August, 2017 - Member of the Month - Sheila Vibert
We congratulate Sheila on her nomination for August, 2017. Here is a brief interview - congrats Sheila!
1. Tell us a little bit about yourself, where you grew up, family, etc?
I grew up in Massachusetts and moved to New Hampshire as a teenager. My parents enrolled my sister and I in Accordion lessons at age 5. The Lowell accordian orchestra performed at small and big venues from Disney to Quebec.
I started solo hiking in New Hampshire at a young age, and remember running up mountains weekly (Running away from my accordion lessons I guess). Looking back, it was an early start to trail running!
2. Tell us more about your history with running, when did you start, any favorite races or distances?
I actually started out as a cyclist, raced during college and afterwards as a Cat 2 road racer and Elite mountain biker. When I moved to DC, 4 years ago, I started running. Met Rick Amernick at the Dupont Saturday morning fun run and Tom McNulty at VA Happy Trails Sundays in the Park and the rest is history!
I really love the 50km distance, you can go pretty fast and push yourself and still have half the day to relax at our wonderful Virginia wineries.
3. You have won or placed in many races this past year, congratulations! What are some of your goals moving forward?
My first half marathon was about 3 years ago in Annapolis. After that, I figured I'd train for my first marathon, the North Face Endurance Challenge, I had no idea what to expect. Somehow I won that.
This past year I was bit by the racing bug...
Rosaryville 50km 2nd
Hashawa Hills 50km 1st
Bull Run run 50 miler 2nd
Promiseland 50km 2nd
Backyard burn series 1st overall
Oss /cia 50 miler 1st
Maryland heat race 50km 1st
The Ring 1st
Goals going forward are to keep exploring new races, maybe try some out West, do more volunteering at trail events and stay healthy.
4. How did you hear/learn about DC Capital Striders? You are also a member of their race team. Tell us what groups you typically run with.
As I mentioned before, I met Rick at the Saturday Dupont fun run and he told me about Sundays in the park etc... It's one of my favorites, the people are great and I still make it there when I can. I also love the House of Steep run on Mondays in Arlington, Trail Run on Wednesdays (Great Falls) and Sundays in the Park (VHTRC).
