Dion Snowshoes 2014 U.S. National Snowshoe Championships
Saturday March 1, 2014
Prospect Mountain, Woodford , VT
Krissy and I packed up the GTI and headed to Bennington, VT
for the 2014 Dion Snowshoes United States National Snowshoe Championships on
Friday. Todd Callaghan and I made the trip two weeks earlier so I was pretty
relaxed about the navigation which comes down to just over a three hour drive
from the North Shore. The approach toward this south western part of Vermont is
beautiful. Bennington is 45 minutes east of Albany, NY. We arrived at the
Bennington Center of Arts to pick up our numbers (Krissy was running in the
Citizens 5K). I stopped by the Dion Snowshoe merchandise table to swap out some
busted cleats for her snowshoes. After that was sorted, I stopped by to talk
with Nancy Steffen who was handling the team entries. I made sure our CMS team
was registered correctly as there was team scoring for 10K. Our Central Mass
Striders – Dion men’s team had a total of thirteen athletes: six open and seven
masters including me. I am considered a master as I will be 40 at the end of
the year. I was looking forward to the new age bracket for competition. I bumped into CMS mates – Ken Tripp, Dave
Dunham, Dave Lapierre and Richard Bolt (in from CA) who has a lot of race history
in a CMS uniform. It was cool to have him in from the West Coast racing with us
again. Dave and Ken confirmed the social media hype that the 10K course was
faster than what we had dealt with a few weeks back. I also heard that Tim Van Orden made some
passing lanes where needed up on the mountain. This was music to my ears. An hour later we headed to Ramuntos for dinner
where I dove into a plate of Eggplant Parmesan.
Krissy and I woke up around 7:30 on Saturday. It was nice to
be just 15 minutes away from the mountain. I grabbed a sesame bagel and a cup
of oatmeal at Dunkin Donuts. CMS teammates, Abbey and Sam Wood trailed and sat
down next to us. I was amused by the locals in and out. Everyone knows everyone. We pulled into the
parking lot at Prospect Mountain an hour before my 10K start. It was 90% full.
The parking lot shadowed the ski center below. Audible was the announcer
welcoming all Snowshoe athletes and spectators. Over 400 athletes from 18
different countries were in attendance. The buzz was positive on a cold
Saturday morning under sunny skies in Woodford, VT. I handed out some new CMS
hats that I picked up earlier in the week before getting ready for my warm up
on foot around the parking lot with Ethan Nedeau and Brett Rickenbach.
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| 10 minutes before the start Photo by KrissyK |
I went
back into the lodge and got my racing gear before taking a few light strides
and got on the far right of the starting line. The start went off flying
allowing us to eat the exhaust of a lead snowmobile. The sound of snowshoes stomping
was awesome. I was surrounded by teammates which was comforting. We buzzed
around the start a few loops making it very friendly for spectators like my
brother, Chuck, who traveled three hours with friend Sandy. I rolled with the
short ups and downs looking forward to wide trail to move up a few spots.
Passing on any single track was a risky option that would be considered after
5K if needed. I let Richard Bolt get in front of me on the first section of
single track and gave him some guidance on the CMS mates ahead (Todd Callaghan
and Ben Nephew). I was next to Tim Mahoney for a bit as Krissy caught a few
photos for evidence. We started the climb and got a chance to get around Todd and
Robert Jackman. Todd was breathing hard. Ethan Nedeau and Ross Krause were not
too far ahead. I managed to get past Ethan before we hit some single track and
I settled in and waited for the next climb. I felt good and got a good rhythm,
now on a wider carriage road taking us up a few kilometers to the top of
Prospect Mountain. I trailed two guys that were holding their own and we all
had the same cadence. My 5K split before the summit was 25:47. I heard some
placing and heard that I was in 21st. Then I saw Tim Van Orden
taking some video or pictures. He mentioned that CMS was kicking arse. I said
something like “hell yeah” and zipped by him. We had some nice downhill and I
opened it up. We hit the single track and the two I was following put a gap on
me as we headed down the narrow track. I was being careful in my navigation on
the narrow single track – reaching for trees and trying to keep balance. Dave
Dunham came flying behind and gave me orders to keep on trucking down to the
bottom. No pressure, just Dave ready to murder this section. The tone in his
voice was clear. I picked up my act so to speak and got us to the bottom. I
then offered to step aside for him and he said no.
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| Just ahead of Tim Photo by KrissyK |
I felt OK so I carried some momentum and caught up the two
gents I followed up the mountain. We were now climbing up more single track. I
found it very cool and notable to see signs and passing lanes. I did not need
them but I am sure they came in handy for some. I soon lost any audible that
Dave was behind me but know better so I pressed onward and upward. Meanwhile, I
would let out a few grunts here and there to let the two gents in front of me
to keep on pressing. They were tired. I wanted to pass but felt that I should
wait until the fire road which I felt was a few minutes away. Indeed it was and
I got around one guy once it was safe to do so. It was more or less all downhill
from this point to the finish. I’d say this was about 4.6 miles into the
course. The other guy in a green windbreaker was killing it on the downs –
pulling away. I tried to keep up but there was no way. My left hamstring did
not feel too good so I had to temper the strides. That left me battling the
gent in the white long sleeve. He passed me so I just stayed close. These guys
were going to pull me into the finish.
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| About 250m to go Photo by KrissyK |
I approached the downhill single track
switch back into the stadium loop full of spectators. The finish was less than
800m away. I was careful on my way down. I did not want to take a tumble. I
zipped past Krissy and wrapped up the stadium loop into the finish. I finished 20th
place overall with a time of 47:57. I placed 3rd in my age group
(40-44). I turned back and Dave Dunham was exhausted and face down after the
finish line. I walked over and picked him up. More CMS guys came through as I waited
for our third master Todd Callaghan. We all regrouped and got in a quick photo
(Todd and Paul Bazanchuk are missing). We cooled down for a few and shared our
battles out there. I changed up and waited for Krissy’s race. My attention
turned to her event as she was nervous. The Velcro bindings on her shoes gave
her the business gave her the business so I ran inside and gave her mine with
the stainless steel cleats that treated me well for my race. I picked up the
camera and took plenty of photos for her for a change. She held her own out
there. Chuck and Sandy hung out to the end which was cool. The awards came
about and I managed to get on the podium for a medal in the age group and for
the top masters team which was cool.
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| 20th overall |
Great job earning a solid placing and a couple of trips to the podium! Nice write up, always fun to hear a recap from another perspective. Lots of great shots by Krissy, too.
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