Special certificate and recognition:
During this year's race every first time North Country participant or "first time never before run that distance" participant will receive a special certificate and in addition will scribe their name on our wooden wall that we will keep year after year. That way, a few years down the road someone might be signing their name on the wall of first timer's because you mentored them.
How the program works:
Our mentors are all volunteering their time and effort to help you get ready for North Country 2012 so we don't want to overload them either. Once you sign-up a mentor will reach out to you and you two can correspond no matter if you are 10 miles or a thousand miles away. He/she will be there for you to ensure you are putting your miles in, answer any questions regarding training and share any sort of training programs they think might be beneficial for you. The mentors are not there to answer any questions that really are meant for the race organizers and those can all be sent directly to the race to answer. Just like with social networking, this is social training. No mentor will have more than 5 runners he/she will be mentoring for the next year so they won't get overloaded and you will get the attention you are looking for to help you come race day.