Kingman Farm Moonlight Snowshoe 5K

This race is the highlight for me every snowshoe season. To run a race at
night in the woods with a head light on is a great experience. Not to
mention that this race is put on by one of the best race directors in the
area, Chris Dunn. Chris puts his heart and soul into making sure that
everything is perfect for his races. So when the lack of snow in the NE
area started to endanger this race, he and his team spent hours out on the
course trying to re-route it or shovel snow on the course so it would be
runnable in snowshoes. Alas, Mother Nature will not be beaten and at the
last minute Chris was forced to change the race to a snowshoe's optional
race.

I chose to run in my Yak Trax for better grip with all the ice that I
found out on the course during my warm up. As 50+ of us lined up for the
start Chris was very apologetic for the conditions. Most of use didn't
care because we were going to have fun no mater what the conditions were.
Chris gave us a 30 second warning and soon we were off.

Geoff C, Charlie T, Dan F, and Ri, when out like lighting. I settled into
the second pack (slower guys), and was running behind Austin S. One thing
that seemed funny to me is that we were working together like a biking
team warning each other of hazards along the trail. The sounds of "Roots,
Rocks, and Snow (funny guys we are)" could be heard from the group as we
flew down the trail. After about 1/2 mile I decided that it was time to
see what I had in me so I took over the lead from Austin. I was feeling
good as the trail wound around. However my sense of direction is poor at
best. Within 200 yards of me taking the lead I went off trail (totally my
fault). But in a blink of an eye I went from first in the pack to 3rd, as
Austin and Richard passed me. I was now running in 7th place over all and
worst yet I could hear the sound of snowshoes behind me.

I was not going to be beaten by some who was wearing snowshoes, NFW!!! So
I pushed as hard as I could to try and break this plodder behind me. I
figured that I had a huge advantage when we hit the field, because there
was no snow. But even though I was just a few yards behind Austin and
Richard I was having a tough time following the flags. You see that red
flags work great when they sit on white snow. But place them in a field
with mud and dead grass they go invisible. I think I ended up stepping on
50% of them in the field, sorry Chris.

When we finally reached the snow on the edge of the field my running form
went to h3ll. I was post holing and was stumbling like a old drunk.
After we finally hit the equipment barn by the "snow bridge" I was able to
regain some form and run again, but the sound of snowshoes was still in my
ear. All of a sudden a guy that I had never seen before at a SS race
passed me like I was standing still. In a blink of an eye he was out of
sight. AAARRRGGGHHHH!!!

Now I knew that I only had 1/2 mile to go and I wanted to make sure I
finished strong, but I was struggling. In addition I knew that the last
200 yards was up a small hill. My plan was to hold my form best I could
and push hard up the hill. It worked, and I managed to put a couple of
seconds between me and snowshoe boy (Chris Smith).

After the race most of us hung out at the finish area to cheer in all the
other runners. This is one thing I really like about this sport. Yeah
there are winners, but everyone in these races seems to be part of the
bigger picture and really encourages each other to do their best.

The awards were the best ever. Every person had a chance to win a prize
no mater where you finished. In fact every single person walked away with
something. Some even ended up with 2 prizes. I won a pair of micro
spikes...YES!!!

Charlie T ended up toasting Geoff to become the third winner of this race.

1. Charlie T
2. Geoff C
3. Dan 88.6 F
4. Ri F
5. Richard L
6. Austin S
7. Kevan C
8. Scott G
9. Chris S (first snowshoer)
10. Amber F. (first woman), Better half of 88.6
11. Jay C
12. Jay M

So, lets take a quick inventory of this race:

Lack of snow; bad
Quick re-route; good
Change to trail run; even better
Super fast start; bad
Working together to call out obstacles; good
Taking the lead of the 2nd pack; good
Going off course; Even better, the 200 yards of pressure was killing me
Being passed with 1/2 mile to go; bad
Beating the first snowshoer; good
First person over 50; only because the good guys didn't show
Soup and brownies; super (or is that supper)
Winning micro spikes; good
Spending time with some terrific people running around in the dark;
Priceless.

Thanks Chris Dunn for another great memory!!!