Saturday, February 16, 2008

Season of the SnōShū 2008 - Race #7
Camp Saratoga 8k Snowshoe Race
Saturday, February 16, 2008

2008 Camp Saratoga snowshoe race results

Today's race at the Wilton Wildlife Preserve shows how much of a difference snow conditions can make from year to year. A year ago this was one of the toughest snowshoe races I'd ever done - fairly deep, slippery snow and very unstable footing left me with a time of 1 hr 37 minutes. This year the snow was shallow, with a crust of ice, and packed down by the groomers to boot - and I ran the course over half an hour faster, in 1 hr 6 minutes. What a difference!

One of the trends for this winter's snowshoe races has been the "brown countryside" syndrome... with one exception, every race I've done has featured a drive through a brown and mostly snowless countryside, leaving me seriously wondering just how there would be a snowshoe race in these snowless lands. And then, in every case, as I got close to the race site, snow would miraculously appear... perhaps the snow gods are trying to make up for the difficulties that lack of white stuff caused during last year's racing season. After all - how else can one explain the fact that two weeks ago Saratoga Spa State Park was the only place with snow in all of Saratoga (and the entire capital district)?

In any case, today's trip wasn't quite that bad... I actually started seeing snow as I drove into Wilton and made my way to the Wilton Wildlife Preserve. Checked in (race HQ was in a different building this year, tricky!) and visited one of the more interesting restrooms I've been in prior to a race (basically a large outhouse building, with a climb up and over several large snowbanks to get to it.) Then I geared up, trying to figure out what clothing would work best (with a goal of staying warm enough but not overheating) before heading up the hill to the starting line. Chatted a bit with some of the other runners that I've gotten to know from numerous WMAC series races, listened to a few words of wisdom from co-RD Jeff Clark, and then with surprisingly little warning and fanfare, off we went.

One of the nice things about this race is that the trails are mostly groomed XC ski trails, about 8-10 feet wide, so there's lots of room to pass and be passed early in the race. Since there was a pretty good crowd that was a real plus! I started out almost all the way at the back, but passed a few folks early on and caught up with Konrad, who was once again without his usual race partner Bill Glendon and would probably pace me like he did at Saratoga Winterfest 2 weeks ago.

The woods were gorgeous - it was a wonderful sunny day, and a lot of the trees and bushes were still coated in ice from earlier in the week. The path took us through the woods and across a couple of fields, with mainly rolling terrain - lots of up and down, but not much that was all that steep. About halfway in we came to a real luxury in a snowshoe race - a water stop! I have to hand it to the wonderful volunteers - manning a water stop has got to be a pretty dull job under ordinary circumstances, so manning one in the middle of February really takes dedication!

After running only 3-4 miles races previously this season, 8k seemed to go one forever... or maybe it was just the uncertainty over whether I could maintain my pace for that distance! Of course, it didn't help that having run the course last year I knew the worst hills were in the last 2-3k. And soon enough, we were at the top of the first steep descent, which many of the runners fly down and which I have to creep down to preserve my knees. That took us to another descent, and the short rolling stretch of singletrack overlooking the pond. Then we were out in the open, rounding the end of the pond and heading for the last killer loop in the fields above the parking lot. Running past the finish line (and knowing you've still got a mile or so to go!) is tough - but at least this year we didn't have folks having a good time in the lodge as we ran by!

The last loop was a bear - first we climbed up to the fields, then headed back down only to make a sharp turn and climb back up the hill we'd just descended! As we went up and down the hills, I gradually gained ground on a pair of runners who'd passed us a couple of miles back and stayed just ahead for the rest of the run. I managed to pass them on the last straightaway, mainly because I didn't want to end up behind them on the final steep descent before the finish, and poured on what little speed I had left to stay in front of them. Went down the last hill as quick as I could without blowing a knee, and did my best imitation of a sprint to the finish, crossing the finish line in 66 min 27 sec. A pretty darn good run, as far as I'm concerned!

Despite his protests during the race that he was barely keeping up with me, Konrad finished a few seconds later, and once again credited me with pulling him along at a faster pace than he would usually run, though I maintain he deserves all the credit for pushing himself to keep up with me. Still, it is nice to hear someone saying that I'm actually helping them run faster!

After I got rid of some of my gear, I walked back out on the path overlooking the pond to shoot some pictures - I'd been concentrating on running when I came through during the race. I briefly considered hiking some other parts of the course, but decided instead to head home and go out for either a ride or a hike somewhere else to take advantage of the gorgeous (OK, chilly but sunny) day.

JMH

2008 Event Totals
Run 0 mi / 0 min
Bike 0 mi / 0 min
Snowshoe 26.1 mi / 6 hr 53 min

states visited: MA, NY
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