At 6 AM Weather.com listed the temperature in Essex Junction Vermont at -13 degrees F° a bit chilly for the Northeast Qualifier for the USSSA National championships. CMS sent a mix of veterans and first timers to text themselves on the 2 loop 10k course. Richard Bolt, Dan Verrington, Dave Dunham and Nikki Kimball were the veterans, having attended nationals over the last few years. Eric Morse,  long time CMS road/cross country/ mountain expert (and Vermont runner of the year) would be running his first Snowshoe race. "I ran up and down my hill a couple of times to see how it felt, that was enough for me" noted Morse. Newcomers, and young blood for the rapidly aging CMS group, Kevin Tilton and Jim Pawlicki would be running their first and third snowshoe races respectively. Three hours at 80+ mph got some of the "southerners" to the Fairgrounds with plenty of time to view the course prior to the race. The group was joined by US Snowshoe team member and Olympic trials marathon qualifier Jennifer Rapaport (Merrimack Valley Striders) and first time snowshoe racers Kara Malloy (Greater Lowell Road Runners) for a warm-up on the course.

The course was a very fast loop with a number of sharp turns which were excellent for checking out the competition. Unfortunately snow has been sparse this winter and the course could easily be run in training flats. Despite the few icy patches and a little bit of bare ground, the solid packed snow pointed to very fast times. At the 1:00 start time the temperature had climbed to a mild zero degrees with a light breeze. During the final preparations I cornered Bolt and asked him what his plan was. "I don't want to be presumptuous, but I hope to take it out hard and get a lead early". He did just that clearly out in front by the first turn 200m into the race. Bolt was never challenged as he ran even times for both loops and cruised to a victory gapping second by nearly 2 minutes.

Morse went out cautiously, testing the waters and passed Mark Churchill early in the second lap. Morse said "I hoped he was running the 5k, but when he didn't drop after the first lap I went after him". He took the silver by seven seconds and swore that this would be "my first and last snowshoe race". After a bit of cajoling he committed to going to Squaw Creek for Nationals.

Kevin Tilton, a student at UNH, established himself in fourth place midway through the second loop and never relinquished his place. "I'm looking forward to representing CMS in Nationals" said a pleased Tilton. Dan Verrington and Jim Pawlicki worked off of each other. Verrington moved into fifth place around the 2 mile mark of the race. He noted that "I felt steady, no problem with the stomach flu that has been bothering me for the last week". Verrington also commented that his main goal was to "stay ahead of Woodward". Keith Woodward is one of the top 50+ runners in the country, a former Mt Washington champion, and past National Snowshoe competitor. Pawlicki tried to "stay on Dan for as long as I could, I knew he'd finish strong". He felt he was "fortunate that five of the guys from the WMAC series didn't show up". Verrington slowly edged ahead of Pawlicki taking 5th overall and first Master. Pawlicki came in 14 seconds later to take 6th.

Dave Dunham began the race behind a pack of fast starters and slowly moved through the pack. "I felt awful out there. Woodward surprised me when he went flying by" stated Dunham. Dunham ran the second lap in Woodward's wake taking 8th place, 12 seconds behind the top senior. "I think the best thing about today was getting a hug from Angie AND Nikki". smiled Dunham. "It was great to see my friends and teammates do so well" he added.

On the ladies side, Jennifer Rapaport held back until the second loop. Passing CMS's Nikki Kimball on one of the slight downhill sections. Rapaport noted that "Nikki and Kara went out really hard, but it's a 10K". She also stated that "Nikki is a very strong runner, but a speed course like this is to my liking". Kimball is a veteran of Snowshoe racing and one of the top Ultra runners and Mountain runners in the country. She finished strong placing 14th overall, 20 seconds behind Rapaport. Kara Haas took the bronze medal finishing 17th overall. Each of the ladies is planning to attend the Nationals on March 7th. The second (and final) Eastern qualifier will take place on February 7th at Northfield Mountain (Northfield MA).

Results and pictures to be posted at: http://www.snowshoeracing.com/