ELLSWORTH, Maine — Racers dashed over the brilliant white snow of Branch Lake on Saturday in the first-ever snowshoe race at Bangor YMCA’s Wilderness Center at Camp Jordan. The new event was a success, attracting participants of all ages and skill levels.
“We had a mix today. We had some real hardcore snowshoe runners, and we had people who’d barely been on snowshoes before,” said John Quinn, adventure and outdoor program manager for the Bangor YMCA.
Snowshoe running has increased in popularity in recent years as an increasing number of races are being organized throughout the Northeast.
For Quinn, who organized the YMCA’s race, it was just one more way to get people active outdoors. Of the 46 people who participated in Saturday’s races, 10 were children running in the 1-kilometer youth race.
“I was really, really happy with the turnout,” Quinn said. “That was right where we were hoping to be.”
Most racers tackled the 1.7-mile course, which followed the camp’s woodland trails and crossed the frozen lake. Only two experienced snowshoe runners opted for the 5.7-mile course, which was an extra two laps.
Tony Dalisio, 32, of Waterville led the pack of runners, finishing the snowy 5.7-mile race with a time of 38 minutes and 12 seconds. And Jennifer VanDongen, 37, of Bar Harbor, was the second-fastest runner, finishing the same distance in 42 minutes and 43 seconds.
“It’s a lot of fun,” said VanDongen, who won first place at the Maine State Snowshoe Championships in Rangeley on Feb. 8. “It gets you of the roads in the winter. You get to enjoy the forest, you know, get out in the woods.”
A longtime trail runner, VanDongen started snowshoe running two years ago when she learned about the sport at a race at Bradbury Mountain State Park. For five years, the park has hosted the Bradbury Mountain Snowshoe Series, a three-race series approved by the United States Snowshoe Association, the governing body for the snowshoe racing in the U.S.
“It’s a lot slower than regular running,” said VanDogen. “It’s a lot harder, depending on conditions — you can be in deep snow, but even running on packed stuff is more difficult.”
“It’s challenging, for sure,” said Ryan Triffitt, race director for the Bradbury Mountain Snowshoe Series. “But I think what it boils down to is this: if you’re going to live in a place where it snows — and clearly we’ve gotten plenty of that recently — you really ought to get out and experience winter and see what it’s all about.”
Five years ago about 30 racers participated at the first snowshoe race at Bradbury Mountain State Park, Triffitt said. Since then, participation has steadily grown. This year, about 90 racers have participated in each of the three races, he said.
Triffitt thinks that the growth in the snowshoe running community coincides with the recent boom in people’s interest in trail running.
“People are trying to figure out a way to get out in the winter, and snowshoeing is just the natural extension of trail running.”
At the Bangor YMCA race, newcomers to the sport could usually be identified by the snowshoes they wore. Competitive snowshoe racers typically invest in a pair of special racing snowshoes, which are lighter and smaller than recreational or mountaineering snowshoes.
Quinn plans to organize future snowshoe races, as well as other winter activities, at Bangor YMCA Wilderness Center at Camp Jordan.
“We have this awesome facility down here that gets used really heavily for four or five months for camp and rentals and then gets shut down,” Quinn said. “I really want to make this a year-round facility.”
To learn more about Bangor YMCA programs and events, visit bangory.org. For the race results, visit the Bangor YMCA’s Facebook page at facebook.com/BangorYMCA.