Whitaker woods snowshoe race

I headed up to North Conway for another running of the Whitaker Woods snowshoe race.  I like this race despite the longish drive (2.5 hours).  Teammate Kevin Tilton puts on a nice event in some great trails and there are indoor facilities which are always a bonus for winter racing.

I got up pretty early and met up with Jim Johnson for a warm-up on the course.  We both used Kahtoolahs and had no trouble with footing during the 33 minutes it took to cover the 3.7 mile loop.  I changed into racing gear and snowshoes and headed out for another mile plus some strides.  A record field was lining up when I returned.

Kevin sent us off and Nick Wheeler and JJ sprinted out to the front.  I found myself in fourth place trailing fellow CMSer Sam Wood.  Wheeler pulled away from JJ on the first climb about 1 mile into the race.  I closed a bit on Sam during that climb but still felt that the pace was quite quick.  Right around 2 miles we got into the longest climb on the course and that is when I moved by Sam.

By that point the leaders were out of sight.  I concentrated on putting some distance on Sam.  The icy footing and rough single-track kept me from "airing it out" but I was moving as fast as I felt could safely run.  I ended up holding onto 3rd but lost a lot of ground to JJ and Sam in the last seven-tenths of a mile.

It was nice to get out there and race, I'm looking forward to some deep slow slogs in the snow...but I'm guessing that the conditions will be fast at Sidehiller next week.

 

1	32	Nick	Wheeler	Male 20-29	BAA		22:04.8	1
	2	50	Jim	Johnson	Male 30-39	CMS		23:16.6	1
	3	9	Dave	Dunham	Male 40-49	CMS		24:59.5	1
	4	53	Sam	Wood	Male 20-29	CMS		26:09.0	2
	5	65	Tony	Henderson	Male 30-39			26:19.9	2
	6	55	Phil	Erwin	Male 40-49	Acidotic		26:29.1	2
	7	47	Richard	Lavers	Male 30-39	Acidotic		27:09.4	3
	8	36	Scott	Mitchell	Male 40-49	Acidotic		27:24.4	3
	9	39	Christopher	Dunn	Male 40-49	Acidotic		27:26.6	4
	10	43	Damon	Gannon	Male 40-49			27:40.1	5
	11	42	Kristina	Folcik	Female 30-39	Acidotic		28:07.6	1
	12	66	Tom	Hooper	Male 30-39	Six03		28:48.3	4
	13	54	Ron	Ruhnke	Male 30-39	Acidotic		28:50.1	5
	14	44	Melissa	Donais	Female 20-29	CMS		28:53.8	1
	15	27	Jason	Saltmarsh	Male 40-49			29:06.9	6
	16	2	Leslie	Beckwith	Female 30-39	Acidotic		29:15.3	2
	17	70	Eric	Narcisi	Male 30-39	Whirlaway		29:24.9	6
	18	80	Joanie	Kaijala	Female 30-39	NBB Boston		30:13.9	3
	19	79	Tim	Kaijala	Male 20-29	NBB Boston		30:14.8	3
	20	7	Andrew	Corrow	Male 40-49	Acidotic		30:16.2	7