Saratoga Winterfest 5K
Sunday, February 5, 2006
Saratoga Winterfest trail race 2006 results
Saratoga Winterfest 2006 snowshoe race info
Saratoga Winterfest Trail Race 2006 Photo Slideshow
We were told in advance that this would be a trail race, since the Curse of the No SnōShū has continued to plague us (though WMAC did manage to hold a snowshoe race yesterday, by moving the site from Northfield Mountain to Dubuque State Forest in Hawley, MA. But even in the Berkshires the conditions are far from ideal…)
I’d only been to the Saratoga Spa State Park once before, and then it was just to drive through so I could do the MHCC Metric Century ride… but I was impressed with how nice it was then (of course, that was on a sunny day in September…) Today we were at the main complex, and the architecture is fairly cool. (So were the temperatures – it was pretty windy.)
The race course was a mixture of surfaces – a little pavement, some grass, some dirt roads through the woods, and some singletrack trail through the woods. And some ice… not as much as on Friday, but enough that some of the runners had ice spikes on their shoes. In the interest of safety, the race organizers routed much of the course around the ice, and where it was unavoidable they put down kitty litter to add some traction (making this the only race I’ve ever done where kitty litter was one of the running surfaces.) Parts were very scenic – we even got to run past a geyser! – and other parts were less so. But overall it was a nice course, with two lengthy hills.
photo courtesy of www.saratogastryders.org
I didn’t think I was pushing all that hard at first, but about halfway through I started really feeling the effort, and the last mile was tough – I may not have been in oxygen bankruptcy, but I was definitely feeling some oxygen debt. When I crossed the finish line it became apparent why: I finished in 30:17, or 9:46 miles – UNDER 10 MINUTE MILES! That was exciting! It’s nice to have definite proof that my time riding and running has had some positive effect.
Afterwards I grabbed my camera and walked about 2/3 of the course to take pictures. (I thought about running it again, because I wasn’t dead tired… but then decided not to push it. I don’t need to get injured…) There were also several photographers out on the course, so I’m hoping one of the web sites will have my photo somewhere.
The one definitely would have been a lot prettier as a snowshoe run (and also a lot harder!) But it was still well worth doing – I had a good run, got a cool T-shirt, and got to walk around a little bit of the park. And only 40 minutes from home.
JMH
Next up – depends on whether the Curse continues to hold. I had signed up to run the Brave the Blizzard 5K Snowshoe Run next Saturday – but if it turns out to be the Bummer No Blizzard 5K Trail Run I’m planning to skip it, since I run the trails they're using all the time anyway (and I’m missing lots of Saturday classes this winter.) In which case the next event would be the Camp Saratoga 8K Snowshoe Run up in Wilton. Maybe the Curse will have lifted by then…
2006 racing totals
snowshoe – 3 miles, 59.5 min
running – 7.1 miles, 1 hr 17 min
riding - 12.4 miles, 1 hr 1 min
