What's Next?: Sam's First Snowshoe Race!

Sunday, February 22, 2015

Sam's First Snowshoe Race!

I was up early this morning to get my run in before we headed up to Waterville for Ryan and Sam's snowshoe races. We got about 4" of fluffy snow overnight, but I really didn't have it in me to take out the snowshoes again after yesterday's long run. However, I really should have, because, honestly, the run wasn't great. The powerlines were soft and slow; and the roads were essentially unpowed. In fact, the best part of the run was the back dirt road portion of Highland Green as it was packed solid underneath just a few inches of snow - someone had been out in a big truck sometime overnight and there were good tracks for running. But I suppose if what I was after was a run on tired legs, I got it :) 7 miles in 1:20.

We headed up to Waterville around 7:30. The drive wasn't bad, and with the fluffy, but wet, snow sticking to the trees along the way, it was very pretty. The Quarry Snowshoe Shuffle was being held at the Quarry Road Recreation Area, near Colby. It was a beautiful morning for it. Warm and no wind. The Fun Run was first, so Sam and I suited up and got set next to the four other kids and one mom who were taking part. The route was a little lollypop, with the beginning and end on groomed trail and the middle on narrow, partially packed singletrack. Sam did a great job running the groomed stuff, and we kept up a good clip walking along the singletrack. The 0.5 mile lollypop took us 15 minutes. Not bad for a 5-year old! She was very proud to get her medal at the end :) and then had a great time playing out in the snow with the other kids while the adults were out running the 5k.

It was truly lovely to be able to spend so much time outside playing in the snow and not be freezing! I could take these winter days!

Ryan and Sean both had good races, with Ryan coming in 2nd and Sean 4th. Gines did a great job with the course and the prizes, and we all had a lot of fun. We met up with him and his family for lunch in downtown Waterville after the race to round out the morning.