Russian Snowshoe Festival -
It's been nearly SIX years to the date since my last snowshoe race which was at US NCs in Anchorage in 2005. I started snowshoeing Fairbanks, AK in the fall of 2000 and loved it. It's a flippin' hard sport but fun to do. When I moved to Moscow, I asked around everywhere if there were ANY snowshoe races to be had in Russia and each yr I asked I came up TOTALLY DRY. I still continued to train on my shoes when we had good quality dumps here in the woods, but it drove me nuts that I couldn't get out to race on them. Sure they have big races in Europe namely France and Italy (if you have the cash to go for a weekend that is). So my poor snowshoes sat in the corner all looking sad and wanting to go outside and play again :-( It's actually a great strength workout and when I lived in Alaska, I'd get on them once or twice a week on my so called easy days and go...up and down the hill or mountain I would go, take them off in April then fly like a bird on the road from the gains in leg strength. Ah to be so lucky again to live in the mountains:(
So last week, Dima- one of the guys in the running club said they were actually going to have a snowshoe! I just had to go-had to find a way namely a ride since the location was a good couple hours out of town and I didn't fancy not having a place to change out of my wets and into my drys after the finish nor did I fancy the prospect of hauling all my gear+snowshoes out to the sticks. In Alaska I just threw the gear in the car and went. After the finish I stripped out of my wets in the nice warm CAR and even at -40 is was not a problem and I never froze.
So I lucked out got a ride and went! How I would do after a SIX YR hiatus was yet to be seen but I didn't expect to do great. They had a professional and an amateur category. Profesional meant you got prizes for top 3 and it was a race. The other variant was non competitive. I risked it and signed up for the professional-sport division understanding I could very well get my arse kicked and handed to me on a silver platter. I never quit training on the shoes just haven't RACED nearly since Moses parted the waters. Dima even warned me there were top pro type rogainers, climbers, and skiiers (great I AM going to get my arse kicked). Oh yeah and I was the OLDEST woman in the professional division. Christ, I'm 36. I could see if I were 45 being the oldest. Do women just stop competing at 30 or so???There were guys older than me but no women!!
The course was probably one of the most technical ones I'd been on-12km of 75% singletrack much on virgin snow with tons of hairpin turns,ups and downs (3 of which I decided would be easier to just slide down on my arse) -not a fast course by any means. The ups and downs were manageable but the turns really slowed you down. There were a couple creek jumps(hint run on the snow covered logs so as not to fall into the creek DOH), and logs that had to be ducked under. I fell a few times, just got back up wiped the snow off my rear, and kept going. Lot of ppl were doing face and arse plants. That's just the way it goes. Well in the first 3 k I stuck behing the 2nd woman on most of the technical stuff. I lost her following an arseplant in one spot then at 6k things opened up onto a singletrack on an open field.It was here I started reeling guys in one by one(most of which went out on those first uphills running hard as opposed to power walking the steep stuff to save yourself for later). Well at 800m to go I passed a guyI just kept slowly creeping up on since the field. 200+m ahead I see another person-still too far to know if it was a guy or girl. I crept up and saw it was the 2nd woman so I just sat on her heels on the final singletrack w/ 400 or so to go. I was hoping for just enough wide going into the finish to pass her. Passing on the singletrack is fatal- it would mean using lots of energy,losing time too because you'd sink in to your knees or higher. So sit I did, problem is when we finally came out of the woods there was probably 10m at most left to make a move and move I did and she got me by a lean! I can't ever remember remember having a finish that close-not even on the track. In 2009 I outkicked a woman in the 800 w/ 60m to go but there was over a second between us-no lean involved here. Top woman was 3+min ahead then 2 and 3 together and they said 4th was a good 15min behind us. Over 120 ppl showed up about 40 or so in the professional division.I was 11th overall if you include the boys in the overall and 3rd woman.
The race was very well organized and the course was clearly marked. We were well fed (kasha and HOT tea at the finish to warm up). I seriously hope we see more of this kind of thing arond here. Snowshoeing is still a developing sport here as Russia is still primarily a SKI country in the winter. It would be nice to see things change.
Pix are down below. I will add more as I get them. There were 3 tv channels out there one of which interviewed me and lots of ppl taking pix.
http://www.risk.ru/tags/3685/
It's been nearly SIX years to the date since my last snowshoe race which was at US NCs in Anchorage in 2005. I started snowshoeing Fairbanks, AK in the fall of 2000 and loved it. It's a flippin' hard sport but fun to do. When I moved to Moscow, I asked around everywhere if there were ANY snowshoe races to be had in Russia and each yr I asked I came up TOTALLY DRY. I still continued to train on my shoes when we had good quality dumps here in the woods, but it drove me nuts that I couldn't get out to race on them. Sure they have big races in Europe namely France and Italy (if you have the cash to go for a weekend that is). So my poor snowshoes sat in the corner all looking sad and wanting to go outside and play again :-( It's actually a great strength workout and when I lived in Alaska, I'd get on them once or twice a week on my so called easy days and go...up and down the hill or mountain I would go, take them off in April then fly like a bird on the road from the gains in leg strength. Ah to be so lucky again to live in the mountains:(
So last week, Dima- one of the guys in the running club said they were actually going to have a snowshoe! I just had to go-had to find a way namely a ride since the location was a good couple hours out of town and I didn't fancy not having a place to change out of my wets and into my drys after the finish nor did I fancy the prospect of hauling all my gear+snowshoes out to the sticks. In Alaska I just threw the gear in the car and went. After the finish I stripped out of my wets in the nice warm CAR and even at -40 is was not a problem and I never froze.
So I lucked out got a ride and went! How I would do after a SIX YR hiatus was yet to be seen but I didn't expect to do great. They had a professional and an amateur category. Profesional meant you got prizes for top 3 and it was a race. The other variant was non competitive. I risked it and signed up for the professional-sport division understanding I could very well get my arse kicked and handed to me on a silver platter. I never quit training on the shoes just haven't RACED nearly since Moses parted the waters. Dima even warned me there were top pro type rogainers, climbers, and skiiers (great I AM going to get my arse kicked). Oh yeah and I was the OLDEST woman in the professional division. Christ, I'm 36. I could see if I were 45 being the oldest. Do women just stop competing at 30 or so???There were guys older than me but no women!!
The course was probably one of the most technical ones I'd been on-12km of 75% singletrack much on virgin snow with tons of hairpin turns,ups and downs (3 of which I decided would be easier to just slide down on my arse) -not a fast course by any means. The ups and downs were manageable but the turns really slowed you down. There were a couple creek jumps(hint run on the snow covered logs so as not to fall into the creek DOH), and logs that had to be ducked under. I fell a few times, just got back up wiped the snow off my rear, and kept going. Lot of ppl were doing face and arse plants. That's just the way it goes. Well in the first 3 k I stuck behing the 2nd woman on most of the technical stuff. I lost her following an arseplant in one spot then at 6k things opened up onto a singletrack on an open field.It was here I started reeling guys in one by one(most of which went out on those first uphills running hard as opposed to power walking the steep stuff to save yourself for later). Well at 800m to go I passed a guyI just kept slowly creeping up on since the field. 200+m ahead I see another person-still too far to know if it was a guy or girl. I crept up and saw it was the 2nd woman so I just sat on her heels on the final singletrack w/ 400 or so to go. I was hoping for just enough wide going into the finish to pass her. Passing on the singletrack is fatal- it would mean using lots of energy,losing time too because you'd sink in to your knees or higher. So sit I did, problem is when we finally came out of the woods there was probably 10m at most left to make a move and move I did and she got me by a lean! I can't ever remember remember having a finish that close-not even on the track. In 2009 I outkicked a woman in the 800 w/ 60m to go but there was over a second between us-no lean involved here. Top woman was 3+min ahead then 2 and 3 together and they said 4th was a good 15min behind us. Over 120 ppl showed up about 40 or so in the professional division.I was 11th overall if you include the boys in the overall and 3rd woman.
The race was very well organized and the course was clearly marked. We were well fed (kasha and HOT tea at the finish to warm up). I seriously hope we see more of this kind of thing arond here. Snowshoeing is still a developing sport here as Russia is still primarily a SKI country in the winter. It would be nice to see things change.
Pix are down below. I will add more as I get them. There were 3 tv channels out there one of which interviewed me and lots of ppl taking pix.
