Athleticism is embedded in Dori Ingalls’ DNA and Vermont is a huge part of her soul. She is a seventh generation Vermonter and descendant of hearty stock – well-known granite workers, and many educators – who all valued education and loved sports. Her great-grandmother’s family moved to Middlebury from Chester so she could go to college as women were not allowed to live in the dorms.
She started the first women’s basketball team replete with bloomers and a leather ball. Her mother played on boys’ teams just so she could play. Dori, born in Middlebury, was named Dorinda Dee Ingalls. (An uncle who named her might have had too much to drink but felt she had to have an historic Shakespearean name.) She quickly became Dori and displayed Ingalls’ traits. Dori stated that her Montpelier grandparents gave her amazing guidance and shepherded her on trips to many farms where they would help and, at age 5, she learned to volunteer at the Montpelier Library and was told she had to respond positively when asked to help – especially in the town where you live!
WITH THE BOYS
Dori too trained with the boys and they allowed her to sign up with them as a sprinter. Additionally, her sports included skiing, skating, and hockey. Later living in South Burlington for high school, she motivated the school to start a girls’ sprinting team. In 1968, she qualified for the Junior Olympics as a sprinter but, at decision time, she chose college. At Middlebury she studied art and architecture but, instead of going to graduate school, she chose Hawaii for a quaint, quiet experience where she could play sports year-round.
She found work as a news director at a radio station before starting a business in the maintenance of rental and commercial buildings. During that time, she had a son and an ill-fated marriage. As a chocolate fanatic with access to Hawaiian ingredients, she also started a company called Tropical Chocolate and partnered with Lake Champlain Chocolates to manufacture and ship her products. Some of the unique ingredients are still used by that company today.
In 1981, she founded the Hawaiian Tea Company and formed a close relationship with a Hawaiian family who were the former owners. She later formed a corporation and managed two art galleries in Lahiana. When the Iron Man competition was moved to the Big Island, Dori was running distances and was doing marathons around Hawaii. She loved running every other day through pineapple groves.
IRON MAN
Fascinated with the sport of Iron Man, she found a job arranging the finish line “to look pretty.” The best part, however, was meeting Ian Sweet who had come from Paris to give media coverage to the Iron Man event. With Ian living in France, it was not easy. When years of commuting between the island and France wore thin, they started thinking of a better plan.
In 2000, Dori’s family planned a reunion and Dori came back to Vermont bringing Ian. Ian loved it and wanted to settle here. Dori was willing only if they could find a place with acres of land, golf, skiing and near an airport. Their travels brought them over the Lincoln Gap into The Valley. Seeing just one property up on Bragg Hill, they knew they had found what they sought. They sold their house in Hawaii and designed and built their Fayston home to their specifications.
Their pond would host the site for their marriage. They loved working, spackling and painting, gardening and finding antiques and incorporating them into their home. Learning she had relatives in the neighborhood cemetery, Dori truly felt back at home.
MAD MARATHON
In 2010, the Mad River Valley Chamber of Commerce, experiencing a bad economic time in The Valley, thought an event like a marathon would keep tourists here through July 4 and approached Dori with the idea. Dori, well-connected to Hawaiian friends including Iron Man participants, knew they would come to help her and she agreed to organize the event. Ian, too, could be counted on to help with logistics and many of the race-day details. The first Mad Marathon was held in 2011. This, the 14th year, is predicted to attract nearly 1,000 runners as well as the people who support them. It can’t hurt that our marathon was featured right between London and Paris in National Geographic’s “100 Runs of a Lifetime: The World’s Ultimate Races and Trails.”
Dori aptly calls it “The World’s most beautiful marathon” and competitors consistently agree! Asked why she stays with the event she replied, “I am a Vermonter.” Additionally, she claims it keeps her young and says it a joy to meet big-hearted runners. She finds marathoners both friendly and compassionate. It also helps that the community is so supportive. She loves that she has the opportunity to give back and do as her grandparents instructed!
Always trying to enhance the opportunities for involvement, this year the event, in addition to the 5 and 10 K races, will feature a Toddler’s Race and a Youth Race for 7-to-13-year olds – a Mad Mile at the Round Barn. It is important to her that local families get to participate and experience the fun and satisfaction that the races provide. The events depend on financial sponsorships from the community and a large number of volunteers. Marshals and general volunteers are needed over the two registration days and for Sunday’s races.
SWIMS WITH DOLPHINS
Dori’s love of Hawaii and its culture is another strong tug at her heart. The offer of working on sporting events and escaping winter’s darkness has led Dori and Ian to spend six months in Hawaii each year where a gecko routinely comes to watch sunsets with them. She gets to swim with dolphins and has spent memorable time with her vacationing grandsons, nieces, and nephews during school vacations. Ian pursues his work on documentaries including his present endeavor on wind power. Dori and Ian each have two grandchildren and Dori is hoping that her oldest, a history buff, will come study at Middlebury as the fifth generation to do so.
Dori’s warm and kind manner endear her to all the race participants who eagerly accept her hug at the finish line. She is so much more than an event planner. She is a good-will ambassador par excellence for the entire Valley and the sport of running. She welcomes new and returning volunteers to share the fun and excitement and, don’t be surprised to get a hug and her gratitude for signing up to volunteer where you live!
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