Feel Good Farm Snowshoe Race

On Saturday I headed up to Lyndeborough, NH for the Feel Good Farm Snowshoe race. This would be my first snowshoe race ever, in fact it would be my first time ever trying to run on snowshoes. We arrived at Feel Good Farm pretty early because I wanted to make sure I had enough time to get my loaner snowshoes from Dion Snowshoes and get in a good warm up. After I got checked in and got my loaner snowshoes I headed out for a very easy 3 mile warm up on the roads.

After my warm up I went back to my truck and got changed for the race. I decided on a lightweight trainer for shoes and a single long sleeved shirt as it was feeling pretty warm. The I took the snowshoes and headed for the snow.

After getting on my snowshoes and running around a bit I ran in Kevin Tilton and Jim Pawlicki. We chatted for a bit and I was pretty much told that this race was one of the hardest snowshoe races out there and that the course was a tough one.

After a few instructions about the course we were ready to roll and the race was started. I tried to get out a bit quick knowing the the course would get tight pretty quickly. I got out good and I was in about 6th or 7th place heading into the woods. At this point the course goes up a short hill and I was already having a few issues trying to control these things stuck on my feet. After a few rolling hills we hit the real climb going straight up Moose Mountain. It was here that I started having some real issues. My lack of recent running and lack of experience with snowshoes really started to shine through. I was tripping all over myself every time I tried to run, I was all over the place and could barely stay up right. This slowed me way down and lots of people went by me. I also have only been back running for three weeks and this lack of training really put me in the hurting zone real quick. I had at least 4-5 people go by me going up the hill the first time. It was at this point that I really thought I had made a mistake in not only trying to race so soon, but trying snowshoe racing in general. Once at the top I had a chance to collect myself and get ready for the descent. The descent was crazy......it was steep, rocky, uneven, and with very thin cover. The only good thing was I found descending much easier for myself. I passed a couple of people on the steep sections and rolled on to the flats moving pretty good. I put some distance on those behind me and I caught up to Steve Wolfe just as we started to ascend the back side of Moose Mountain. Steve was holding a decent pace and I decided that I would tuck behind him for a while, try to settle in and see if I could ascend the mountain a little better this time. I think I was a little bit better the 2nd time up, but I also think this trail was a bit easier to ascend. But it also had a very steep section at the very top that really hurt. I stayed with Steve the whole way and made the decent down the front side just staying controlled and following Steve. The first lap went by in 22:18

As the second lap began I decided that I would stay with Steve and try to make a move on him going up the big straight hill section. But before we could even get there I wiped out big time going up a small rise. I fell on my chest and some how managed to get the tail of one snowshoe stuck in the front of the other snowshoe. I let out some expletives while I rolled around on the ground trying to get my snowshoes unstuck. Steve turned around to see what was going on and I can only imagine what he was thinking, because I felt like some snowshoeing menace making a fool out of myself. I did get myself back together and caught back up to Steve. As we hit the big hill for the third time Steve seemed to be hurting and I managed to get by him and put some distance on him. This time on the descent I really opened it up and felt like I was really moving good. I hit the flats and kept it going hard till the last time up the mountain. As I hit the bottom of the climb I could see Chris Dunn and Reeder Fahnestock headed up the climb. I put in a good effort and was closing the gap right up until the top. But it was not to be. They crested the top and still had a gap on me and retained it on the descent into the finish. I knew I wasn't going to catch them and I could see nobody one behind me, so I figured I was pretty much locked into my placing. I finished up the race in 9th place in 43:55. My second lap was 21:37, a full 41 seconds faster.

So in the end I had a great time! The snowshoeing crowd was very friendly and I chatted with quite a few people after the race. I loved the racing and the challenge that this experience presented me. Its something that I think I will try again in the future, and hopefully when I am in better shape.

Race Results