Cobble Mtn Snowshoe Classic

What a day!

And They're OFF!!

Last year on a lark I decided to do my first snowshoe race and it was Cobble Mtn. It was a first year race and seemed like a great lot of fun and best of all it was only 6 miles from my place. Well I ran it and it recked me so I decided to give it another go this year. What is the definition of crazy? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome....aka Cobble Mtn.

As I awoke at 5 AM I peaked outside and it was clear skies. It was going to be a glorious day. I left my place at 6 to meet up with Chris Dunn the race director at 6:30. We both arrived just before the agreed time and we began unloading his van. For a small race there sure is a lot of stuff, which included the 10 cases of Red Hook Beer for awards. Chris and I set a bunch of things up and soon it was time to start getting ready to run. Chris did his normal pre race announcements which included a twist to this race. This race would be a Hat Race. What's a Hat Race you're thinking? A Hat Race is a race where the race director drops hats along the course and if you pick one up and finish with it on you're included in a special raffle for a 12 pack of beer. Not Bad...

Chris gave the 10 second notice....5 seconds...GO!! Jim Johnson took off like a flash. I in turn took off like maple syrup that was left out on a cold winters night. We were going up (what else is new) an easy hill that leads up to the Gunstock ski area. Now on a normal day this wouldn't be much trouble because they pack the snow nicely for the cross country skaters but this snow was from just a couple days ago and it was lite and didn't pack together to well. So with each step you sunk in a little. Mistake #1 I switched from my deep powder cleats to my ice cleats just before the race, so my traction was suspect. Soon this slight hill became steep and I was sucking wind. And that's when it happened. Leslie Dillion passed me. She was looking very strong but shortly after she passed me she was also reduced to a slow pace/walk. I was now running in about 9th place but the world was closing in on me. Ri was the next person to pass me and I decided to hang on to his tail for as long as I could. Soon we hit some of the single track and it was so narrow that it was tripping me up every couple of strides. Not only was it narrow but if you stepped 1 inch outside of the track you could end up waist deep in snow. After 2 bouts with single track then back on groomed trails it was Cobble Mtn time. Last year I was reduced to a "drooling, snot bubble blowing, pile off cow pie" on this climb and this year was no different. My heart rate what hitting somewhere around 300 and it could have been -100 degrees out and I would have still been over heating. This climb is tough. When I reached the top Ri had 30 yards or so on me and I thought that I might be able to catch him. But next came the steep down hill part of the course on single track. I was so tired I was not able to stay in control. I ended up tumbling down 4 times as I came down the back side of the Mtn. On one occasion I ended up falling right next to another guy and we just kind of sat there waiting to see who was going to get up first. He did and extended his hand to help me up. I snapped back, "NO I want to just sit here a while". I was beat and had nothing left. My sunglasses were now full of snow and I needed to flip them up so I could see. By the time I hit the bottom of the hill I was in 17th place and was hot on the heals of the next guy (Mike Doyle, 60 years old). After about 200 yards I was able to make my move and pass him. I noticed that he was most likely in my age category and I needed to stay focused if I was to beat him. I knew what was left to run because Chris Dunn and I had gone out and put the final 1/4 mile of markers out on the course earlier. There was one big hill that climbed for 100 yards then it was flat to down hill to the finish. As we hit the last hill I had 20 yards on Mike but my day was done. He quickly went past me and put 30 yards on me. I crested the hill and figured I give it one more shot. I pushed with everything I had and I was starting to close the gap. I'd like to say I ran out of race course but Mike heard me coming and with 100 yards left he kicked it up and kept his distance on me.

So 17th is where I finished. I know I didn't feel as bad as last year (last year my lungs hurt for 2 days) but it still hurt alot. The bad news was that I finished 4th in my age category. Out of the money again.

After the race there was a spread of food and drink. There was also a kids race that was a lot of fun to watch. Kids just don't run naturally with big planks on their feet. Soon the raffle began and I was skunked in that too. Then came the awards. Chris had built an Olympic style podium for all three people to stand on (Gold, Silver and Bronze). Lastly, was the snowshoe raffle, skunked again. WOW, tough day for me, skunked in everything. Well not quite, I got to run a snowshoe race at a great location with some fantastic weather and a whole lot of great people.

Will I be back next year? You Bet...I'm going to beat Cobble Mtn!!!....AKA CRAZY