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| credit RedRiverMiner.com |
I honestly never thought this would happen, but I won my
first race!! Now, keep in mind, there were only about a dozen other races, but
I will take it!
The Desert Babe (openly copying that name from http://highdesertdirt.blogspot.com)
and I traveled to the Enchanted Forest in Red River, NM,
a beautiful little mountain town near Taos, to compete in the Low O2 Snowshoe
Challenge. This is certainly an apt name, considering the race takes place at
+9,500 feet! This race also serves as the New Mexico State Snowshoe
Championship, a title The Desert Babe has won two times already (2012 and 2014,
she was out of the state in 2013). Admittedly, we were both nervous going into
the race: The Desert Babe had a title to defend and I am still a newby at this
sport.
I ran for the first time in snowshoes and competed in my
first snowshoe race several weeks ago at the Santa Fe Snowshoe Classic. It was
a little over 5k and brutal, including a 1.5-mile long climb. This race had a
good turnout (~75 races) and I placed eighth, which was great, but I was also
over five minutes behind the winner!
So, going into yesterday’s race, my goal was to push as hard
as I could. I wanted to try and stay close to the leaders, but also realized
10k is A LOT longer than 5k (like twice the distance…), so I really had no clue
what running that far on snowshoes would feel like. The 5k race nearly killed
me!
As the NM State Championship, the top two finishers in each
age group qualify for the national championship, taking place in Eau Claire,Wisconsin this year. I had no doubt that The Desert Babe would win the women’s race, much
less her age group (she beat all the women in the Santa Fe race by at least
five minutes), so I knew we would be going to Wisconsin regardless. On a side
note, The Desert Babe missed making the national team by only about 30 seconds
last year, so I am confident she will make it this year! I knew the turn out
for this race would be small, but I also did not want to qualify for nationals
simply because there was no one else in my age group.
Before getting to the race, I should highlight how beautiful
the location is. Red River is about 45 minutes from Taos, nestled in a tight
little valley with a beautiful stream running along the town. There is a little
ski hill here, and if you have ever seen the mountains here (part the Sangre de
Cristo Mountains, southern Rockies), these mountains are STEEP and the skiing
looks really intimidating! The Enchanted Forest is privately held land that has
beautiful cross-country skiing and snowshoeing trails winding through a thick
pine forest. And the snow was fantastic up there! It was thick and sticky, with
typical crystal blue skies!
Ok, back to the race. Warming up, I saw two guys that looked
like the main competition. One guy looked like he knew what he was doing and
the other guy has his shoes bolted into his snowshoes,
so obviously he was serious! Both were clearly older than me, but as The Desert
Babe pointed out, especially with snowshoe running, age does not mean much. After
The Desert Babe and I returned from out warm-up, several late arrivals had
showed up. They both looked young and strong; one of them had beaten me at the
Santa Fe race. Looks like I had my work cut out for me!!
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| The State Champs flexing their guns! |
The race was a two-lap course (there was also a 5k race
starting at the same time). It started in a field (after starting on
single-track at Santa Fe, snowshoe races are much less hairy when they start in
a field so everyone can line up across the starting line). The course
immediately climbed up a groomed XC ski trail. About 0.2 miles in, it jumped
onto a single track (aka, you would have to be good to pass) for 0.3 miles. It
then got back onto the ski trail until around the 1.4 mile mark, where it got
back onto single track nearly to the end of the first lap (5k mark), winding
through trees on hilly, sometimes short, “punchy” climbs.
Right off the start, I was in fourth place. My heart felt like
it was about to explode (even though it never really went over 150 bpm; not
sure if it is altitude or what, but cannot seem to get my heart rate much over
150 bpm anymore). Once we got back onto the ski trail, ~1 mile in, I took third
place up a long gradual climb, then second on the decent. But already first
place was nearly out of sight, that guy was flying! First the rest of the first
lap, I could hear third place behind me, although, I did feel some relief once
I got onto the single track on the back half of the first lap, because I knew
it would be hard for him to pass me on the single track.
When I went through the halfway point, I had developed some
breathing room from third place, but first place was nowhere in sight. I was
pleased with trying to hold on to second place. I just hoped I wouldn’t blow up
on the second loop. The second half of the race was pretty uneventful. I kept
putting time into the guy behind me and had the fortune of knowing what to
expect on the loop (having already run it), so I felt more relaxed. The second
half of this loop was great: winding through the trees and feeling comfortable
with the gap I had on the guy behind me. I comfortably cruised into second
place.
After finishing and nearly puking, I cheered The Desert Babe
on as she finished two places behind me, crushing all of the women and becoming
a three time NM State Snowshoe Champion!
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| Where it is always fun! |
After finishing, she asked if I won, and I explained how
badly I was crushed by Rene, the guy in front of me. But, I was comforted by
the fact that the winner was racing in the world championships in several
weeks. More importantly, he is from California, making me the NM State
Champion!
Awards were not for several hours, so we headed to town for
food (and milkshake). The whole time in town, The Desert Babe kept saying she
thought Rene only ran the 5k distance, but I assured her he simply destroyed me
in the 10k.
Well, during the awards ceremony, I was called up as the
overall winner. It turns out Rene did only run the 5k distance, The Desert Babe
was right! Not only did I win my first race, but I led for most of the race.
Meaning this was the first time I ever led a race and won a race!!
All in all, it was an awesome day. Since we both won the
race, The Desert Babe and I both won a free night at a yurt in Enchanted Forest
and took home some nice pottery award. As if the day couldn’t get any better,
on our way to pizza and beer, I say my first big horn sheep, and not just one,
but an entire herd! #NMTrue!!
Now that you have read this long-winded ramble, here is more well-written article, but my favorite journalist: http://www.snowshoemag.com/2015/01/26/2015-low-o2-snowshoe-challenge/
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