Status unclear for cross-country race at Gunstock

GILFORD — It’s unclear whether an early bird invitational for high school cross-country runners on Sept. 1 will be able to take place at Gunstock Mountain Resort as planned, now that operations have been suspended.

Gilford High School Principal Anthony Sperazzo said the statewide competition, which draws roughly 15 school teams and 400 runners to the fall season’s opening event, is still scheduled, but no one knows if it can, or will occur.

‘‘It’s a kickoff to the season, for male and female teams. Typically all the teams look forward to this opening race,” Sperazzo said Thursday. “The schools are ready to go. They’re banking on this happening. Right now it’s on, but only if they [the decision makers for Gunstock] can get this figured out.”

It’s the latest wrinkle in the controversy that has closed Gunstock, a valuable and widely used recreational resource for tourists and county residents — including for youth outings and sports.

Sperazzo said Gilford High planned to use Gunstock for a back-to-school morale and team-building event for freshman and sophomores that would involve doing the low ropes course, which is currently closed.

Surveys by the school of social and emotional wellness and service leaders indicated a strong interest in group outdoor recreation activities to support and reintegrate students in the wake of the pandemic’s suspension of ordinary school social life.

“One thing that resounded was getting them out and having them work with one another,” Sperazzo said.  The ropes course outing would encourage kids to “take risks and think critically and do it a fun sort of way. We want to kick off the school year in a way that’s fun for our students. Outdoor experiential learning – that’s all on hold right now. These talks [with Gunstock] have stalled.”

Sperazzo added that decisions regarding the year-round recreation area “are really impacting this community. “This is one great way Gunstock could support our community. This is what parents want,” he said. “We’re trying to give it to them.”

Sperazzo expects more will be known after a meeting next Thursday.