Something New - Something BIGFOOT

 

In case you wonder what you missed, here it is in Todd's words:

 

I was joined by the Hemmert family who arrived Friday night so son Isaac (3) could stake a claim to the "bunk room" so he could practice his pull-ups and ladder climb to a top bunk while making sure Mom and Dad didn't get any privacy so Andy would have energy for the race the next morning :-).

 

 

First, Bigfoot is real. Although I was surprised to learn it's actually Andy Hemmert and his Atlas snowshoes that are large enough for a family of 10 to use them as transport in some alpine countries.   To make his 5K tougher I know he was tempted to load up his wife Rachael and his son Isaac on the back of the snowshoes but they decided cheering for daddy Bigfoot would be safer. Andy beat many of the competitors to the finish line with a time of 45 minutes.

 

 

I participated in my first snowshoe race and was pleased to see that the crazy training we do at CFMTO has some translation to "new sports". For me it seemed to enhance my ability to suffer at a pretty high heart rate for a sustained period of time.   My 10K course climbed 1,200 feet over the first 3.5 miles to the very top of the Mountain Golf Course at Wasatch Mountain State Park before plunging down the mountain to the finish 2.5 miles away.   It was slow going trying to run up the mountain on these less than sleek contraptions but I built up some steam on the way down and finished in 1:08. No doubt it will make my next 10K feel pretty easy in my nice running shoes with no mountains to run up and no tennis racquets attached to my shoes. 

 

The event was well supported with cool t-shirts, other free gifts, fueling stations, and recovery food including chili, soup and the magic recovery drink . . .Winder Recovery Chocolate Milk.   Team CFMTO did sample some of this faire (mostly the Chocolate Milk) but we saved room for a trip back to my condo for a big recovery breakfast of eggs, bacon and waffles (Isaac's special request). 

 

The really serious folks were primarily at the 25K, Marathon and 50 K distances where they were trying to qualify for the national championships later this year in Wisconsin. We met one local celebrity, Tyson. . . of Survivor fame, who won the 25K division even after his encounter with the start struck Survivor fan, Bigfoot/AKA Andy.    But, most of the people participating where like Andy and myself. Trying something new and breathing the clean air and just enjoying the experience.   Many walking and some running but all having a great time.

 

 

Plan to join us next year. It was really a blast and next year I'm going for the 25K and Andy is going to invest in some snowshoes that are more "Corvette" than "Suburban" and tackle the 10K.