JEFFERSONVILLE — Early Saturday morning, some 20 teams from across the United States will assemble in the town of Jeffersonville for the inaugural Green Mountain Relay.

"We'll be back next year," said organizer Paul Vanderheiden of the Colorado firm Timberline Events. "I'm spending too much money not to be."

The course generally follows Route 100 on the western side of the state, moving onto side roads along the way to get the runners away from traffic and into some of the more scenic areas. Once the race reaches Rawsonville in Windham County, it moves onto Route 11, and then Route 7A in Manchester. It finishes Sunday at Mt. Anthony Union Middle School in Bennington.

Relay races are run by teams of six or 12 members. A runner runs for one leg of the race, then another runner takes over. Runners are tracked by two vans, one for active support of the runners (first aid and similar support), while the other van provides what Vanderheiden terms "inactive" support — rest and supplies. In this way, the race can be run from start to finish, in this case about 200 miles.

Most of the teams come from the Northeast, but there are teams from California, Colorado and Oklahoma as well.

The Vile Adventurers of Rutland will run, as will the Poachers Nightmares of Poultney.

The Vermont Hot Shoes of Winooski are ready, too. The Vermont Hot Shoes is a team of women, all in their 50s, who compete in endurance events wherever they can find them.

"It's a super group," said Debbie Tirrito of Winooski. "One of our members, Dot Helling, runs the 100-mile. We're very fit for women in our 50s. I ran the Iron Man in Lake Placid, and one of our members placed first in her age group and won a trip to Hawaii."

Tirrito said she has been participating in endurance sports since the 1980s. Her husband will be driving the team's support van. "I do it for the challenge," she said. "I like to see how hard I can push myself. Back in the '80s, I was one of the first Vermonters to qualify for the Iron Man and I've been doing Iron Man competitions for quite some time."

While Tirrito has competed in events as far away as Hawaii, she said she is looking forward to a Vermont event.

"We'll be starting at the top of the state and running to the bottom," she said. "This being a team event is what makes it special; though when you're running at night, you don't see much."

Vanderheiden said running at night had its charms. "When you're running at 2 a.m. in the moonlight and you're exhausted, your mind goes places it wouldn't ordinarily go," he said.

Though Vanderheiden is clear about producing events such as the Green Mountain Relay, he also makes it possible for runners to use the relays as a chance to raise funds for charitable organizations. He said runners in the Green Mountain Relay already have raised $4,200; it could go as high as $10,000.

So what's the appeal? Why do people do this? "Besides the challenge, it's the people you meet and then conversations you have," Tirrito said. "Such good memories."

For more information, visit greenmountainrelay.com.

Contact Stephen Seitz at stephen .seitz@rutlandherald.com.