By John Churchill
Amanda Stopa Goldstein has organized a road race called The Maple Run each spring for the past three years. This year on Saturday April 12, The Maple Run took place in Canton, N.Y., both starting and finishing at Taylor Park, which is located only one mile away from the campus of St. Lawrence University. The Maple Run is an event that is able to connect the community and the university as well as support several local running programs financially, including the St. Lawrence University Cross Country and Track and Field programs.
The Director of The Maple Run, Amanda Stopa Goldstein found a passion for running when she was younger and ran division one cross country and track and field while in college, where she enjoyed the sport, forming lifelong friendships in the process. “Because of the things running has given me, I wanted to give back,” said Goldstein. She then further explained how she established The Maple Run with the goal of using its proceeds to fund local running programs, and that last year the money was distributed to seven high school and college running programs in the area, one of which was St. Lawrence University.
Carly Stine, who is an assistant coach of the St. Lawrence University Track and Field team attended the race to support friends and was truly impressed by the scale of the event and is appreciative of how it helps running programs in the area. “We need those programs, and the fact that she’s supporting the programs that got her to a high level as a runner is great. She’s helping pave the road for future runners,” said Stine. Stine additionally plans to run in The Maple Run next year because of how impressed she is with the race as a whole and the way that it helps out the local running community.
Marcus Dozier coaches the St. Lawrence University Track team alongside Stine, and he emphasized the importance the race plays in pulling together the community. “Having something like The Maple Run, where it brings everyone out from the community is very nice and helps keep a good relationship between the community and the university,” said Dozier. Dozier continued to state that he believes events such as The Maple Run are a major reason of why St. Lawrence University and the local community are able to have good interactions.
Venessa Helgeland ‘21 is a student at St. Lawrence University, as well as a member of the track team, who volunteered at the run and noticed strong cohesion among the participants of the race. “A lot of people came because they like to run obviously, but they also like being a part of this race, which serves as a community builder,” Helgeland said. Helgeland pointed out that people came from many different places to run the race, but a large portion of the participants were from Canton, N.Y. or the neighboring town of Potsdam, N.Y.
Jill Zick ’22 is a student at St. Lawrence University that participated in The Maple Run running a half-marathon, where she had a first-hand experience of the strong feeling of community the race brings. “I had some friends who were sitting outside, watching me and they even made me a sign; it gave me that final boost I needed to get to the end, it was great,” said Zick. Zick explained that the race itself went through the campus of St. Lawrence University, which further displays The Maple Run’s accomplishment of bringing together the university and the community.