Month: February 2018

44 runners braved the ice-covered trails at Saratoga Spa State Park for the Saratoga Winterfest 5k trail race on Sunday, 2/4.  Shaun Donegan & Peggy McKeown took 1st place for the men and women, respectively. And nature got in the last word – it started snowing right after the race wrapped up (though not enough for snowshoes!)

A huge thank you goes out to Laura Clark and her army of helpers and volunteers. I know Laura and her friends made numerous trips around the park planning out and finally marking this year’s route (some changes were necessary due to both the ice and the construction at the pool) prior to race day and the volunteers kept everything running smoothly during the race itself – it’s pretty clear that these folks are the reason this is one of the longest-running races in the series.

Race results can be found here.

Race photographs can be found at our Facebook Group. There are also some photos of the start from Jen Ferris (thanks, Jen!)

UPDATE SUNDAY AM

The race is happening – Russ says there’s still enough snow on the course.

Bring warm dry clothes for afterwards – it’s going to be a wet run and overall it’s cold & damp.

FYI we are highly unlikely to have Dion loaner snowshoes but maybe the CRNA has some for folks to use – check with Russ Meyer at 315-396-9967 if that’s a deciding factor for you.

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Word from RD Russ Meyer is that despite the rain this morning, the course was in good shape this afternoon… but it’s unclear how much impact the rain overnight may have. He’ll be on site at 6:30 AM tomorrow and we’ll post a final update shortly after that – make sure you check here or our Facebook group before leaving for the race tomorrow, to make sure it’s still on.

Right now that looks like a decent possibility!

First up is the long-running Camp Saratoga 8k at the Wilton Wildlife Preserve in Wilton, NY on Saturday. Today’s storm dropped about a foot of fresh snow, so conditions should be great! Race time is 10:30 AM; if the main parking fills up, you may have a park in one of the alternate lots a bit further away, so be sure to leave enough time to walk to registration/check-in. Online registration remains open and there will be day-of as well (print and fill out a registration form to save time Saturday morning.) This year is the debut of a brand-new course which features trails we’ve used in previous iterations and a few that we haven’t – for those of you that remember running past the finish line only to endure another km or two of climbs and descents will be happy to know that we will now be heading straight to the finish after coming around the shore of the pond. All the info you could want and then some can be found on our race page.

If conditions hold, Sunday will see the debut of the Capital Hills 5k at the CRNA‘s new Nordic Center at Albany’s Capital Hills Golf Course. Albany got 6-8″ of snow today, which should be just enough to hold the race if conditions hold over the next few days. Race time is 10 AM, with day of registration – print out a waiver and fill it out to save time on Sunday morning. As always, all the important info is on our race page. Probably best to keep an eye out here and on Facebook for this one; while the RD’s are very optimistic about the prospects for Sunday, a small change in the weather (warming or rain) could result in too little snow for it to happen. We’ll keep our fingers crossed that conditions remain favorable!

On Saturday 1/27, 34 runners braved the icy, rocky, hilly trails at Mt Tom State Reservation in Holyoke MA for the 2nd annual Western MA (No)Snowshoe Scramble. The course was a 5k loop which 10k runners got to enjoy twice. 15 runners showed excellent judgment and completed the 5k, with Eric Nazer & Kristin Tetrault taking first place. 19 hardy souls braved a second loop and completed the 10k, which was won by Apryl Sabadosa & Jason Kudron. Thanks go out to RD Carolyn Stocker and her crew of volunteers for making the race possible – everyone keep your fingers crossed that next year we can actually have snow for this one!

Results for both races can be found here.