Boulder Lake 8K Snowshoe Stomp

John Kann and I travelled to Duluth to attempt to qualify for the United States National Snowshoe Championships. On a frigid cold day that saw race temperatures at the start below zero, it was a day that proved nothing but chilly. However, racers turned out in large numbers to attempt to qualify the the championships to be held in Cable, Wisconsin, in mid March. The course was sugary in nature, making it difficult to achieve fast times. It was a slow race by standards of some snowshoe races that I have been to. The deep snow just seemed to sap the energy right out of you. This course had the option of either a 4K or an 8K loop. Competition was stacked for the 8K qualifying race, with many well known racers from the Duluth and Twin Cities area. In a race that was only my third time on snowshoes this winter, I held on for 18th place overall out of 44 racers with a time of 52:56. It was a little bit of a wakeup call for my training, because I didn't know when I left if I had qualified or not. I had to wait until full results were published on the internet before I found out that I had qualified and would be heading to Lakewoods Resort for the National Championships.