The men's racing team kicked off the snowshoe racing circuit, which runs from late December until late March, with the 3-mile event in Woodford, Vermont, on December 28. The Woodford race was the first in the 15-race WMAC (Western MA Athletic Club) series, which includes races in NY, VT, NH and MA. The series awards points based on finishing place and, after the last race, the circuit champions in various age groups are named. Rich Bolt (Manchester, NH) was the overall circuit champion last year.

Conditions in Woodford looked good, with temperatures in the 40's, sunny skies, and a couple of feet of snow on the ground. Bolt, Ben Nephew (Foxboro, MA), Dan Verrington (Bradford, MA), Dave Dunham (Bradford, MA), and Jim Pawlicki (Beverly, MA) tested out the course and their new snowshoes with a 2-mile warm-up in snowshoes. Nephew and Pawlicki are new to the CMS racing team, and the latter is also new to snowshoe racing, this being his first race. The snow was fairly deep with about 3" of powder on top of a tough crust. The 3-mile course featured ½ mile of packed snow then single-track rolling hills until competitors finished on the same ½ mile of packed snow. The course looped around a small lake and was marked with yellow cones and blue markers on the trees. These would play into the results.

Bolt and Nephew sprinted out to the early lead with Verrington close behind. The first (and biggest) climb of the race spread the field out prior to entering the single track. Pawlicki cruised along in 4th and Dunham completed the CMS sweep of the top 5 in the early going of the race. Unfortunately, that hold did not last. At a little after a mile, Pawlicki pulled aside to let Dunham pass (proper trail etiquette). "I could see Dan (Verrington) up ahead on the uphills and long straight stretches," noted Dunham. At about 2 miles the course came to a junction where a left or right could be taken; course markers went right and snowshoe footprints went left. Bolt and Nephew had their heads down and continued to follow the snowshoe prints. Verrington could see Bolt and Nephew and he followed them at the turn. Dunham reached the intersection and found his way onto the correct route. "I was a little worried because I didn't see any footprints, but I saw the course markers so I continued on," said Dunham. "We ran for at least 10 minutes past the intersection before realizing that we were no longer on the course" said Bolt.

Most of the top 10 runners along with a large percentage of the field followed the footprints heading in the wrong direction. Dunham ended up placing first by virtue of his navigational abilities (and a little luck), while the remainder of the CMS crew finished a full 30 minutes behind, well back in the pack. On many courses including this one, the ability to stay on the trail while traveling at a high speed is an integral part of snowshoe racing. Lesson learned for the speedy CMS runners. "We had a nice 30-minute warm-down out in the woods, so it wasn't all bad," noted Verrington.

The team will compete in the next race in Saratoga NY on January 3rd. The ultimate aim for the CMS men is to prepare for the Snowshoe National Championships which will be held in Squaw Creek CA on March 7th.