Sandia Snowshoe Race

Overview

I was the first person sixty years or older to finish. That meant I won the male 60-69 age group <cough>tallest midget</cough> award. I chose a nice chair from REI as my prize. Thanks!

I finished 9th overall in 37:50:12. I forgot to turn my GPS watch off after crossing the finish line, but I used Strava's cropping function to come up with a GPX track that's close enough..

The Race

I ran, blew up, walked, ran, walked, ran, walked, took my polypro jacket off, ran some more and eventually finished.

If I hadn't worn my jacket, and had I brought a handheld and my iPod touch, I could have shaved a minute or two off my finish time and perhaps gaining a rank or two. IOW, I was a big baby once again this year, although I don't think I would've beaten Andy and I know I couldn't have beaten Brett.

Aftermath

I drove home earlier than I normally do, because I was nervous about the conga line down the mountain in general and my truck's broken windshield defroster in specific.

I saw three cars stuck in snow with various people trying to help get the cars out. I'd stop and help, but the snow shovel that I kept in my truck for years was stolen a while back and I haven't had the money to get a replacement. Additionally, I kind of had to pee real badly¹.

Thank You

Thank you, Friends of the Sandia Mountains. This is an excellent race and next year I'll run the entire thing. Honest! Maybe!

Background

Only half-jokingly, I call this the toughest race I do each year. I stole that from my brother-in-law, but it's definitely true when toughest takes into consideration both the intensity of the effort and just how slowly and pitifully I move with that effort.

The course has changed over the years. This year was a new course, although it may have been the same course as last year. I didn't get a good GPX track last year and my memory is not good enough to know. My brother-in-law and sister both did the course last year, but not this year. Regardless, the general pattern is hat it starts out downhill, then has some rollers, then finishes going uphill.

Each year, in theory, I plan to push myself hard, but something comes up and I half-ass it. This year I was healthy and basically injury free (I have a hot-spot on my right foot, but it never spoke up during the race), but it was surprisingly cold. I pulled into the parking lot at about 9:10 and it was six degrees Fahrenheit. I don't remember it ever having been that cold and I've done this race every year it's been held since at least 2012 and probably a few years prior to that.

After I had drunk my pre-race quad espresso, they announced that the start would be delayed a half hour. It was taking longer than expected for people to make it to the top, because the roads were dicey.

On the drive up, just above the Ski Area Parking there was a sign that said "Chains required beyond this point". I didn't have chains, nor did anyone else I saw. I did have four wheel drive, but to be honest, I hadn't tested it since I had a new transfer case (and drive train) installed back in September.

During the thirty minute hold, I texted my wife, sister and brother-in-law. I started with a picture of my car's thermometer reading 6F. I then mentioned some of my concerns about the ride down. I idled my truck and turned the heater on, but that meant that I could no longer trust the thermometer to tell me the outside temperature. So, by the time to head to the start line again I chose to err on the side of caution and wore far too much clothing: a long-sleeve T-shirt, arm-bands and a polypro jacket on my chest, running shorts and my lightest tights on my legs.