Ye Olde Salem Green 5k Snowshoe Race

Pretty sweet, this race took about 9 minutes to get to. Family stayed home for this one due to the fact that it was 15 degrees and would require standing around for a half hour on a wide open Golf Course. This was my first snowshoe "race" and I spent just about the entire 3miles saying to myself "this f....ing sucks" What makes it so difficult is not the fact that it is challenging on your legs and lungs-which it is and basically mirrors running up stairs the entire time (quads on fire and lungs burning) but it was nearly impossible to establish a rhythm. Step, step, step, trip, step, step, slip. I've been snowshoeing enough to expect this, but I was amazed at how exhausting it is when you are trying to put forth a hard effort. Also, it is real easy to fall in behind people that you would normally pass on the roads. The reason being-it takes a substantial effort to pass, normally you might just creep by; but snowshoeing you have to find a straight away, dive out into the soft snow, sprint past and then maintain a faster pace. You need to really have confidence in your fitness and also have a clue as to how much distance you have left. The pace tends to be so slow that the decision to go for it and pass or settle in behind is hard to make-it was hard for me to judge my pace, even harder when your quads are on fire basically from the start. I loved the start, snow flying everywhere and mass chaos. I'd definately do another one. Thanks to all the folks at Dungeon Rock for making this a kick ass event, Jay & Co.  introduced me to the sport, and the huge turnout at this event is a testament to thier ability to buid interest in snowshoeing. The picture above is by Bill Wooley, who did a great job. Running pictures can be so boring but these are really something else-way to bring an artistic flare to snowshoe photography See the write up, pictures and results here .