incredibly talented team. We work across many industries, but our specialty is in outdoor recreation and tourism marketing. Our company mentality is a bit like Patagonia’s; if it’s a powder day, there’s no reason to be chained to your desk–go chase whatever gets you outdoors. I’ve been fortunate and privileged to work with clients who share the same values as myself and our team. And it’s clients like the Maine Sports Commission who allow me to work in these outdoor and tourism spaces I grew up in and feel so passionate about–so I can continue to be a part of an industry I love during the 9-5 grind, one that keeps me inspired every day!

I feel nervous, stressed and scared. If we were climbing right now I’d be totally chilled out. Put me in front of 250 people and my heart rate sky rockets. 

Climbing is not just a sport for me. It’s my livelihood, my focus and the thing I want to do most in the world. I don’t always view myself as a climber but more of a teacher. I share the passion of myself and the sport I love with the world. The perception of what I do is always fear based. The perceived risk that I see everyday sometimes smacks you upside the head. Not only the fear but also the risk involved. In guiding there are two kinds of risk, perceived risk and actual risk. As a guide I’m always trying to have my clients experience the perceived risk. When the actual risk comes into play it usually means it’s time to bail!

I grew up in Union, Maine, my mother was an art teacher and my Dad was a Maine guide. My childhood from the outside was perfect, adventures had by all and lots of things to do! The actuality was much different. Some parts of me still live in fear. I know this is a hard thing to grasp given my career choice. But there are parts of me that see fear and those parts that haven’t seen the light of day in a long time. 

In high school I went on an Outward Bound trip that changed my world. We spent two weeks hiking, climbing and canoeing around Moosehead Lake.  I remember getting lowered down the cliff being terrified that my belayer was going to drop me. Trusting others was so hard. As I moved off to College of the Atlantic I chose a rock climbing curse as my orientation week. We spent time in Acadia in and around the cliffs. I was hooked. It’s all I wanted to do from then on every chance I got was a chance to be climbing.  

This was a big shift for me. It was the beginning of recognizing that I knew what I was doing. That I could stay calm under pressure. That my mind was my biggest obstacle in climbing and in life. My thought process started to shift. My climbing started to excel. 

Fear: False evidence appearing real. Let’s look at the dynamic nature of this. In my mind’s eye, climbing had always been terrifying. I would get up on the wall and my whole body would shake. I would not be able to trust anything, the rope, the humans, the anchor -anything. The constant stream of what ifs started flowing through my head. It all depended on many factors for me. Who was belaying me. What I had for breakfast. If it was wet. Any chance to bail on a climbing trip and I would throw in the towel. As I started waking up, I started meditating every day. I started coming out of my disassociation that I had learned in childhood. I started this speech by demonstrating the profound effect of labeling my feelings. By announcing this and being seen it allows the feeling to dissipate. 

The hardest part for me is actually labeling the feeling of what it is. Noticing it in its purity. I’ve gained different behaviors that allow me to not experience the exact feeling. Instead of reacting with a habitual one, of shutting down, anger or running away. When I label these feelings it’s almost like calling it out. Naming it shines a light on the feeling and blurs the lines of its effect on me. You can practice this on your own. 

Close your eyes. 

Picture your deepest fear. 

Whatever it is, imagine it in front of you. 

Now, notice what your body is doing. Scan your body from your sweaty feet to your shaking hands. Feel that feeling. 

Now shift you’re thinking to the most beautiful place in the world to you. Open your eyes and come back to the world.

How do you feel?

We just reprogrammed your brain.

This is where the letting go process takes root. We are replacing the fear with a good feeling. Letting go is not for the faint of heart. It involves looking deeply at all the parts inside and coming up against them in a big way. This is the path of the warrior. This facing of fear, of what frightens you. If we sat at home everyday we would never learn what we actually are capable of. This builds grit, perseverance and resiliency. My goal was never to be the best climber in the world. The challenge of overcoming the fear and walking away each time, being more aware of myself and my own needs was staggering. This fact kept me coming back. 

The parallels to my life and climbing are exponential. I see how my mental game was part of my climbing all along. I can see how these two prominent signposts in my life merge and blend as I dive deep into learning and reflecting on my life so far. I am not perfect. I’ve made mistakes, I am human, but I pick myself back up each time and try again. Come back to the sport I love, come back to the moment I can change. Dwelling on the past doesn’t serve me. Fantasizing about what could be also won’t help me. This moment. This one right here. You listening to me talk about my life and sharing about what’s possible if I just pay attention. That is the solution. I choose this forever. 

Today, I am giving back to what was given to me. Through Equinox Guiding Service I teach these skills in a way that brings them to the everyday person. As well as to the local youth in our community, alongside other community members, bringing climbing and the challenges associated with it to the next generation. Inspiring them also to face the difficulties in life head-on and know they will come out the other side changed, but resilient for the next one.

Gratitude for this life is not a big enough word for what it has given me. I continue to grow and learn and challenge myself in the mental realm, challenging my beliefs but accepting the reality of the mountains in front of me. Before climbing, there was a mountain; while climbing, there is still a mountain; after climbing the mountain is still there. I live this every day and strive to see it for what it is. Life.

Inclusive Ski Touring 

As the popularity of ski touring continues to grow, opportunities to learn the basic fundaments have also gained momentum.

Often referred to as “skinning,” “alpine touring,” or “backcountry skiing,” ski touring is where participants hike uphill with their skis before skiing down, a challenging, yet fun activity deserving of the phrase “earn your turns.” The snowboarding equivalent is called split-boarding, aptly named for how the snowboard is split lengthwise, turning it into two ski-like boards for the ascent.

Inclusive Ski Touring (IST), a newly founded 501(c)(3) non-profit, is taking strides towards making this sport more accessible. IST’s mission is to “develop an inclusive uphill community through organized group programs.” The organization is breaking down misconceptions about the ability needed to ski tour, providing a place for people to ski tour at little to no cost and creating a welcoming learning environment. According to Zach McCarthy, founder of IST, “Touring is something achievable for anyone of any ability level. It can be as simple as taking a walk up the powerline hill in your town and skiing back down or as intense as going up Mount Washington to ski avalanche terrain mid-winter. You don’t need to be an expert at the downhill, all you need is a desire to get out and adventure.”

During the winter of 2021, Zach McCarthy had just transferred from Suffolk University to the University of Southern Maine (USM). Working full-time in a ski shop and taking classes at USM, Zach saw a need for community touring programs and began organizing group tours through social media inviting anyone to join. The gatherings were a way to meet other people in the ski touring community, encourage first-timers to try the sport and ask gear questions, and for Zach to share his passion with others. The community rallied for participants who did not have access to gear, finding equipment to lend out for the day. Word of the get-togethers spread, and soon Zach began more formally organizing by setting up a website and an email list. This is when the organization of ‘Inclusive Ski Touring’ was truly born, and they partnered with Mt. Abram for a consistent and supportive venue. The group tours throughout the first unofficial season totaled over 200 participants. Recognizing the success of the program and seeing the true potential of the concept, Zach worked over the summer to register Inclusive Ski Touring as an official non-profit organization, successfully achieving the 501(c)(3) status in July of 2022, backdated to June of 2021.

Inclusive Ski Touring enjoyed a successful first season and hosted several programs including a Women’s Program, a DEI (Diversity Equity and Inclusion) Focused Program, Future Generations Program, and Intro to Backcountry Touring Program. Recognizing the lack of diversity throughout the outdoor industry and striving to help work towards a better future, IST has been engaging with partner organizations such as Outdoor Afro and The Kindling Collective as part of their Diversity Equity and Inclusion efforts to work to provide underrepresented individuals the chance to get out ski touring and/or split boarding, reducing barriers. The vibrant, friendly atmosphere paired with their supportive, encouraging leaders transforms the slightly nervous but excited participants into confident, empowered skiers. Connecting like-minded individuals at the group tour level also fosters genuine friendships amongst participants. In total, the 2021/22 season attracted over 500 participants, and with its strong momentum, they are hoping this coming winter brings even more growth and participation.

As an organization, Inclusive Ski Touring strives to create opportunity and help build the path toward a more diverse and inclusive ski industry. Please check out the Inclusive Ski Touring website for information about tours this season or to find out how to help support their mission.

Meg Pierce Bio: This was contributed by Meg Pierce, an engineer based out of the greater Boston area. She is a member of the Inclusive Ski Touring Board of Directors and enjoys leading the Women’s Program tours throughout the winter. Stories of her skiing, biking, hiking, and climbing adventures can be found on Norrona’s blog.

Images: Portrait of Zach McCarthy by Chris Bennett Photo

Landscape images by Andy Gagne Photography

Jo Dill Retires as the Coordinator of the Maine Senior Games

This reflection was shared by Deb Smith, Maine Senior Games Board Chair, longtime friend of Jo’s and basketball teammate.

After 14 years as the Maine Senior Games Coordinator, Jo retired on December 31, 2022. When Jo began this job 14 years ago she was an employee of the Southern Maine Area on Aging (SMAA) working out of their Scarborough office. During the early stages of the pandemic the Games Coordinator position was eliminated from SMAA. This was a call to action Jo embraced as she worked with the Board of Directors to form a 501(c)3 non-profit to ensure that the Maine Senior Games would continue.

After graduating from UMPI, Jo taught physical education for 35 years and was the Executive Director of the Maine Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance for 14 years. Becoming the Maine Senior Games Coordinator was a natural fit for Jo.

During Jo’s leadership at the Maine Senior Games, she has worked tirelessly to organize, coordinate, and promote the games for men and women age 50+.  She has expanded the games beyond Greater Portland to Waterville, Augusta, Bangor, Bridgton and Leeds.  Jo has connected with more than 700 athletes during their competitions and has created relationships that go far beyond the actual competition each summer.

Jo plays basketball for the Maine Pioneers Senior Women’s basketball team.  She competes in Maine and has gone to numerous National Senior Games Basketball Tournaments.  She will tell you that playing on this basketball team is one of the highlights of her life!  When Jo was in school, teams for girls didn’t exist. Getting connected to playing basketball later in life led Jo to get involved in the National Girls and Women in Sports Committee in Maine and to promote opportunities for girls.

Athletes, volunteers, and sponsors will have an opportunity to honor Jo at the Maine Senior Games Celebration of Athletes in June of 2023.  We acknowledge all that Jo has accomplished as the leader of the Maine Senior Games and are appreciative of her dedication to this organization and all of the athletes.

In January 1973, the Augusta Civic Center opened its doors for the first time. Since then, the City of Augusta and its surrounding communities have enjoyed 50 years of sporting events, concerts, trade shows, weddings, graduations, and beautiful memories. As we plan our 50^th Anniversary Celebration, I have been hit with these glorious memories. Growing up in Augusta, I had many opportunities to visit this storied venue. My visits there are some of my fondest memories. I attended my best friend’s wedding in the North Wing Ballroom; I saw Liberace with my parents and was able to approach the stage and shake his hand. He let me touch his fur coat – a huge deal for a seven-year-old! My father waited two days in line for Elvis; I saw Kenny Rogers, Bryan Adams, and Boston in concert. I graduated from Cony High School at the Augusta Civic Center, watched many basketball games, attended the Harlem Globetrotters, and watched my mother receive a well-deserved service award from her employer at a luncheon. I sang the Star Spangled Banner as part of the Cony High School Madrigals and bought many holiday presents at the annual craft fairs. I later became an employee!

Now, as Director, I work to keep the memories alive and will be part of its 50^th Anniversary while working with some of the best people I have worked with throughout my career. I am honored to be able to watch others make their memories and share their milestones. I am privileged to welcome them back for a visit where they reminisce.

As our team rolls into 2023, (hopefully with COVID-19 in our rearview mirror with regards to events), you’re invited to join us in recalling and sharing your favorite memories as we celebrate 50 years of the Augusta Civic Center. This venue is a gem in the Augusta community, and we look forward to seeing what the next 50 years bring! We are still at your service, serving up memories, one event at a time!

For information on our upcoming 50^th Anniversary Event Series, like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, or visit our website at https://link.edgepilot.com/s/d3f3da40/_28UHzKlu0isdzCETiZNiw?u=http://www.augustaciviccenter.org/. Better yet, stop in and see us and share your memories!

Growing up in Northern Maine as a person with a disability, sports were my way into the world. As a child, I would challenge myself to accomplish goals in the outdoors. I remember one day I noticed a natural dirt ramp off the edge of our driveway. I decided I was going to use that ramp to make my way into the woods to see how far I could get. There weren’t any built trails or paths. I was simply blazing my own path in my wheelchair. I kept going until I got stuck. At this point, I just hopped onto the ground and started crawling and dragging my wheelchair behind me. I knew there was an interesting-looking swamp area somewhere in the direction I was going. I could see it from the sliding glass doors in our house. I eventually made it to that area and finally back to the house. This was the first big thing I had accomplished in the outdoors on my own.  

I started sports in earnest after I met my Phys. Ed teacher, Bob Dyer, on my first day of junior high; my life changed for the better forever. The first thing he ever said to me was posed as a question. He asked if I could do 20 push-ups in my wheelchair. I told him I could do 40. I pulled it off and from then on he pushed me to do things that most people with two working legs don’t ever try. He got me into wheelchair racing, I joined a wheelchair basketball team, I got into downhill and cross-country skiing, became part of the biking club, and many other things. I had the opportunity to race in the Maine Marathon three times and many other races around New England. I went skiing at Sunday River with Maine Adaptive Sports and Recreation for a week every winter. Somehow Bob was able to make that part of my curriculum. I remember that first week, I was not very happy with Bob – I was eating a lot of snow and crashing a lot. By the end of the week, I was making turns. I have been skiing now for 30 years off and on.

For the past 10 years, I have been rock and ice climbing thanks to inspiration from the loss of a friend, Nick Hall, and an organization called Paradox Sports. I have had some amazing opportunities to see the country thanks to rock climbing. I climbed El Capitan in October 2016. There happens to be a movie about it on my website that really illustrates what an unbelievable experience that was. I am currently raising money for my next big adventure. My goal since losing my friend Nick Hall on Mt Rainier has been to try to summit the mountain on my sit ski. I am going to pull myself up on fixed ropes while sliding along in my ski. I am hoping to ski back down at least some of the way. This will all be to honor the memory of Nick. I also hope to use this adventure to raise money for kids in my hometown community of Patten, Maine. 

Please take time to see Enock’s experience summiting El Capitan, Yosemite, joined by a band of strangers who came together as his guides. Enock’s passion for sports, unbounding determination to push himself and love for the outdoors seems fitting for an end of year inspiration. 

Go Beyond the Fence

El Capitan Summit Documentary

Enock’s Adventures: Presque Isle Bike Path 

Maine said goodbye to a true sports legend and Maine Sports Hall of Fame inductee with the passing of Richard “Dick” Meader, 76 on Oct. 16, 2022

Dick and brother, Bob, were Solon High School basketball and baseball stars in the early 60’s. Following a successful high school career, Dick attended Farmington State Teachers College in 1964 and soon became one of the top college players in Maine under Coach Len MacPhee. His ball-handling and passing skills filled the bleachers at Dearborn Gymnasium. From scoring 40 points and making 19 consecutive free throws in one game to receiving the most votes for the inaugural Maine small college basketball team, he had an impressive career. Perhaps his crowning moment was when Celtics Hall of Famer John Havlicek leaped to his feet in amazement at one of Dick’s plays in the Boston Garden his senior year. 

In baseball, Dick led the Farmington State College team in hitting as a senior and received the MVP Award under Coach Roger Wing. He graduated as all-time stolen base leader. 

Following graduation in 1968, Dick married college classmate Betty-Jane Stanhope from Dover-Foxcroft and began his coaching career as the freshman basketball coach at Nokomis High School in Newport. 

In 1970, he served as the University of Maine at Orono graduate assistant under Coach Skip Chappelle while earning his master’s degree. 

From 1971 to 1988, Dick was the Thomas College men’s basketball coach, and from 1972 to 1990, he was the director of athletics.  While at Thomas, he co-founded the Pine Tree Basketball Camp with Dick Whitmore in 1973; the camp involved over 37,000 players and 6,000 coaches in 38 years. 

After a short hiatus in order to watch his sons’ Waterville High School games, Dick returned to his alma mater to coach basketball and baseball and later coached his two sons, Lance and Daren. At the University of Maine at Farmington, he took pride in recruiting and coaching predominantly Maine players; many of them, like himself, were from small towns. Coach Meader was also proud of the number of his former players who joined the coaching ranks. 

Over Dick’s 44-year career as a head college coach, he led his basketball teams to 513 wins and received 16 Coach-of-the Year awards. 

Coach Meader was inducted into five athletics halls of fame: 

• 1994 Thomas College Sports Hall of Fame, 
• 1995 University of Maine at Farmington Athletics Hall of Fame, 
• 2015 New England Basketball Hall of Fame; 
• 2015 Maine Basketball Hall of Fame, and 2018 Maine Sports Hall of Fame.

In 2020, Dick Meader received the National Association of Basketball Coaches Outstanding Service Award. 

• 2021, the UMF Athletics Hall of Fame Room was to be named after him. 
• The night following Dick’s stroke, Thomas College planned to dedicate the Athletics Hall of Fame digital wall in the new Sukeforth Family Sports Center to Dick and his wife, who taught at Thomas for 41 years. 

Dick is survived by his wife of 54 years, Betty-Jane Meader; his sons, Lance and his wife, Amy, of Falmouth and Daren and his wife, Jennifer, of Gorham. 

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