Elizabethtown Power Duo “Sarah & Dan” Capture the 2025 Pond Sprint!
Pond Sprint Vet & Poko Camper win the short-course race
Local Adirondack racers, and the fastest married couple in Elizabethtown, Sarah Gardner and Dan Dick, were the overall winners at the 2025 Pond Sprint 12.5 mile/two mountain race, held October 11th in Willsboro, NY.
Dick finished the full course in a time of 1:49:00, with Kevin Bouchard-Hall coming in second place about 3 minutes behind, while women's champion Sarah Gardner took 5th place overall in a time of 1:55:55, beating out second place woman Cassie Sellars (2:00:46) by less than 5 minutes. Annie Preston and Andrew Gonzalez each took 3rd to round out the podiums.
In the five-mile/one mountain short course, the overall title went to Pond Sprint veteran Shauna Fliss of Saranac Lake. Fliss finished in a stout time of 47:46, outpacing the men’s champion, Graham Dorr (52:09) by nearly 5 minutes. Fliss kept the 5 mile title in the family for another year, as it was her mother Gege who was the reigning 5 mile women’s champion!
The 2025 Pond Sprint was held in conjunction with Pok-O-MacCready's fall family weekend, on a perfect day. Aside from great racing, participants enjoyed a "Pondertoberfest" German style post-race picnic. Following expenses, about $1,700 was raised for the event's two beneficiaries: Adirondack Scholarship Foundation and Long Pond Conservancy.
"Between superb weather, great trail conditions, and good people, we really couldn’t have asked for much more from this year’s Pond Sprint," reviewed race director and ADKSF board member Jacob Gittler. "The full half marathon races were close and competitive, the fall foliage was just about at peak, and we had a nearly sold out field of racers, 16 of whom completed the full course in reverse (counter-clockwise) for the first time in the race’s history! It was great, plus the amazing post-race PondtoberFest chockfull of burgers, dogs, pretzels, beers, Trixies Sweet Licks ice cream, and awards! All while raising money for the Adirondack Scholarship Foundation & the Long Pond Conservancy. How can you beat it? It was an absolute blast. Huge thank you to Pok-O-MacCready for hosting this event, and to all the volunteers who help make the Pond Sprint possible each year. We can't wait to see everyone in 2026 for both the Patch Sprint and Pond Sprint race and reunions!"
Congratulations to all of the runners, with a special thanks to the over dozen volunteers who helped put on the event!