Like last year, my first race of the year was a Snowshoe Scurry race with Rachel!
This was the fourth race in the Snowshoe Scurry series (out of the Madison, Wisconsin area) and the first one of the series on snow. And slush. Ugh, too much slush.
The race was part of the two-day Madison Winter Festival celebration in Elver Park. Winter Festival “celebrates and promotes outdoor spots, recreation, art, and healthy lifestyles in winter” (from their website). We saw ice sculptures and melted snow sculptures, and there were people cross country skiing, ice skating, learning how to skijor, and they even had a band outside!
The race started at 11:00. It was supposed to be a 5K loop, but they weren’t able to make a whole 5K loop, so they had a shorter loop we were to do two laps of, IF we got the first lap done in under thirty minutes. The loop was indicated with cones and a snowmobile track.
We started the race wondering if we’d make the cutoff (and not caring if we did or not). We’re not the fastest snowshoe runners, because it’s freaking hard (and we do it once a year, ha)! And making it worse was the warm temperatures. It was 41Ā°F out. Warm enough to not cover my face, and warm enough for some people to run in shorts and a tank (I covered my body so snow wouldn’t hit it as it flew off my shoes). Oh, and warm enough to turn the snow in to slush in some areas.
Running through slush is difficult like running through snow. But it makes your feet and socks A LOT wetter. Soaked, actually. And squishy. And it’s a bit harder to pick your feet up out of the slush. At the same time, you don’t have to open up your hips quite as much if you are running through snow. So that’s one benefit. I did feel the snowshoeing effort immediately in my hip flexors, and every now in then, in the back of my ankle when I’d land funny (thankfully, I feel fine today). Surprisingly, no burning of the lungs!
The race was tricky at the start when it was so crowded and at a camber and through the slush. About half a mile in though, the slush mostly cleared, and we could run the flatter parts, hike the uphills, and cautiously run the downhills. We ran through open fields and gorgeous wooded areas (which looked a bit eerie because of the dense fog). The runners eventually spread out, so we weren’t in any one’s way, and the two people who lapped us (whoa!) called out that they were coming.
We finished our first loop (1.8 miles) in… 29:59! Just under the cutoff! But they told us we were done. Ha. The course was to be used for another Winter Festival event and we would be in the way. They told us we could do an out and back (in the slush, ugh), so we ended up running 2.1 miles and calling it a day. Then we immediately went to the car and put dry socks and shoes on. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh. Dry feet have never felt so good!
Afterward we got lunch at HuHot! Then we hung at Rachel’s house for a short bit before I made the foggy, sleepy (eek!) drive home.
We weren’t bummed we had our race cut short! We decided over thirty minutes of snow shoeing was enough of a workout for the day! And besides, we couldn’t quite run side by side, so it was hard to talk while we were running anyway, and that’s kind of the point of running together!
IĀ am a bit bummed that we didn’t get another buff! That it was the website said the swag would be, but we got this (nice) hat instead. I’ll use it, but I really like the buff I got last year and could totally use another of those! Guess I will have to do one of the races again someday!
Wow, it looks beautiful but sounds really hard! I’ve never tried show shoeing. I’ve only done one race where we got a buff and I use it all the time. It is so useful.
Do you think you’d like to try it? I really enjoy it. It’s a lot easier when not trying to run, too!
Buffs are the best! I use them most of winter, and during a lot of fall and spring!
I think it sounds like something fun to try!
That sounds like a lot of fun but I totally get why 30 minutes would be plenty!
Yeah! If we were hiking the whole thing, we could go a lot longer. Although not with wet feet, yuck!
It looks like 30 minutes of snowshoeing equates to at least an hour, maybe more, of running – that is a lot of effort plus different muscles used! Glad you guys had a fun time…the hat is nice but I hear ya on not getting the swag you really love.
I think you’re right š I was definitely hungry after! (although that could have been from the 11:00 am start time!)
I need to find a place that sells buffs in that style and stock up! Mine get so stinky, eek!
I keep thinking “I need to get out and snowshoe”, but then I/we don’t. What a fun race – and I love the hat! I wish more races did non-standard (t-shirt) swag.
I usually don’t do it, either. I am too lazy! So I hear ya! I do hope you can get out once this year. How’s the snow been there?
I love stuff like that too. I don’t need shirts.
That looks like so much fun! Snow shoeing looks hard enough, but in the slush seems even more difficult! Too bad about the buff – the hat looks nice though (and now Iām glad I gave you one of our MRC ones š
It is fun! Made me want to go out and properly snowshoe, without the wet socks.
The hat is nice but now you can see I really appreciate the buff!!! Perfect timing!
OMG, I can’t believe you came so close to the cutoff! Hahaha. My ankles scream at me when I walk on the sand so I imagine they would just collapse and refuse to go another step if I tried to snowshoe. š
It sounds like a fun time, though!
Me either! We didn’t think it would be that close ha ha ha.
A few times I twisted my ankle so bad I was worried, but surprisingly, it wasn’t swollen at all! Phew! Very similar to walking in the sand! For some reason, our ankles don’t like uneven surfaces!
My legs are burning just thinking about how hard it would be to run in snowshoes over slush. I’m so relieved you had dry socks to put on after the race (even though it was cut short).
I’ve never worn or used a buff before, but I keep hearing about them for biking to keep one’s neck warm. (I’ve been using a knit cowl.) How do you usually wear yours?
I am too! Gah, our feet were so pruny and wet! Brrrr!!!
Oh! I love buffs! I like it when I can use a thinner one (so between 10-40 degrees, I use a thin and thick one when it’s under 10, or just over 10 but super windy) and I usually wear it over my mouth, nose, and ears. When it’s not windy, I will wear it under my nose (but still put vaseline on my nose so it doesn’t get chapped). The only bad thing is if you have them on your nose, your glasses will fog. I love that it covers my neck, and of course, my face. Solves the whole “why do I live somewhere where the air hurts my face” problem!