Snowshoe Running

The WMAC Series

by Laura Clark

You know you’re a snowshoe racer when…

… You wear earmuffs to muffle the noise of a hundred or more clattering snowshoes
… You expect to work up a good sweat even in –10 degree weather
… You always bring a camping torch to pry apart frozen snowshoe straps
… You realize “It’s OK to be a little different.

This winter, free yourself from stuffy gyms, boring routines and icy roads. Discover the fun waiting for you in your own backyard, in your local park, or on your favorite trail, and join those who are making snowshoeing America’s fastest growing winter sport.

After a thoroughly enjoyable winter, your muscles will be toughened by effort, but amazingly fresh and rested from the softer snow surface. Better yet, your mind gets a break, too. No more agonizing over slower race times caused by Father Time, training meltdowns or too many donuts. As Karl Molitoris, a Western Massachusetts Athletic Club (WMAC) member explains in his essay, Snowshoe Course Difficulty, “The NYC Marathon is won in 2:09 +/-2%…the four mile South Pond Shuffle Snowshoe Race is won in 40 minutes +/-25% (ranging from 30:19 to 51:20). It’s not like the hills of Savoy grew or shrank…it depends upon the snow.” So your time for a longer race, then, could conceivably end up being faster than that for a shorter race with deep, unpacked snow. Hence, you are free to enjoy the day as it unfolds, no longer haunted by past performances. And it gets even better. This is a yearly phenomenon, not one reserved solely for those who are new to the sport and therefore, constantly improving.

So where do you go to sign up for this winter vacation? Snowshoe events can be found at Garnet Hill (Snowshoe Challenge) in North River, Gore Mountain (Raquette Race) in North Creek, and other locations throughout the Northeast (see the Calendar of Events), but by far the largest series is that hosted by the Western Mass Athletic Club, which encompasses not only Massachusetts, but also bordering states including New York. According to Edward Alibozek, chief snowshoer and founder of the series, the first races were in 1998 with South Pond (34 finishers) followed by Hawley Kiln (8 finishers). This year, snow willing, we will be having fourteen races and three fun runs as well as a separate three-race series in Maine.

The groundwork for this success, however, was laid much earlier. In 1989, Edward Alibozek and his dog, Dusty, wanted a winter sport they could enjoy together. Snowshoeing seemed to fit the bill, even though Dusty ultimately preferred his own padded feet. After a few years, they ran out of things to say to each other and so invited some friends to tag along. By 1995, Edward and Dusty were organizing fun runs, but never seemed to get more than a dozen participants. In a brilliant lapse of logic, Edward figured that “…if we wanted to attract more people we would have to charge money (people tend to stay wary of free events for some unknown reason).”

The continued growth of the series however is due to the overall planning that lends cohesion to each individual event. According to Edward, although “each event is unique in some way, all retain membership in a bigger whole.” All are low key, Spartan affairs, retaining a basic fun run spirit. Some offer T-shirts, some have raffles, some have outhouses, some have discreet his/her wooded locations. Edward’s philosophy is that “…the day belongs to all participants,” with competition geared to overall series performance.

Often, showing up counts just as much towards the final standings as does finish times. To this end, athletes receive the emailed SNOSHU-NEWS with standings updates and are encouraged to recount their experiences for the WMAC newsletter and website. And for those with name recognition issues, seeing a name in print often helps trigger a reluctant synapse when confronted with friendly faces at the next race.

The series begins with three and four mile races, building up to nine milers as the winter progresses and muscles get stronger. For those who hesitate to take on the challenge of longer distances, shorter options are also available. Care is taken to provide events that are a good mix of all possible race conditions and terrain. For example, the kick-off on December 28 at Woodford near Bennington, Vermont, features narrow wooded single track. This is followed by a 5K at the Saratoga Biathlon Club in Day with wide, groomed, hilly trails; on the next day the Merrimack River Trail in Andover, Mass., debuts with what promises to be a fast course. The South Pond Shuffle is a rugged, single-track jaunt in Florida and Savoy, Mass., complete with lots of semi-frozen brook crossings. Wind is always a factor at Greylock Glen in Adams, Mass., where the toughest part is trying to keep warm at the start line. Curly’s Record Run in Pittsfield, Mass., features a tough climb up old ski trails and a wild ride down.

The Saratoga Winterfest in Saratoga Springs boasts fast times on the championship cross-country course, while the Camp Saratoga five-miler in Wilton provides a challenging mix of terrain conditions including the dreaded “Siberia” portion across exposed fields. The Northfield Mountain 7.25K in Northfield, Mass., is one of the United States Snowshoe Association (USSA) qualifiers, where you can test yourself against the fastest athletes in the region. The season climaxes with longer-distance events in the Adams, Mass., area forests, where snow lingers well into March. The Hawley Kiln Classic, Moody Springs and Moby Dick events will seriously test your stamina and provide you with an evening’s worth of war stories.

After years of recruiting loaner snowshoes from various manufacturers, we are extremely fortunate that WMACer Bob Dion has designed his own line, especially suited to our changeable New England weather and terrain. He will be at all our races to give beginners the support and confidence they need to enjoy this new experience. This gives everyone the opportunity to give the sport a try without an initial monetary commitment. And now, with the three Dion demo days and fun runs, beginners and seasoned snowshoers alike can experiment with different models and techniques.

As directors of the Winterfest Race, my husband, Jeff Clark, and I have always felt that we are simply inviting our friends to join us in a fun time outdoors, followed by a hearty cookout afterwards. And it is this spirit of friendship and fun that underlies the continued growth of the series. As Edward explains, “…too many events just focus on the race. While that is important, it is the before and after sometimes that is really key…the majority of the folks at these events really enjoy the entire ordeal – and that includes the food eaten while standing around in the freezing cold, or in a shed, or in the Hawley fire station, or in the Victoria Pool building.”

For WMAC race applications: www.runwmac.com or www.dionsnowshoes.com. For USSA and Empire State Games information: www.snowshoeracing.com. For Garnet Hill Snowshoe Challenge: www.garnet-hill.com. For Great Gore Mountain Raquette Race: www.goremountain.com.

Laura Clark (laurac@sspl.org) of Saratoga Springs is an avid trail runner, snowshoer and cross country skier. She is a children and young adult’s librarian at the Saratoga Springs Public Library.

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