Snowshoe Marathon

42k on snoeshoes!! id love to do it as it would probably be les stress on my friiiikin knee then running.....and harder work!! woooooo.....

I also took 3 weeks off....getting back into things last 3 days!! its awesome

but yeah man! do that marathon it would be fun as hell....more weight, more effort, more snow, not too much pounding of the joints, lots of work!! wow thats a great idea

Drafting would as easy as following the trail someone else made, LOL (permadraft)

Edited by Jyles16 2008-10-15 3:29 PM

Take a trip to Canada/Alaska/Greenland and practice?  I've never used snowshoes myself, but it might use your leg muscles a bit differently?

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I've found that running in snowshoes is very tough, but I don't have the fancy lightweight snowshoes designed for racing. I've got the big ole Yukon Charlie's on sale at Sam's. I've tried running with ankle weights and found that this feels close to running/walking with snowshoes. People will say that running with ankle weights is dangerous and bad for the joints, but you don't need to go real heavy. Running on grass or a trail will help cushion the shock and will get you used to running on a soft surface.

That's a whole new level of crazy. I've spent many hours snowshoeing but never running. And frankly I think I would just pass!

Have you spent a lot of time on snowshoes??

I'm planning to keep racing all year (<<< check the location), which means doing some 5K and possibly 10K snowshoe races. I'm totally psyched to get into it. It is wicked hard to learn layering and you have to rework your nutrition to get more calories and make them good heat-generating calories.

As for the surface, do NOT make the assumption it is soft! The paths they run on are generally groomed and may be nothing more than a slight layer of snow/ice over pavement or very hard frozen ground, and you are pounding along with big honkin' plates on your feet. While they have small crampons for grip, you have to deal with slippage, hitting lots of different surfaces (iced over, slush, bare, deep snow, etc.). Following in a track can be horrid, as you are almost always running with your feet not level - the side of the snowshoe will go up the side of the track, especially as the track gets deeper.

It will hurt your knees, you will use different muscles, tendons, and ligaments, you will be too cold and too hot at the same time, you cannot stop and walk because you'll freeze, there will be brutal wind cutting through your clothes...and if you like it, you'll LOVE it! If you are truly interested in it, check out Kahtoola's FlightDeck system - they are designed to be worn with tennis shoes. Not really great for actual hiking, but are designed for running. Kahtoola sponsors a race up here (maybe the one you were looking at?) where you can use a pair of their 'shoes for the race. This is a decent source for racing across the country: snowshoemag.com.

Lemme know if you are coming to the VT race - it'd be a good excuse to sign up for that one!

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I think this is the one I considered last year, can't remember. 1800' elevation gain over 6.55 mi (I'd only do the 10K) is a bit beyond me right now, but we'll see what March brings. I'm hoping to crank out quite a few 4Ks this winter, so hopefully I can be in better shape for the climbing. I'm not interested in dying in races, though, so I'll hold off on the commitment until the time comes. One to keep tucked in the back of my mind, though! Definitely lemme know if you are coming up, or if you are going to be in the VT/NH area anytime for a training run.