Pooh Hill

Photo Courtesy of Steve Wolfe

So Pooh Hill...

What was taken out from last year's race in regard to hills was more than made up for in single track and disheartening exposure to other runners. What I mean by that is you could see the leaders at times ahead of you only to find a tortuous, and torturous, labyrinth of powder between you. For those of you who ran the first two Granite State races but did not participate in this, most likely have no idea of the amount of extra effort it takes on unpacked and uneven terrain. It's worse than running on a loose sand. Now imagine that for the 8 kilometers of the race. Yikes! After the first 3 kilometers or so, I did not pass a single racer and could see Steve Wolfe off in the distance. Steve never got any closer to me nor I to him, just running relatively similar speeds.
Amber wound up pretty close behind me, saying, unbeknownst to me, that she could see me the whole time. She has been cruising this year. Not only did she win her third snowshoe race in a row, she also raced the next day at Gate City's Freeze Your Buns, coming in with a scorching 18:20, 5:55 pace, good enough for second overall. As I'm sure you are as well, I am very excited to see what this year brings for Amber's racing and records.