Paul elbows out teammate and former record holder at the start

March 24 -36 Bolton Valley, VT
http://www.snowshoeracing.com/home.htm

Bernie Boettcher repeats as National Master Snow Shoe Champion ... but not without a struggle:

"The trip will be remembered.  16 1/2 hours to get there, and no food between flights or on the plane.  A rental car that broke down, and had to be towed back to the airport.  19 hours of travel returning home.  I lost the rest of my hair pulling it out!  Either that or I must've traveled through a time warp on the way to Vermont and back.

Oh, and I did a race too.  2006 U.S. Masters National Snowshoe Champion!  7th Overall.  Could've been worse, but could've been better.   The course was actually pretty good.  I expected flat and fast, but only the beginning and end were like that.  The middle was full of surprises, and the whole course was like running in oatmeal mush!  Kicked my butt. 

Paul Low had a great race (and race report), repeating his 2nd place from last year:

" My Nationals weekend began with a 3.5 hour drive north with La Sportiva GoLite teammate and roommate for life, Kelli Lusk and teammate and occasional training partner, Peter Maksimow.

	Derrick Spafford from Ontario

We had zero snow at home for over a month and there were conflicting reports as to the snow conditions in Bolton Valley.   Even as we drove northward through central VT, there was no snow and we were beginning to wonder if we were going to have a trail race in our immediate future.   I have heard that Bolton Valley is in some sort of microclimate that receives twice as much snow as the rest of VT.   This sounds like the closest thing to Hell that I can imagine but it is probably the best place to hold a snowshoe race in New England at the end of March.

With the race at noon, I woke up and did a :20 easy jog on the flattest surface that I could find.   This involved running laps around the parking lot.   At least it was dirt (ok, slushy mud).   I then sat around the condo reading and drinking and peeing a lot for several hours waiting to go and warm-up for the race.  

The field was about 200 strong but the start area was sufficiently wide and the racers were sufficiently cool that getting a good spot on the starting line was not difficult.   After the "gun" went off, a small pack of six- the eventual top six finishers- pulled away from the field in the first few hundred meters. Heading up the initial climb, Greg Hexum was already in the lead and controlling the pace and Rich Bolt, Bill Raitter, and I were jockeying for second and with Mark Churchill and Scott Gall not far behind.   As the slope became steeper, Greg pulled a slight lead while Bill and I were going back and forth between second and third.   Bill tripped at a stream crossing and I was able to get by him for the final time.

There were screaming descents where I was kicking up big clumps of slush that would explode as they hit my back.   There was also plenty of stream dodging and a few bare spots where, as a sponsored snowshoer, I was thinking, "Man, I'm glad I didn't have to pay for these shoes."

I hit the bottom of the course (~3km to go) with Greg clearly in sight and the notion that I could still win the race.   I tried to dig deep and close the gap but, although I was not really running all out, I could not run any faster (a difficult sensation to describe, I know).   With about a kilometer to go, I resigned myself to my second consecutive second place at snowshoe Nationals.

After the race, I ran back on the course ... and I was pretty psyched to see (Kelli) running so well.   She ran a great race (for second) and it was great to see her smiling afterward.

Just like in Squaw Valley, what really made this snowshoe nationals worth running was the cool course and getting to see so many good friends.   The big difference between the two for me at least was logistical.   Squaw Valley involved several flights, renting a car and then staying in a condo that was a 45-minute drive from the start (the condos near the start were, like, $5 million/night).   In Bolton Valley, we drove 3.5 hours one-way and stayed in a condo that was close enough that I could put my showshoes on in the condo before the race.

Some interesting (or not) notes from the results:

(1)   There were seven La Sportiva GoLite athletes in the field.   Two of the top three men (Paul L. and Bill R.) with Bernie B. in 7th and top master.   Dave D. and Peter M. were 26th and 27.   Kelli L., was second woman and 50th overall and Canadian Derrick S. was 51st overall.

	Bill Raitter takes third

(2) There were two CMS in the top four men and four in the top 16.

(3) There were seven alums of the Men's National Mountain Team in the race (eight if you count Steve Petey), four of whom (Paul L., Bill R., Rich B., and Scott G.) were in the top six.

(4) Two of the top three men and three of the top four women graduated from either Central Michigan University (Paul L. and Laura W.) or Western Michigan University (Kelli L., Bill and Sarah R.).

(5) The owners of the three fastest downhill splits from Barr Camp to the Barr Trail Head were in the top 7 (Bernie B., Paul L., and Scott G.)

Bill Raitter's report was succinct:

"Got them all but one really fast one and   the bald guy who I like from the eastern hive.   Three of us from 'Team Estes' got in the top 5 so we represented our little town well.