2014 Horse Hill Snowshoe Race

photos courtesy of Gianina Lindsey

Last weekend I raced in the Horse Hill Snowshoe race in Merrimack, NH. I am not exactly sure "race" is the correct word as I am transitioning to a different mode of thinking towards races. The previous week I was going to race the Beaver Brook Snowshoe race in nearby Hollis, NH, but because the way the time of the race was listed on a website, I showed up an hour late to the race and only got to watch the second half of the racers complete the course. I saw exhausted snowshoers sprinting in to the finish and you know what? I didn't care about their times or even who was ahead of who. It just looked fun and invigorating. I took a lesson from this and realized that I am not a racer anymore or in shape to be one. I just want to be in the milieu of a race and experience just what my body can do at this time, without comparing myself to others or to me in the past.



With that said, I got to the race on time. I started in the back part of the pack and went out to enjoy what I could of the race. I have been averaging about an hour a day on my EllipiGO, but had only run one 3 mile treadmill workout since my last snowshoe race two weeks earlier. After a short bit of running the race hit a section of single-track and stayed that way until we approached the finish on the return trip. The course also went up and then around and back and forth again through all kinds of winding paths and in between trees. It was a beautiful course, but it was far from easy. I found myself at the back of a pack of about ten racers and stayed that way for over a mile. It was hard going, but I wasn't pushing so hard that I was at my limits. In fact, it was quite enjoyable. The old me kept wanting to sprint off the path and around the other racers, but I knew that would be how I could get into trouble for my fitness. Eventually people in the pack started slowing too much and some racers got ahead and I had to try to pass others. Soon I found myself leading a smaller pack. I did not enjoy this as much as I didn't want to slow anyone down and forced the pace when I could. The race was really a twisty affair and many times things hidden under the snow caused other racers to trip. At one point I tripped over a rock and then let two guys get ahead of me. I could tell my muscles were really tired nearing the end, but my ELliptiGO fitness carried me through. Nearing the finish, there was a pretty steep downhill in the woods and I let two more guys go ahead as I didn't trust my hip in that section. Overall I got a great workout, survived another race (results) on limited run training (the race was 4.1 miles which makes it my longest run since May last year), and learned to just be one of the guys in the pack enjoyed the great outdoors rather than trying to be part of the competitive race. This week I have the Kingman Farm Moonlight Snowshoe Race in Madbury, NH to race (or enjoy). I last did this one in 2010 when I did both Horse Hill and Kingman Farms in the same day. Time to find my headlamp for this evening race.



2009 Horse Hill Farms Snowshoe Race
2010 Horse Hill Farms Snowshoe Race

Level Renner recap of the race up front

Level Renner video of the Horse Hill Snowshoe race:

Horse Hill 7K Snowshoe Race

photos by Steve Wolfe

Today I did my third ever snowshoe race and all three races have been my only my only time on snowshoes this year. The race was in Merrimack, NH at the Horse Hill Nature Preserve and was again put on by Michael Amarello and 3C Race Productions. All three of the races that I have done this year on snowshoes were well produced and different in race design and difficulty to make snowshoe racing fun and complex enough to be a great winter sport. I am happy to have these races put on so close to my home as well as them being cheap and easy to enter.

I had some idea of the course because I did a couple of snowshoe workouts on these trails last year with Steve Wolfe and Bill Morse. I knew there were hills and dodgy trail, but I knew it wasn't going to be as bad as the Feel Good Farms race in Lyndeborough, NH. I haven't been getting many running miles in lately (10-20 miles a week) due to my hip imbalances and a hamstring problem that disappeared suddenly after two weeks where I really couldn't run. But I have been dieting and eating healthy so I felt pretty good and lighter in weight than I have been before the race. The trails and weather seemed perfect and the only thing that was bothersome was that some snowshoers that had previewed the course said the downhills looked icy and treacherous. I wasn't too happy with that report since I had such difficulties going downhill at the Feel Good Farms race (well I had difficulties on the flats and uphills there too!).

I was happy to see two first time snowshoe racers show up from the Gate City Striders (besides Steve Wolfe and myself). There was Tom Kolb, who most of the younger Striders probably don't realize was one of the best masters runners that the Striders have had in years, and Michael Wade (who I was hoping had some big heavy- maybe wooden-snowshoes to run in because it has been a year or two since I have placed ahead of him in a race).

The start was narrow but the snowshoers had pretty much seeded themselves accurately. I could seen Jim Johnson ahead (briefly going for another win) and Steve Wolfe a bit ahead with a couple other racers. This is Steve's hometown course and I was hoping and expecting him to put up a good fight for second place. I was in a pack with a handfull of racers and I was happy enough to see Mike Wade striding out ahead. I didn't know if he would crash and burn later because he didn't really have the racing snowshoes that the other competitors had, but Mike is tough and fit so I was interested to see what would happen with him.

My group started going single file. I was heavily winded (something that I notice happens at the start of these races) and I wasn't sure if I was going too fast or not fast enough. Scotty Graham (my 50+ competition) was a bit ahead of me in the group so I figured I should settle into my pace. On the uphills some of the guys walked. I jogged at the same pace because it was hard to pass going up. I was tentative around corners as I didn't want to crash but the course was varied and fun and well groomed. On a flat section I looked down at my watch and fell. I was quickly up but one of the two Dungeon Rock Racers I had just passed a bit earlier got by me again.

I was not wearing a hat which worked out well but my upper body was overdressed (two shirts and a vest). I was heating up a bit too much and took my gloves off. Somewhere along the way I passed the racer ahead of me. I think I did better on the uphills (which is funny as I am not an uphill runner). I was slower on the downhills however (when running I love downhills). On the last steep downhills I was too tentative and Dan Cooper went flying by me. I am not sure if he was the guy I was trading places with earlier or just someone who finished fast and passed me and the two Dungeon Rock Racing guys that finished behind me.

I could see Scotty Graham ahead of me most of the race and I almost caught him on the uphills but I was in no way ready to compete with him and wasn't thinking of doing so- but I wouldn't mind if I gave him a bit of a worry if he looked back at the swithbacks! He was the 50+ top dog and the results say he was only 21 seconds ahead but it could just as easily have been a half mile. 21 seconds is a lot of time in a snowshoe race! But I am improving as he beat me by 23 seconds at the Beaver Brook race. At this rate oif progression I may place ahead of him after 11 more races!

I enjoyed this race more than the first two races. Beaver Brook was flatter and fast but this had a more challenging and varied terrain plus it was fun running in a line of snowshoers throughout the race. My hip wasn't jamming up today and I felt looser than in the first two races but I was still very much imbalanced between my left and right sides, but it is something I am working on with some deep hip stretches I am making up that I have never seen anywhere else but they seem to get at tightnesses is my lower back and sacrum with the muscles or ligaments that seem so tight back there.

Mike Wade turned out to be a brilliant snowshoer as he finished fourth overall in his first race. Steve Wolfe finished 2nd and Tom Kolb had the gnarliest spit and sweat covered face at the end of his race!

Results are here:

The top 15 and a few others are listed here:
1 30:41 Jim Johnson 31
2 36:03 Steve Wolfe 44
3 36:51 Chris Dunn 40
4 38:11 Michael Wade 40
5 39:03 Reeder Fahnestock 29
6 39:21 Patrick Smith 46
7 39:48 Scott Graham 50
8 39:52 Jay Myers 38
9 40:04 Dan Cooper 36
10 40:09 Jim Hansen 50
11 40:21 Ted Hall 35
12 40:24 Austin Stonebraker 29
13 41:06 Sal Genovese 43
14 41:22 Jay Curry 37
15 41:42 John Skewes 51
19 42:25 Liz Hall 35 F
20 42:47 Bill Morse 57
27 47:50 Tom Kolb 53

50 snowshoers finished the race