Snowshoe Shuffle Results

The snowshoe Shuffle today went great. I think it was one of the best races I have had this season. The weather was quite wintery! Most of the course had 8-12 inches fresh powder from the night before. It was snowing cats and dogs, and I'm pretty sure it stayed well below 10 degrees. I love adversity. I got a great warm up in, mostly just to keep warm in the snow. I lined up for the Dash for Cash as usual, and had a great dash! I got a good start, sprinted as hard as I knew how, and won the $100! Woo Hoo, 2 out of 4...not too bad of a record. Here is a photo near the race finish.

As usual after a D4$ win, you really feel the nervous energy fade away for the start of the race. I was relaxed and ready to have a fun race. I lined up on the start line and after a countdown we were off. Very soon into the race the 10Kers were in the powder. One lady post-holed with her snowshoes up to her upper thigh! Eek! She got totally stuck, and it wasn't until several miles later that she passed me, what a bummer for her. I had a little lazy section around mile 2, but after reminding myself that this was the last BC race, I picked up my chin and kept chipping along. Even though it was really snowy it was beautiful to be out there, mostly alone, enjoying the race and the peace. I loved it. Around mile 3 I was amazed that I was only half way done, it felt like I had been out there for eons and covered so much terrain. At mile 4 I woke up and really started pushing, knowing that I had enough in me to finish strong. From here I continued to ramp up my effort all the way through the finish, and as I came down the last downhill, I was in full stride, running as hard as I could, and making all sorts of wonderful noises. I think the 5Kers that I passed (who were walking) thought I was a total weird-o as I came by grunting, and spitting. Dad and Amy were cheering their heads off for me and boy did I appreciate it! Not one of my prettyist moments, but definitely an intense one. Here's a shot dad took of me coming into the finish.

the post race was all about warming up...I highly recommend bringing a thermos of warm fluid to snowshoe races, total saving grace! Troy and Annie had already headed back to the condo b/c it was so cold. Dad, Amy, Amy's mom and dad, and I hung out at the post race raffle. I got to collect my $100 for my win. Here is a shot of me on the podium with the mens D4$ winner.

And here is a shot of me acting very giddy b/c I just won money!

Lastly here is a shot of Amy and I. Allthough we missed all of our friends that usually do the races with us, it was great to spend time together, doing one of the sports we both love. Good Company! She has come so amazingly far this year. She's such a RACER now, and I love watching her continue to outperform herself.

My time was somewhere between 1 hour 5 min and 1 hour 10 minutes, and dad told me I was fifth, but the results aren't out yet. I'll update the post once things are out.