Harris Vexley
Each year, shortly after the calendar declares it to be spring (a decision that remains under review), a specific type of person reappears in the neighborhood.
The Cheerful Jogger.
Key Takeaways
Two-Sentence Summary
Anyone standing outside in a sweater, coffee in hand, watching spring’s more motivated inhabitants jog past, will recognize this immediately. It doubles as an honest portrait of what everyday Vermont community life looks and feels like — which turns out to be exactly what serious buyers want to know before they move here.
If You Only Remember 3 Things
- Vermont’s outdoor culture activates early — and visibly — the moment winter loosens its grip on Central Vermont towns like Waterbury.
- The Cheerful Jogger is not merely a neighborhood character; they are a seasonal data point confirming that spring has, in fact, decided to show up.
- Eye contact from a jogger before 9 A.M. should be understood as optimism in its most aerobic form — and a reliable sign you are living somewhere worth running through.
Quick Facts
- Central Vermont’s village streets and trail networks make it among the most jogging-accessible communities in New England once temperatures lift past 45°F.
- Outdoor lifestyle access — running, skiing, mountain biking, and hiking — consistently ranks among the top relocation drivers for Vermont home buyers.
- Waterbury anchors a corridor of towns where four-season recreation is not an amenity; it is a founding premise. See the Vermont Buyer Guide for more.
These individuals emerge the moment the temperature reaches 47 degrees, dressed in lightweight athletic gear that suggests an optimism I personally reserve for hypothetical versions of myself.
At first you notice them only faintly—a rhythmic footstep, a flash of neon fabric moving confidently through what is still, by most reasonable standards, late-stage winter.
Then the numbers grow.
Soon they are everywhere.
Jogging past houses. Jogging past dogs. Jogging past people who are standing perfectly still while holding coffee and reconsidering their life choices.
Naturally, this phenomenon raises several questions.
First: the confidence.
The Cheerful Jogger moves with the calm assurance of someone who has already decided the day will go well. This is an extraordinary position to take before 9 A.M., and frankly one I did not know was available.
Second: the hydration.
Joggers frequently carry elaborate water bottles or wear small backpacks that appear to contain a complete emergency water supply. This implies that, at any moment, they might jog directly into a desert.
I have walked to the mailbox without hydration and survived.
Granted, it was difficult, but still.
Finally, there is the eye contact.
Joggers often acknowledge passersby with a bright nod or a quick wave, as if we are all participants in the same wholesome morning narrative.
This is unsettling.
I am not part of this narrative. I am standing outside in a sweater that has quietly accepted its role in my life.
And yet the jogger smiles anyway, gliding past with alarming vitality, disappearing down the street to continue whatever ambitious cardiovascular storyline they are currently living.
By mid-April, the phenomenon will reach full strength. Entire packs of joggers will move through the neighborhood with synchronized determination.
Experts say this is good for morale.
I will be observing the situation carefully.
From indoors.
Ready to Live Where the Joggers Run?
Central Vermont is not just scenery. It is a decision about how you want to spend your mornings. New England Landmark Realty has guided buyers and sellers across Washington, Lamoille, and Chittenden Counties for nearly two decades.
Office: (802) 253-4711
Toll-Free: (866) 324-2427
Tony Walton, Principal Broker: (802) 233-4107
www.nelandmark.com
