Kingman Farm 3.2 mile snowshoe race

Kingman Farm snowshoe race

Part two of my three race weekend was the Kingman Farm 3.2 mile snowshoe race in Madbury, NH.  I showed up a bit early to check out the course but JJ (easily) convinced me to warm-up on the road.  We did a three mile run that felt uncomfortably fast for me.  I was definitely feeling the 11 miles and race from earlier in the day and my stomach was not happy about all the chocolate and coke I’d had on the drive.

I switched into race gear and did another mile on the road then headed over to the course and ran an easy mile in snowshoes.  It was nice jogging along in the dark with my headlamp off, seeing others warming up in the distance with headlamps bobbing along.  There is nothing quite like running fast in the dark on snowshoes.  

Over 100 runners blasted out at the start.  I found myself in 6^th/7^th place in the early going and eventually found a rhythm and moved into 3^rd.  JJ was long gone out of sight and Bob Jackman was easily pulling away.  Ryan Welts was right on me and his super-bright headlamp made it really hard to see where I was putting my feet.  I was tired and running “sloppy”, slipping a lot and having a lot of trouble being smooth.  A little after a mile Ryan blew by and I tried to hang on to him.  There were lights pretty close behind which kept me pushing.  I went around Ryan in the big open field and tried to gap him.  I think I pushed too hard but I did get a few seconds on him.

In the last mile we hit the only hill on the course and I really didn’t have much in the tank.  Ryan crept up and I waived him by (although at first he said “no” he later decided that the time was right).  Man, he just flew once he got by me.  I tried to keep it close but he was gone.  I gave all I had and on this night that was good enough for fourth place and first master.  This was the biggest snowshoe race in New England so far this year with 108 finishers.  The top ten included finishers from NH, RI, MA, and NY.

Onward!

Place                Name               Sex       Age      City, St             Team

1 23:40             Jim Johnson        M          35         Madison, NH       BAA

2 24:31             Robert Jackman  M          30         Warwick, RI        Tuesday Night Turtles

3 25:20             Ryan Welts         M          32         Northwood, NH   acidotic RACING

4 25:37             Dave Dunham     M          48         Bradford, MA      CMS

5 26:25             David Principe     M          46         Johnston, RI       Tuesday Night Turtles

6 26:42             David Principe Jr  M          14         Johnston, RI       Tuesday Night Turtles

7 26:55             Scott Mitchell      M          43         New Durham, NH acidotic RACING

8 27:15             Jason Massa        M          45        Concord, NH       acidotic RACING

9 27:18             Phil Erwin           M          45         Ridge, NY           acidotic RACING

10 27:31           Chris Smith         M          47         Woburn, MA       Dungeon Rock Racing