Inaugural Ironman Alaska 2022
August 12, 2022
DirtFest Weekend: Dirty Mitten Triathlon
September 26, 2022
From opening ceremonies to snowshoe race mountain climbing, to awards and closing ceremonies, Snowshoe Worlds delivered.
At packet pickup, I received my official race shirt, so bright and colorful. I love doing interviews because it’s about spreading joy for the sports I love. I talked about how I trained by climbing our local ski hill (yay Cannonsburg!!!) over and over again and ran in my snowshoes on sand. Media was top-notch quality, exciting, loud, and fun for this event, great party atmosphere.
I did course recon two days before the event. Having already moved through a little pre-race freak out, my coach Kari Stuart helped guide me back to living in the moment, right there out on the mountain. I went on to make a snowman and roll down a slope. Bluebird skies and full-on sunshine left me with a burned neck despite sunscreen. Water trickled as the snow melted in rock formations. Couldn’t stop smiling at the wild beauty in all directions.
Opening ceremonies were loud and bright and long. The pace of life in Argentina is slower: they wake early, siesta in the afternoon (stores and restaurants are closed), and eat dinner at 8-10 pm, staying up late. We ran into many situations where we waited impatiently, surprised at slow service because it was different culturally than what we were used to in the USA.
At the ceremony, all countries walked in as separate groups led by Argentinian children and were recognized on stage. We watched traditional music and dance, and after, had a race briefing.
The course had to change last minute, a great feat for the race organizers!! Originally, we were to start higher up the mountain and climb to the edge of an active volcano, but I saw for myself that there were bare spots without snow on the original course. The new course moved to the ski resort base, went up, returned, went down to the village of Caviahue with its bent in half kidney-shaped lake mirroring the snowy mountains and returned to finish. This appeared to flatten out the course somewhat in the second half from the course profile shown on screen.
On event day, we could choose to either take a bus from the hotel or climb the mile up to the start. I wanted to save my legs for those mountains, so scheduled for the bus transfer an hour before starting time of 11 am. Our bus driver sang, “Here comes the sun”, and I swooned at the beauty of the moment. More interviews for tv and radio, yay! I did the mitten (where we’re from) with my hand but facing myself and not the camera, whoops!
I seeded myself by noting those around me and was ready to watch out for trip hazards with a mass start of snowshoes. We spread out after some time, and I carefully watched my effort level, wanting to push as hard as possible but also save for the duration.
We started off going up the slopes, at a runnable grade. Wound around a bit for the first climb. I saw runners in a line way up ahead, walking up the mountain. An awesome sight, striking against the white snow and endless blue sky. I went in, body strong and heart open. Tapped into memories of my ski hill climbs and did a little interval here and there. Flatten out a bit at the top, now run! Wind around then right back down the slope. I was careful as I descended to make sure my footing was right to prevent ankle turning or falling. Run hard again to the doozy – where the first climb was steep, this climb had me in awe because my feet didn’t bend enough to work it. Embrace the suck and scramble like I owned it! Overhead was a chair lift. Crested and descended back to the ski resort base. Saw my mom, sister and daughter, ahhh how lovely, what a boost! Rounded a building then began the descent to the village.
We were told to stay on course here because there were snow bridges and if we went off we might go through into the icy cold creeks. The snow conditions were mashy often times so this provided an extra challenge. All along the course were marshals and locals cheering us on.
Little climbs and descents, farther away from the announcing and music of the start/finish line. I felt the distance and effort but knew the race wasn’t over yet, kept passing whenever I could with the effort level even and focused. One nasty little climb and freaky steep, icy descent that I wasn’t fooling around with and took it with care. Into some shade for a nice little cool-off. One last climb that I walked, and right back into full, strong running to the finish. Every step counts at Worlds!
A ribbon was raised for me to cross, what a rush! Lizandro, the race director, interviewed finishers, with Aaron from Colorado, smiling fully and exclaiming with his arms out embracing everything, “Muchas gracias, amigos!” With shouts of happiness all around. With microphone volume at full blast echoing through the mountains everyone heard my post-race reply, “I tasted blood in my throat so I knew I put in a full effort.” 
Closing ceremonies included awards and videos of the event. The World Snowshoe Federation president, Monica, gave awards to top finishers in honor of Mark Elmore who has done so much for the advancement of the sport. USA did great with many from our delegation, including both male and female overall winners in the kid’s race, stepping on the podium. It was overwhelming to applaud Argentina when they swept an age group for podium placement.
I had asked the race director right after I finished how I placed in my age group and thought I heard him say I got first, so my family and I celebrated. I found at awards that I heard incorrectly and actually got third, and felt pretty embarrassed that I told otherwise!
I loved standing on the podium at age group and master’s categories, holding the American flag with sore legs and a contented heart.
I gave my gifted rose champagne to the Brazil delegation, with whom we had traveled and spent so much time together. We left early before the awards were done, with the party just getting started.
Thank you to Copahue Extremo, the WSSF, and Mark Elmore for coordinating all of the details to make this possible.
Photo Credits: Copahue Extremo
