3rd Jay Henry, 1st Josiah Middaugh, 2nd Josh Arthur One thing that I had wanted to do going into this winter was get some racing snowshoes and hopefully compete in a race or two. Since I work at the Nordic Center here in CB, I was able to get a pro deal on Atlas Snowshoes and ordered a pair of the Atlas Race. As soon as I ordered them, I looked for a race to enter and saw that the CO State Snowshoe Championships were just a few weeks away. So I decided that, as long as my new kicks arrived in time for the race, I would enter.
They came in on a Monday, and the race was the following Saturday. Plenty of time to test them out and get a feel for snowshoe running... so I thought. That week happened to be busy for some reason, and I never did get a chance to take them for a test run. Instead, in typical Josh Arthur fashion, I decided just to wing it and make the race my first ever snowshoe running experience. After all, how hard could it be?
On Friday, the day before the race, I caught a ride with my friend Garry to Poncho Springs. From there I hitched up to Leadville. I spent the afternoon walking around town and eventually got to meet up with Bill, an ultra fanatic who lives in Leadville and probably knows just about every elite ultra runner in the state. That evening I met up with my couch surfing host, grabbed some dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant, then called it a night early and was sleeping before 9:00 PM. In the morning, I got my race gear ready, grabbed a bite to eat, and was out the door and hitching again. This time up to Tennessee Pass about 10 miles away. With two fairly quick rides, I had arrived. With plenty of time to spare.
At 10:05 AM the race started. It didn't take long to get a feel for the snowshoes, running on the groomed trail actually felt pretty easy. Within the first half mile of the race, I found myself sitting in 2nd place running relaxed, just waiting to see how things would play out. About a mile into the race, we made a turn onto a single track section and then quickly found ourselves mostly breaking trail in a foot and a half soft snow. The next couple miles climbed steadily uphill, through the trees, and nearly all in soft powder. Around 1.5 miles, I took the lead and opened up a 10-15 second gap. That did not last very long though, and within a few minutes, eventual winner (and professional triathlete) Josiah Middaugh was on my heals.
When we approached the 5k mark, we popped out onto a groomed nordic trail and Josiah took the lead. For the next two miles I stayed fairly close, keeping him in sight and trying not to let him lose me in the trees. A lot of this portion of the race was on and off of packed single track and soft powder. By the time we reached mile 5 though, the soft powder was taking its toll. Not only was it taking the snap out of my legs, but it was also starting to build up in the front of my shoes. With one last fast, packed out, single track section through the pines, we hit some more powder stretches and any chance I had of maintaining contact was lost. Josiah pulled away enough over the last mile that I could no longer see him. Looking back, I knew that 3rd place was no where to be seen and all I had to do was get to the finish line and second place was in the bag.
I completed the 10k course in 1:05:20, probably the slowest 10k I have ever ran. Josiah was just over a minute faster, in 1:04:14. Third place was over two and a half minutes back in 1:07:53. It was by far the toughest 10k I have ever done, with the elevation reaching upwards of 11,000 ft, a total elevation gain of over 1,000 ft, and having to run well over 2/3 of the race through soft snow wearing snowshoes. The course was designed by race director Bruce Kelly (owner of Pedal Power Bike in Vail). Apparently it is so challenging that the US Snowshoe committee won't even consider it as a national championship venue.
After the race I took my shoes off to see what was hurting my toes. Come to find out, there was about a half inch of ice built up in my toe box. It had made my shoes fit about a full size smaller, and as a result, I was left with 3 black toe nails. I guess that's what I get for not trying out the new gear before the race. Bruce must have herd me talking about it, and noticed that I did not have booties to cover my shoes. So when the raffle started, my name was called and that's exactly what I got. Thanks Bruce!
At the awards I got to meet a lot of the other athletes. I handed out a bunch of samples of Vi Fuel, who have been sponsoring me for nearly a year and I am now an independent sales rep for. In both Colorado and Utah. For more info on Vi Fuel, check out my product review here and also my previous blog post to get a 20% discount!
The weekend was a success, I was able to claim my 3rd, second place finish in a state championship. (high school xc in NY, then a college 10k in PA, and now this race). After the race I went out for a 12 miles skate ski, then hitched to Copper where I met up with Julie (my CSing host) and some of her friend to go night skiing at Keystone. The next day I hitched down to Salida and did a 22 mile run on the trails behind town, where a year ago I race the Collegiate Peaks 25. After the run, I hitched back to CB and made it home just as it was getting dark. Now it is time recover from the fun packed weekend and prepare for the Alley Loop nordic marathon coming up in 2 weeks. That will be another first, and I can't wait!
Links: Results & Garmin
They came in on a Monday, and the race was the following Saturday. Plenty of time to test them out and get a feel for snowshoe running... so I thought. That week happened to be busy for some reason, and I never did get a chance to take them for a test run. Instead, in typical Josh Arthur fashion, I decided just to wing it and make the race my first ever snowshoe running experience. After all, how hard could it be?
On Friday, the day before the race, I caught a ride with my friend Garry to Poncho Springs. From there I hitched up to Leadville. I spent the afternoon walking around town and eventually got to meet up with Bill, an ultra fanatic who lives in Leadville and probably knows just about every elite ultra runner in the state. That evening I met up with my couch surfing host, grabbed some dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant, then called it a night early and was sleeping before 9:00 PM. In the morning, I got my race gear ready, grabbed a bite to eat, and was out the door and hitching again. This time up to Tennessee Pass about 10 miles away. With two fairly quick rides, I had arrived. With plenty of time to spare.
At 10:05 AM the race started. It didn't take long to get a feel for the snowshoes, running on the groomed trail actually felt pretty easy. Within the first half mile of the race, I found myself sitting in 2nd place running relaxed, just waiting to see how things would play out. About a mile into the race, we made a turn onto a single track section and then quickly found ourselves mostly breaking trail in a foot and a half soft snow. The next couple miles climbed steadily uphill, through the trees, and nearly all in soft powder. Around 1.5 miles, I took the lead and opened up a 10-15 second gap. That did not last very long though, and within a few minutes, eventual winner (and professional triathlete) Josiah Middaugh was on my heals.
When we approached the 5k mark, we popped out onto a groomed nordic trail and Josiah took the lead. For the next two miles I stayed fairly close, keeping him in sight and trying not to let him lose me in the trees. A lot of this portion of the race was on and off of packed single track and soft powder. By the time we reached mile 5 though, the soft powder was taking its toll. Not only was it taking the snap out of my legs, but it was also starting to build up in the front of my shoes. With one last fast, packed out, single track section through the pines, we hit some more powder stretches and any chance I had of maintaining contact was lost. Josiah pulled away enough over the last mile that I could no longer see him. Looking back, I knew that 3rd place was no where to be seen and all I had to do was get to the finish line and second place was in the bag.
I completed the 10k course in 1:05:20, probably the slowest 10k I have ever ran. Josiah was just over a minute faster, in 1:04:14. Third place was over two and a half minutes back in 1:07:53. It was by far the toughest 10k I have ever done, with the elevation reaching upwards of 11,000 ft, a total elevation gain of over 1,000 ft, and having to run well over 2/3 of the race through soft snow wearing snowshoes. The course was designed by race director Bruce Kelly (owner of Pedal Power Bike in Vail). Apparently it is so challenging that the US Snowshoe committee won't even consider it as a national championship venue.
After the race I took my shoes off to see what was hurting my toes. Come to find out, there was about a half inch of ice built up in my toe box. It had made my shoes fit about a full size smaller, and as a result, I was left with 3 black toe nails. I guess that's what I get for not trying out the new gear before the race. Bruce must have herd me talking about it, and noticed that I did not have booties to cover my shoes. So when the raffle started, my name was called and that's exactly what I got. Thanks Bruce!
At the awards I got to meet a lot of the other athletes. I handed out a bunch of samples of Vi Fuel, who have been sponsoring me for nearly a year and I am now an independent sales rep for. In both Colorado and Utah. For more info on Vi Fuel, check out my product review here and also my previous blog post to get a 20% discount!
The weekend was a success, I was able to claim my 3rd, second place finish in a state championship. (high school xc in NY, then a college 10k in PA, and now this race). After the race I went out for a 12 miles skate ski, then hitched to Copper where I met up with Julie (my CSing host) and some of her friend to go night skiing at Keystone. The next day I hitched down to Salida and did a 22 mile run on the trails behind town, where a year ago I race the Collegiate Peaks 25. After the run, I hitched back to CB and made it home just as it was getting dark. Now it is time recover from the fun packed weekend and prepare for the Alley Loop nordic marathon coming up in 2 weeks. That will be another first, and I can't wait!
Links: Results & Garmin
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