Snow or no, we go!

 I won free entry into all 6 of the "snow or no, we go" series when I won the Canterbury XC series last fall.  It has been a while since I last did a snowshoe race, it just wreaks havoc on my arthritic ankle.  Although I've done 126 snowshoe races, 121 of them were in a 15 year period (2000-2014).  I did 1 snowshoe race in 2016 and then 3 in 2017 and swore that I wouldn't do any more.  I gave away a few pair of my racing shoes and only held on to one good pair and a slightly broken pair. I did a cool snowshoe race in 2021 and it only set me back a week (hobbled along but managed to run). The free entry got me dusting off my snowshoes for another go.

Tom & Ellen Raffio were there when I rolled up a little before 9am.  I wanted plenty of time to get ready as getting geared up for snowshoe racing takes some extra time. I checked out the course map and noted that it ran some of the single-track I'd done before (but in the opposite direction) and some single-track I'd never done before.  I chatted up course designer Tom Walton at number pick-up, he'd marked the course the day before but they got a dusting of snow so it might not be easy to see the orange spray paint arrows.

I hit the road for a hilly 3 mile warm-up.  The road was a little sketchy with the dusting of snow making the downhill parts a bit worrisome.  I got back with 25 minutes to spare and spent the next 10 minutes getting into race gear and fitting the snowshoes.  I hoped most would be using snowshoes although the course could be managed in traction devices.  I headed out for a mile in the snowshoes and my ankle was already chatting loudly with me.  A sub-10 minute mile did not seem easy.  Conditions were not terrible with temps in the 30s and bright sun.  The course would be a mix of open fields and twisting single-track and footing would be ice, snow, and stretches of rock, roots and bare ground.  Not so much to be terrible, but enough to keep you concentrating!  Tom Raffio gave a little speech and mentioned that "it is impossible to get lost".  I told him I wasn't so sure about that.  Tom Walton then gave a short talk about how snowshoe racing is generally slower than traction devices (or trail shoes) and he hoped most would take the recommendation of using snowshoes.  Then it was time to go!

There were a couple of guys from Team Prospect Acres who looked strong including one in some fast looking mini-snowshoes (TSLs?). I figured I'd try to hang with whoever went out and then try to run the second lap faster than the first.  I got to the first turn in the lead and was not pushing the pace in the early going.  I could hear footsteps right behind me and just focused on relaxing and not slipping on the ice.  I aired it out a bit on the first long downhill and the footsteps faded away.  I upped the tempo a little bit figuring I'd get out of sight on the single-track.  The first section had a couple of stretches of bare ground but it wasn't too bad.  Then we hit the "new" section of single-track which had mostly good snow on it.  It was twisty and had some tough little climbs.  I was a bit shocked when I checked my watch (it beeps every 1/2 mile) and I'd done a hard 1/2 in 4:55!  Yikes.  On a sharp turn I saw that my pursuer had now closed back in on me, so much for slipping away.  I pushed a little on the climb back up to the starting field and then passed through the first lap in 15:40.

I really concentrated on pushing the pace the second lap.  The icy stuff was a bit chewed up from everyone running the first loop, but it wasn't too bad.  Knowing the loop and exactly how much was left helped.  I kept the effort steady and thanked the people I lapped who let me have the main part of the trail.  Well, maybe "thanked" is a stretch.  I tried to grunt thanks but it may have come out more of a grunt than a thanks.

I was a bit worried that I was being caught but couldn't do anything about it.  I pressed to the finish and was happy to find that I did beat my first lap time (by 24 seconds) with a 2nd lap of 15:16.  I'd held on for the win as well which was a bonus.

Full results (24 finishers - 14 more in the 1 lap version)