The Flurry 8k Snowshoe Race - Saturday, February 19th, 2022

 It was not the most bueno day to be outdoors.

The sunshine was nice - the fierce wind and blowing snow, less so.

I'd been keeping an eye on the weather leading up to this, hoping that the predictions would be both right and wrong. I shoveled a bunch of "right" out of our driveway on Friday morning, which at least meant we'd have snow for the race! But waking up (stupidly early) Saturday morning, it seemed the meteorologists were correct once more, which would make for a challenging day.

DAT WIND DOE

Nevertheless, I ate my oatmeal, slapped some tape on the sole of my right foot (which had been a bit sore since running through slush on Thursday), and we got on the road. I was messaging with a friend who asked if I could pick up race kits for a few people from KW who weren't going to make it out - we soon found out why!

It was not an amazing day to be on the roads

There were an uncomfortable number of vehicles in the ditch as we carefully rolled down toward Marydale Park.

We usually laugh about the blowing snow hazard warnings on Hwy 52.
We were not laughing this time.

The final stretch - Chippawa Road and the actual driveway into the park - were the worst part, with the former being heavily drifted and the latter covered in ice.

Grateful for our Subaru and good winter tires!
A lot of people ended up stuck, and I'm not sure we would have made it in the Fit..

We arrived at the race site right around 8am, with the wind still howling and blowing the fine top layer of snow around like mad.

I'd expected Mount Hope, not Mount Hoth

As always, Tina and her volunteers had kit pick up running like a Swiss watch, so I breezed through grabbing my bib, plus an awesome Flurry mug, tubular gaiter, and sticker...a little too quickly, it seems, as I had to go back to pick up some pins for my bib! I stowed all my gear in a convenient spot, got into my winter running outerwear, and availed myself of the facilities. I heard the start would be delayed by 10mins to allow for the people who'd had issues driving down to the race, then headed out for a warm-up run.

Now there's something I haven't done in a couple of years..

I wasn't sure precisely where the course was, so I just sort of went traipsing off across the field...followed by one of those 74kph wind gusts, which I was very happy came from behind me!

Though running was tough even with it shoving me along

Seriously - I had thought I was bringing some decent fitness into this race, but the warmup of just over a kilometer was incredibly discouraging. 

The wind was horrible, and the snow that had fallen ~30hrs previously had settled but not packed

It offered almost no flotation at all

I just tried to run as best I could, walk where running felt impossible, and not be too late getting back to the start/finish as there was to be a pre-race meeting.

Pulled down the tubular gaiter for some extra oxygen

Crossing the field, I did actually manage to spot the course - which had apparently been re-routed through the field after Race Director Jeff ran the original loop the night before, and stepped into water up to his knees! - and followed it along the edge of the treeline, grateful for them blocking some of the wind.

The morning sunshine was really quite pleasant

As I turned back toward the building to finish my warmup, I was confronted with a lot of deep snow leading to a hill up to the building.

From the flags, I could tell I'd have to do this during the race...twice.

I arrived back at race headquarters just in time to hear the pre-race meeting, or most of it - I also carefully picked my way into one of the unisex washrooms for one last wee before the race began, still in my snowshoes as I didn't think I'd have time to take them off and put them back on again. Almost as soon as I'd finished we all headed out front to line up for the start!

Race Director Jeff with his back to us - that's me in my red jacket just to the left of him

10 second count down, then go time! 

Most of the snow had blown away from the starting area, so it was pretty quick getting up to speed

We'd been requested to wear masks at the start line, but I wore my tubular gaiter over my face for more than just virus protection - the wind was still blowing sand-like snow all over, and I hoped to keep my face intact!

Not that it's necessarily worth saving, but it's all I've got!
Photo by Sue Sitki

I'll do my best to take you for a tour of the course, with the photos I was able to get later. I still don't carry my phone (or anything else) when snowshoe racing; it's tough enough without extra weight, and I can't waste time fiddling with my camera in such a short race!

Start of the loop - out of the parking lot, toward the other building

Along the fence line - there was a marshal on course during the race to direct us to turn left at the end
(Thanks Brian!)

The going had been pretty easy so far, as we'd only been on icy ground with a mere skiff of snow - as we turned to cross the field, the difficulty ratcheted up significantly.

As did the power of the wind!

The snow just kept getting deeper and more challenging to run through as we hit the right turn before the shelter you see in the photo above.

I was struggling and gasping a lot already

Fortunately with it wide open, it was easy for me to let other people get past as I flailed along for a long stretch back toward the far end of the field, through deep, drifted snow that shifted underfoot. My legs corrected automatically to keep me upright, and my left snowshoe painfully clipped the inside of my right ankle.

I had to walk for a bit here. Just no choice.

As it turns out, even the re-route couldn't avoid all the water out there - as we traversed the field, we passed through a couple of patches that clearly had slushy water beneath the snow.

You could see it best in the footprints Jeff had left when he ran the course before the race start

It was possible to avoid it in snowshoes by going around to one side, but I wondered how the trail race happening later that day would fare.

Even deeper snow here, where the line of low trees had stopped it from being blown any further

Up a small rise at the corner of the field, then a left turn just past the trail sign.

I didn't think too many people would be interested in using the dock today

Through the gate, away from the wind and into the woods - this was one of the most beautiful spots on the course.

And a bit of sun, to boot!

Now that the wind was no longer whipping me in the face, I pulled down the tubular gaiter to around my neck so I could breathe a little easier - the cold wind and blowing snow had frozen the water vapor from my breath in the fabric, making it tough to get much oxygen through it, and I needed all I could get to keep running!

Through beautiful snow-laden pines

It was pretty flat and decently packed through here (thanks to everyone faster than me for tamping down the snow!), but there was a bit of a low exit..

Not necessarily easy to tell, but you had to basically bend double in order to clear those boughs

It was around here that I ended up passing a fellow who had stopped and was bent down working on something at ground level; I asked if he was ok, and he said he was fine, but his snowshoe had come a bit loose. I wished him luck and was on my way, through an open section, then back into pine forest as the course curves sharply right and heads downhill. 

I remembered this bit from Sunburn Solstice, though it looked a wee bit different in late June!

I was honestly shocked at the snow load on the trees, given both the wind and that many people had already been through ahead of me, some of whom are quite tall.

That snow was stuck on there good!

As you come to the bottom of the decline, a glance to your left will reveal the accessible dock.

Definitely not a popular spot on a blustery winter day

Hard right before you end up in the lake - or on it, anyway - and over an icy patch of snow

Unfortunately, you now have to gain back all of the elevation you lost, climbing a rise that looks gentle but doesn't feel it on snowshoes!

Now exiting the pine forest

I dropped to a walk as the trail curved upward into a stand of deciduous trees, bare of their leaves. I also tried to pull my tubular gaiter back up over my face as we were into the wind again, but no dice: it was a frozen lump around my neck, and there was no way I'd be able to sort it out in mittens while moving. So, there is stayed for the rest of the race.

My own efforts were keeping me plenty warm now, anyway

The trail moves further inland from the lake, skirting the trees along a fence line.

Go right on past this gate - watch the caution-taped sticky-outy bit

A bit further along, we came to the re-route - where the loop differed significantly from the Sunburn Solstice 2019 course. Instead of continuing along the trail, make a right turn out through another gate in the fence.

I can only assume the trail beyond was the flooded portion Jeff had mentioned

This turn brought us into the open field - and bared to the wind - once more.

No, we're not heading straight for the buildings yet..

Hugging the treeline, we still found ourselves in deeply drifted snow with the wind right in our faces. I felt a bit demoralized as I dropped to a walk again, unable to fight against the dual drains of energy. I wasn't even 1km in yet and I'd walked almost as much as I had in some other entire snowshoe races!

I'd also lost touch with the pack of runners ahead of me, and couldn't hear anyone in behind me, so rather assumed I was last

Another bit of snow collapsed beneath my snowshoe, and I clipped my right ankle again in exactly the same spot with another blast of pain. At the rate I was going, I wouldn't even make it through the first of the 4km loops! The course curved along a bit, and you'll think you're in for a right turn..

Cresting another small rise that doesn't feel small at all

..but you'd be wrong, as you're gonna go straight through that strip of bullrushes into the field beyond.

I was definitely bracing myself to get wet here

Fortunately it wasn't as marshy as one might expect - just more thick, drifted snow. That led to another gentle rise that had me walking again; I'm sure I walked more than I ran through the open field portions.

..and I was still less than a mile in.

Cresting the rise by what looked like a big campfire area with logs laid in a triangle, we curved around to the right and began the gentle descent that led to the foot of the climb up toward the building.

Directly into the wind, too

I'd resigned myself to walking up the hill, but as I approached I noticed that both Tank and the amazing Sue Sitki - official course photographer - were standing at the top. That meant I'd have to run, because it's just bad form to be caught walking on camera.

I guess I wasn't actually last
Photo by Sue Sitki

I gasped and spluttered my way up to the top, trying to keep my heart and lungs from violently exiting my body via my ribcage or throat, and already pretty covered in snow,.

Grateful for my insulated shorts keeping my bum warm and snow-free!
Photo by Sue Sitki

Then a hard left turn through another gate in the fence, and a quick right turn beyond it brought me back onto trail. I don't have photos of the rest of the course for reasons that will be explained later, but I'll do my best to take you through the out-and-back that forms the majority of the route, which is basically the exact same as the out-and-back at Sunburn Solstice in 2019 (there are full course photos and description at that link if you prefer, though the trail looks a bit different without a coating of snow). 

The first footbridge, with an icy patch on the rise beyond

There are basically 4 small hills along the way: one has some switchbacks to it that were almost completely ignored by everyone, being invisible under the snow.

View shows the uphill on the way back - this is a fun downhill on the way out to the turn-around!

You pass through various forested sections interspersed with views over the lake to the southwest (left side on the way out, right side on the way back), with no hills longer than about 50m. There's a pretty sharp downhill on the way out, curving around to the right as you exit the woods - it makes for a bit of a steep climb on the way back, but elevation gain is still only about 3 metres/10ft.

Always nice when the photographer catches you on a downhill!
Photo by Sue Sitki

The 4th hill of the out-and-back is actually the climb up to the turn-around, at the Tyneside trailhead - you do a little loop around a raised garden in the middle of the open space between the parking area and the trail itself, then dive back in for a nice downhill.

I was mostly just trying to hang on, running along (well, as much as I could - I was definitely walking all the hills) as faster people who'd already made the turn-around began to flow past me in the other direction. I tried to offer an encouraging word to each of them, as well as those I met after I made my own little circuit around the garden to head back to finish my first loop.

That awkward moment when the photographer catches you pulling your braids around front for the camera
Photo by Sue Sitki

 

It always seems like there's an extra hill (or two) as you make your way back to the gate, and I did not feel like I was doing well at all - some sections in more wooded areas were starting to pack down a bit, though, so at least it wasn't quite as tough going as through the field! I still found myself face to face with the race leaders on their second loop before I'd finished my first, though.

The only other course photo I have - from one of the loveliest spots!

Eventually I got back up the hill to the gate through which I'd rejoined the trail, stumped up the snow-obliterated stairs (I only know they exist because of having done them in summer...25 times), and sort of lazed my way across the short false-flat open field toward race headquarters. I am not at all proud of the effort I put in there, but I was already feeling gassed and wasn't quite halfway done yet! Even when the snow-covered grass flattened out, I continued to walk to catch my breath, especially since we had to cross a bit of cement from which all the snow had blown away. I was using the steel ice cleats on my snowshoes, but still didn't want to wear them down unnecessarily, and the orange powder coating on the frames has already been broken off due to prior road crossings. I did pick it up when I saw Tank - who was volunteering at the start/finish handing out medals and water - with a camera phone pointed at me! 

Aww crap - gotta pick it up!
Photo by Tanker

Lap 1: 31:06

Passing the table with water on offer - I kind of wanted some, but didn't want to have to slow or stop to grab and drink it
Photo by Tanker

Out for lap 2, my watch buzzed about 100 metres past the finish line to mark 4k: I suspect the course is just a hair shy of 4km, though I do know my Garmin GPS tends to read a bit short. 

Possibly because a significant chunk of the loop is stuck to the back of my legs?
Photo by Tanker

The second lap of the field did not reward 8k runners with greatly improved conditions; the fierce wind had partially filled in most of the snowshoe prints, and anywhere that had previously been wet was now crusted with ice mixed in with the snow. As I chugged along, feeling the mounting fatigue in my quads and hip flexors, I let a girl in a fluorescent yellow jacket pass me as she seemed to have much more left in the tank than I did. 

I ran up part of the hill on lap 2, but I can't say it was a big part.
Photo by Tanker

The wind continued to gust but the sun shone above, and against all probability I actually started to gain a little bit of ground on Sharon up ahead of me. I know she's an awesome snowshoe runner, but it seemed as though she was having a tough time. By the time I made it into the woodsy section of the out-and-back she let me by, but I told her she'd probably just end up passing me again. 

I'm not exactly the fiercest competitor
Photo by Sue Sitki

Having run through another slightly slushy patch of snow, I felt a nasty ice ball form under my right snowshe's cleat - my right ankle isn't in great condition at the best of times, and this was not going to help! While hearing the approaching footsteps of multiple runners behind me, I had to stop at a trailside bench and give it a good luck to try to dislodge the ice...almost falling over in the process! I got running again, and was grateful that the ice ball seemed to have broken away.

I have no chronologically appropriate photo for this, so have another one of me dragging my butt up the hill to the gate
Photo by Sue Sitki

There were significantly fewer racers coming through the other way from the turn-around now, as the fast people had all finished by the time I made it there. While I knew I didn't have much chance of doing well in the standings, I was pretty determined not to let anyone else get by me, and as I hit the little end loop before heading back along the trail I steeled myself for a final push, constantly aware that those behind me would be doing the same.

Game face? Game face.
Photo by Sue Sitki

The sun shone, and the woods were beautiful...but I was mostly just in survival mode, trying to keep my feet turning over. I saw other people having trouble with straps coming loose or ice forming on the cleats of their snowshoes, and I was grateful that I hadn't had much in the way of issues, but even the minimal weight of my Dions was kicking the heck out of my hip flexors. 

Course photo by Sue Sitki

I was having real trouble maintaining a run on even the slightest of uphills, and really had to force it on the flats, but progress was happening. However, this is definitely the most deceptive part of the course; you'll swear at least 3 times that you must be on the climb up to the gate now, and you'll be wrong every time 'til the last one! 

Fortunately there are some downhills in there as well, so at least some running was happening
Photo by Sue Sitki

I finally did find that gate, and made the left turn onto the grassy field between the fence and the building. No time for walkin' now - I pushed with everything I had left in me to keep myself at a run across the field, around the corner, and through the finish line.

Lap 2: 30:00

I can haz death now plz?

Official time: 1:01:06

18/46 O/A - 5/24 Women - 3rd Woman 40+

(Official results are here - Garmin data is here)

No wonder my legs felt heavy!

While I'm not particularly pleased with my laziness on the course, I'm pretty happy about the negative split...though I believe it was assisted by the snow on the out-and-back getting packed down from the faster runners (and the first lap). Still, considering I had to stop to kick the ice ball off my one snowshoe, I'll take it!

I wandered inside to get changed and have a snack, and work with Tina to secure the race kits for all the KW people who hadn't made it. Tank also bought me one of the adorable Happy Trails Racing toques that were on offer!

The BEST race series, with the BEST gear!

Because I was inside, I was wearing my mask almost the whole time, so I totally neglected to drink more than a few sips of water. I mostly just sat in a chair, stiffening up while I looked through the photos Tank had taken with my phone.

Oh, and I found this while changing socks - guess it wasn't plantar fasciitis I felt in my right foot after all! I must have stepped on a chunk of ice when I was out running Thursday, and not noticed at the time due to my feet being frozen from the slush.

This was all a bit problematic, as I planned to go back out again! There was a trail race scheduled to start at noon, and I'd actually hoped to get through my second run before it began, or at least before I got in anyone's way. Somehow, though, it was 11:30am (about an hour and twenty minutes after I finished the snowshoe race) before I gave Tank a smooch and set off to take photos of the course.

In my new toque!

You could barely tell that forty six 8km runners had done two laps, plus forty 4km runners a single lap, through the snow in the field. The wind had just filled in all of the footprints with blown snow in the interval.

Still soft and deep

The snow continued to shift under my feet as I tried to run, and I clipped my right ankle again, only with spikes this time instead of my snowshoe frame. Not an improvement, let me tell you! The bit of the course that was wet beneath the snow was definitely worse without snowshoes, too - I stepped forward, sank through, and found an inch of slushy water at the bottom.

Enough to soak into my shoe and sock a bit - fortunately not on the foot with which I have frostbite issues!

I had another problem, too: my hips had stiffened up so much while I sat around after the snowshoe run - of course I didn't do a proper cool down or stretch or anything - that I could hardly run at all. My right hip just did not want me to be able to drive my knee forward, so my progress around the field was at a pace that can be described as glacial at best.

I also stopped dead at the trail sign before the turn into the pine forest - I hadn't noticed this previously, but damn did it ever seem appropriate!

I pressed on, partly because I was out there anyway, and really the 100 runs in 100 days challenge doesn't have any pace requirements (good thing, or probably none of my runs would count). I also really wanted to get some nice photos of the course, as it was very pretty in the snow, and if the race is held here again it's nice to be able to provide a preview.

The open section after the low exit from the first bit of pine forest

Oh, that snow load!

With time on my hands and noone around me, I was also able to notice some things I hadn't seen on either lap of the actual race.

Like these amazing icicles on a tree just to the right of the trail

I honestly had no idea what time it was, and was in no real hurry - I walked when I needed to (which was a lot), and ran when I could. The sun was variable, but with a fresh tubular gaiter over my face the wind felt less harsh.

Icy patch at the turn to skirt the lake after leaving the pine forest

It was just me and my phone and some sunny woods - exactly as I've spent thousands of happy kilometers. It wasn't ideal that my hips were still feeling stiff and my ankle was cranky, but if I only ran when things are good I would never have continued to run ultras after my first.

The views were enjoyable, anyway

Jeff had sent out the message that spikes wouldn't be needed for the trail race, but I had worn mine anyway because I had seen some icy patches on the course the first two laps. Most of them would have offered some decent traction anyway, but I was still happy to have the sure-footedness of my fake-toolahs!

I was already hurting enough - I didn't need a tumble to make things worse

I kept up my snail-like run/walk while the wind continued its assault on anything not nailed down - only a few exposed areas had been packed down and not re-filled with snow.

The path through the rushes looked great, but just look at the blowing snow in the distance!

As I made the right-hand turn by the campfire pit and took the wind head on once more, my phone decided it had had enough, and unceremoniously shut the heck down. The poor thing had just got too cold, and would now need a lot of time in my pocket to warm up enough to do anything else...assuming I could even generate enough heat to warm it with as slow as I was moving!

I was trying to run - it just wasn't working very well

Things did eventually loosen off, but it took most of the run before I could move anywhere near comfortably. With having got shots of the field and pine forest (and not particularly wanting to fight with the wind any more than I had to, nor get my feet wet again), I decided I'd do two out-and-backs of the trail rather than doing the full loop plus the field section again. 

I might not be particularly bright, but sometimes a sense of self-preservation kicks in.
Photo by Sue Sitki

This did, however, mean that I was caught up by the leaders of the trail run - I'm sure I made a bunch of them wonder how the heck someone got in front of them, especially with as tortoise-like as I was moving! I just tried to stay out of the way, and offer some encouragement as they flew past me. I didn't mean to hamper anyone's race!

I had just wanted some photos, and a second run!

It turned out that my chosen route was a touch longer than the bare minimum 5k I needed, but it took me almost an hour to make it through; I'm certain I saw almost every one of the trail runners in both the 8k and 4k races at some point before I straggled through the gate and off toward the building again. 

By which time it had started to snow, and I was ready to be done with outdoors for a bit!
Photo by Sue Sitki

When I got back inside - after doing a little loop through the parking lot to make an even 6km, giving me just over 15km total for the day with my warmup run - the snow continued to build in. Looking out the window, I was grateful I'd finished up when I did!

NO THANKS

I got changed into warm, dry clothes, and unpacked the thermoses of hot chocolate and soup I'd made that morning. These were the exact same things that were on offer for all racers, but since my food allergies prevented me from being able to take part in the post-race buffet, I was very happy I'd brought my own! I tried to pay a little more attention to rehydrating, too; I'd brought a small bottle of water with me on the run, but having the tubular gaiter over my face for the first while meant I hadn't drank very much.

I got myself all packed up and went to drop off my wet running gear in the car, and as I walked back I heard Dana from Chip Time Results say that all the racers were now in - Tank's volunteer duties were done, so we were good to head out!

After signing the freshly re-painted finish arch for 2022, that is

We loaded up and headed out - while the snow had stopped and the sun returned, that didn't necessarily make for an easy trip home.

We actually ended up postponing some plans we'd had to drive into the GTA that afternoon due to the terrible visibility in the blowing snow

Getting back to town, we dropped off the race kits we'd picked up with a friend who would be heading to Shade's Mills Conservation Area the next morning for a sort of consolation race with all those who'd been unable to make it to the aptly-named Flurry, then headed home...only to find our driveway full of snow, with a pile at the end from the plow having been past!

So, only one thing for it..

Turns out it's a toque of many uses!

Then, because I'm an idiot of the 100 in 100, I ran 4 more times in the following 2 days.

..but that's a tale for another day.

As always, I am incredibly grateful to the whole Happy Trails Crew - Jeff, Tina, Byron, and the amazing volunteers - for providing us with some wonderful snowy fun on a blustery winter day. My new mug and tubular gaiter have seen a lot of use this past week, and will continue to do so as that was definitely a day to remember!