Diving down in the darkness past Ravine, Pennsylvania my car’s odometer rolled over the 250K mark headed to Nescopeck State Park, Pennsylvania to compete in my US National Snowshoe Race qualifier. I was headed to my first snowshoe race and I really wanted coffee to go with my thoughts. I had lots of questions about gear, course, warm up, the race, and training. But, no doubts that the experience was going to be way over the top on the fun meter.
An 11:00 race start gave me lots of time to work on my answers over a good cup of coffee at the on a ridge by Hazelton watching the rising sun shine up the valley below Nescopeck Mountain. I didn’t know exactly where Nescopeck State Park was located, even though I was already looking at its partner ridges and hills. I had left home at what we in the Army call “0 Dark 30” to get where I needed to be with least amount of traffic and weather interference, meet the racers, and scout the course. No disappointments in any of these areas. That was the plan and with the terrific support of Frank Gaval and his race volunteers it worked perfectly.
The gear. Last time I wore snowshoes was when I was in Army Special Forces training in Scandinavia. We had parachuted at night into a very cold place even more beautiful than the ice scenes is the Superman movie. We had snowshoes from WW II that were about my height. Good for rucking heavy loads, but “snowstumbling” had to sub for running. Nescopeck State Park Rangers kindly provided snowshoes for those who didn’t have them. Others had Redfeathers, like mine, MSR, Tubbs, Atlas, Northern Lights, and others. Tip: the more experienced the racer, the more specialized the gear.
The warmup. Plenty of room in the parking lot and run up to the start area. Warming up is a very personal race ritual and we had all kinds. Some ran, some ran in their snowshoes, some walked and some mushed with their dogs. I warmed up using my Yaktrax Pro’s on the icy perimeter. I wanted to get my heart race up and stretch out before gearing up my Redfeather racers. And, I didn’t want to take them off after getting race ready. Great job by the Yaktrax’s on the ice and firm snow. Took a while, to adjust the Redfeather’s straps and slide into some strides, with a dozen pick ups to get into the snowshoe shuffle. No worries, good to go.
The course. Perfect. High start on firm, windswept snow downhill to a maneuver merge to cross the dam over Lake Frances and wham (as Chef Emeril Lagasse says to his sauces) a quick drop into the woods, uphill past another lake, and out into deeper snow to the turnaround. Then, back up to the start for 5K and repeat for the 10K national qualifying distance. Firm and soft snow, up and down hills, some ice and rocks, and strong competition. I didn’t see anyone who wasn’t smiling.
The race. Frank instructed where to go and how to get there safely. And with the wind in our faces, we were off. Fast! I race a lot and immediately kicked my snowshoes over to plane geometry to run the tangents. I dove down to the left of the dam merge point and sensed more than felt the brawny briar slash my left cheek. Flowing blood provided a rambunctious Rambo effect and the race was on. Lucky me, my first race and already a snowshoe scar. Everything Frank had warned about on the course was out there: the quick downhill, the icy stretch, the few uncovered rocks, and the deeper snow out to the turnaround. Perfect. I managed to depress the learning curve and ran negative splits on each of the four sections for the 10K. I ran in a GITRDONE mode to ensure qualifiying for the US Nationals scheduled for Snow Basin, UT. Also, as a virgin racer I did not want to do anything too stupid and interfere with other racers. I came close to the stupid part with my surprising splash uphill and upended finish
when I caught my right snowshoe’s crampon and just about somersaulted over the finish line. We all enjoyed laughing.
The training. Practice is worth the time you’ll gain in the race. Training is even better over varied terrain and snow. Coaching will get you closer to competitive times faster and more efficiently. Size does matter. Ed Myers took the time to explain and demonstrate his Northern Lights racers which have a racing flat hardbolted to the snowshoe platform making them lighter and swifter. Ed has raced all over the world and eagerly shares his experience which helped my learning enormously. Eager to get out there and race again with benefit of Ed’s training tips.
Bottom Line: Good to go to Nationals! I’ll see you out there.
About John
John’s a Multisport All-American who races for the Du2R Multisport Team. He writes the MidAtlantic Multisport column for the Washington Running Report. Triathlete magazine is publishing his report on the ITU Winter Triathlon World Championships recently completed in Germany.
