Some stories from last year - January 2006

Team Snowrunning.com Mt. Washington Race Report

With 3.5 metres of snow falling in the past three weeks at Mt. Washington it is not surprising the first race of the Yeti Snowshoe Racing Series was one to remember. Mt. Washington Yeti brought an amazing course, epic snow, blue sky and a talented field and it was Team Snowrunning.com first fitness test and team representation.

With our new sleek Buff jersey and Atlas snowshoes, the six of us that toed the line did so with excitement and nerves. The “I’m a bit tired from this weeks speed workout”, “I have a bit of a cough”, “I just ran a fast marathon” and “The conditions are too nice for my style of racing” excuses were furiously being espoused prior to the race just in case the holiday cheer was still sitting with us. But we looked like a team of dedicated athletes and we all love snowrunning so regardless of the results, it would be a great day.

The Course
The theme of the day was that this was probably the hardest and best course that designer Dave Howells has linked together. The course started on a 1.2 km uphill Cat track that just got steeper and steeper and made those that went out too fast pay dearly. This fed into 3 km of single track winding through mountain ridges and forested terrain that was the true gem of the course. The view was of whitecaps and blue sky; a snowshoe racers paradise. Want some excitement? The 800m steep winding decent had snow flying, arms flailing and faces smiling. What a rush and repeat.

The second time around was actually a bit less demanding as far as snow conditions. The 90 or so people had tracked out a much more run-able track and if you kept some legs for the second lap you could pick up the pace. The field was separating into a few different groups along the course and some of the lengthy single-track sections allowed for a quick look around to see who was breathing down your neck.

The Team
As soon as the gun went off, snow was flying and the Buff jerseys were off and running. Andrew Clarke, the Yeti Series 2005 and 2004 series champion and 5th overall at the 2005 U.S Snowshoe Nationals lead our team out of the gate. He wanted to play at the front of the pack while Justin Mark, Dom Repta and Dave Cressman decided it was better to see lap 1 and then let it all out in lap 2. Our 2 women, Carey Sather and Lisa Polizzi had tight competition from the entire field. “Just checking out what this is all about” was Olympic mountain biker Kiara Bisaro and even though this was her first snowshoe race you knew she would be strong. With this being the first test of the season none of us were sure how we would fair.

When the snow settled, it was Team Snowrunning.com that had taken 1st Overall in the team category of the Yeti Series. Carey and Lisa battled hard and finished 1st and 3rd in the women’s category while Andrew, Dom, Justin and Dave finished 4th, 7th, 9th and 14th.