Whether leaving the warm confines of the event’s host hotel, The Fitgers Historic Inn, or homes in Minneapolis/St. Paul or other locales and driving to Lester Park in Duluth, Minnesota, on race morning one could not miss the nearly-full Waxing Gibbous Moon hanging yellowish in the western sky. Slightly oblong at this stage the big ‘Cheese’ moon, pride of Duluth’s neighboring twin port, Superior, Wisconsin and that entire state for that matter, seemed to be hunched over in sympathy with the gnarly challenge that lay in store for the brave Northwood Championship snowshoe racers.
It is exactly this kind of day separating our sport with the many other denizens of winter activities cancelled by the dozens on a day where -19 F temperatures were a norm shared with all by a stiff Northwest blow. The Race Director, Barbara Skike, says that “No Northland race has ever been cancelled.”
Hearty souls lined up for the 18th annual Northwood with one of the more challenging days ever for the races. What a great way to greet the United States Snowshoeing Association. Mark Elmore, USSSA Sports Director, had earlier predicted “Snowshoers will enjoy a real challenge here.” No truer words ever spoken.
This is the first time Northwood has held a USSSA 10km Qualifier. Combined with 20 other qualifying races held throughout the country, athletes earn the right to race the National USSSA PowerSox Championship at Snowbasin Resort, Ogden, Utah on March 8th, 2009. This weekend’s qualifiers, numbering seven from coast to coast, are the biggest two days of the winter for the 21 USSSA events.
In order to get the half-marathon and marathon events completed during the daylight, those races shoe-off at 9:30a.m. The 10 km USSSA Qualifier starts 30 minutes later. To make sure of their starting lists particularly important on such a frigid day, yelling out to the snowshoers, organizers were hustling to get the race underway.
The crowd-favorite answer to one question,
“Has anyone seen (____)?” was this young woman’s reply:
“Yes, she’s here. I just hugged her in the parking lot.”
“What about (_____), is he with her?”
“No . . . I don’t know . . . I didn’t hug him.”
It was starting to get cold, waiting. I could’ve used one of those warming hugs.
Jim McDonell, known as Mr. Braveheart, was standing nearby with his blue and white face paint (when is Dermatone going to make colors?), and I was listening to him apologize to a racer who asked in jest why he wasn’t wearing his typical singlet and shorts . . . . Jim showed him by zipping down that he had only a light jacket over his singlet. Remember, sports fans, it is negative nineteen Fahrenheit. I kinda slinked away, trying to blend in with the many others who shared my passion for Lots-O-Layers.
The half-marathon course is traversed twice for the marathoners. Essentially, one starts and runs up XC ski grades and hangs a left after a while to return to the starting line in about 1.1 miles, only to once again head up the same trail. This time not turning left, but continuing further until leaving those trails to meet Aid #1 and their piping hot chicken soup served in drink cups. Had a serving or two every time by . . . the delicious sodium content of that soup was enough to pucker an electrolyte tablet.
There are three Aid stations; after leaving #1, you soon get to #2 by following hill and dale, then enjoy scenic views of icy Lake Superior and pay for it with the loop’s longest and most dispiriting climb.
Then, Aid #3, featuring powerline trails and frozen creek beds, marveling at a gorgeous three story home all by itself on a big hill, no doubt a vista view, nothing else around, and its green roof badge. Everyone doing these loops knows that house. Then you come back to Aid #1, go further West on a one mile loop that brings you right back, once again, to #1, at which time you return to the XC trails and continue their perimeter until several miles later you arrive at the finish line. That’s a half marathon.
If you are doing the marathon, there is a real mental check of leaving the finish area, now the third time, doing the short loop before returning, once again passing the start, leaving it for the fourth time . . . when all one would have to do to rid the discomfort is go over to the car, click on the heater and forget the whole thing. It is a test that Donny Clark, a multiyear marathon finisher here, calls “A character builder.”
USSSA NATIONAL 10KM QUALIFIER
(58 registered)
2007 USSSA National Champion, Greg Hexum, Esko, Minnesota, won the qualifier going away with a 42:20. Talking about the day, Greg said, “Lester Park is one of my home courses, I had to race this.”
How about the weather and the course layout? “The weather didn’t worry me as much as the course at Lester Park. You have to look very hard to find a course that is more difficult than this one. While there are no mountain-style climbs on the course, there are no flat sections on the 10k course. It is a blend of short steep uphills and short steep downhills almost the whole way.” So all one has to do to be a #1 like the affable champion is train in Lester Park, right?
Greg further commented, “This was my first race of the season, so I approached it with low-key preparation, but I always race hard once the gun goes off . . . that’s just the way I am. There is nothing like the weather to remind me that I am alive.”
It is gratifying to the sport to have its stars who automatically are qualified for the National Championships out mixing it up on the snow course during the qualifying season. It helps to validate the whole process.
And notches up the competition.
Ian Lanza, Rochester, Minnesota, won the silver overall with a 48:24, a winning time most days. Keith Thompson, Duluth, followed moments later for the bronze.
Kris Rosenbush, Stewartville, kept more medals in Southern Minnesota with her women’s 10km victory. Stewartville, close to Rochester, is an entrepreneurial town with the home of medical device company, Rochester Medical, Inc., and the hometown of Bryan Reichel, founder of emerging green company, Pure Choice, Inc.
Kris finished at 1:09 with nurse Rachel Van Hale, Minneapolis but a Duluth native, putting her Tartan Terrific 2007 qualifying experience to good use today and winning silver. Tartan’s weather was very similar except the course was more exposed than these wooded loops. Temps here were a little ‘cooler,’ though.
Angela Byers, Minneapolis, rounded out the top three women finishers in the USSSA 10km Qualifier.
NORTHWOOD HALF MARATHON CHAMPIONSHIP
(46 registered)
If you can scorch a course on a day this bitter, then Jim Reed, Duluth, did just that by winning gold with a 1:54:42 finish. In the best championship races of the day, he won over Nathaniel Wilson, Frederic, Wisconsin, by 15 crunchy seconds.
And, bronze finisher, Dave Schuneman, Duluth, trailed Nathan closely, finishing a few ticks over 1:55. Total time between first and third was less than a half minute.
Shelly Wilson, River Falls, Wisconsin, making the Most of the weather challenge, won the gold as the first woman finisher in the Northwood Half Marathon. Shelly put her trail racing experience . . . and trail sweeps work . . . to good use today for a 2:43:12 winning time. Keeping it all in the family, Nathaniel Wilson is Shelly’s brother.
Silver was taken by Sondra Mowers, Duluth, at 2:54:53, followed one tick later by Kris Kolenz also of Duluth.
Notable finisher was Paul Paine and his 13 year old dog, Blue, who have raced this course together for umpteen years. Ms. White was telling me this out on the course, watching Paul and Blue ahead of us, while she was completing her ‘half’ before going to work. I contend snowshoers are one hearty bunch; her effort is just one example.
NORTHWOOD MARATHON CHAMPIONSHIP
(17 registered)
Scott Marsh from another southern Minnesota city, Austin, came five hours ‘up north’ as you say it in Minnesota-speak to put together a solid effort, winning this 18th edition, one of the most brutal, under five hours. His 4:58:17 led Matt Long’s silver medal effort, from nearby Poplar, by 45 minutes.
Providing the international flavor to the event was Orillia, Ontario’s Steve Burrows medal with a finish of 5:49, for the bronze finish.
Julie Berg, Big Lake, won a big victory here by taking women’s gold at 5:52:44. Seeing Julie as she was finishing the big loop, second time, on her way back to Aid #1, she seemed sprite, happy, and moving well. Even with iced brows. Her later tale of blisters and broken snowshoes shows the courage and determination required to complete this snow ultra.
Broken bindings were not uncommon today as the cold and the harshness of the course beat ‘em up. Check out the photo of a duct tape repair on my snowshoes, a job done handsomely by the guys at Aid #1 . . . the same duct tape used earlier to tape Julie’s heel back together. Also note one of their famous chicken soup cups that survived the journey.
Plenty of Atlas Snowshoes were handed out at the awards party, replenishing the ‘used’ supply roughed up during the day. Although the Atlas ‘mellow-yellow’ racers were the most dominant I noticed during the race, Northern Lites and Crescent Moons had good representation today.
Caro Linn, Duluth, won the silver for her gutsy 6:43 finish, as one of the two women completing the distance.
Is the Northwood Marathon the toughest snowshoe marathon race in North America?
Finishing any of these Northwood snowshoe races today, even without winning a medal — there were plenty of classes to pick up hardware — is a real personal accomplishment. For many, it was their first opportunity to race a USSSA 10km Qualifier, a half marathon or the marathon on snowshoes.
The marathon time limit, even on a good weather day, is a stiff 7:30. Remember, this is a race on mostly single track, snow covered trails with some lenghty climbs. Several Garmin distance reports were miles longer than the 26.2 standard. As emerging national trail runner, Wynn Davis, said in characterizing this layout, “I ran it the year there was no snow and that course is TOUGH!” That is one element making a finish here so special.
Another is, you better be there crossing the line before the clock counts down to seven hours, thirty minutes, otherwise you aren’t official. Those who dropped, or the one poor soul this year who finished fifteen minutes late (uh, that’s this author), now have even more motivation next year.
All who braved Gitchee Gumee’s weather challenge can count that as the real victory regardless of the distance raced, medal or no medal, whatever the time.
Donny Clark describes it by asking, “How does one measure self respect? I think it has much more to do with courage and how high one raises the head . . . that is the true measure of success – in the woods, in the snow, while we all chase our dreams of pleasure.”
The moon, rising from the East as it had all afternoon, an early dark enveloping this Northern point. Short of full status, the moon still appearing hunched, though much brighter, extra vivid this late in the day rather than its early morning russet . . . more in tune with the worn out snowshoe racers now, flush with their adventure accomplished, the warmth of camaraderie surrounding all.
For race results, visit https://www.snowshoemag.com/raceresults/MarathonResults.pdf.
