Snowshoe ‘death race’ draws an eager crowd

Andy Weinberg, assistant swim coach at the College, has been putting on races since he was a college student, and has always had a passion for distance races that could never be satisfied by routine triathlons.

“My friends and I were doing triathlons and we could never find distances that we liked,” said Weinberg. “So we started our own race.”

The first race he directed was a two-mile swim, a 20-mile biking stretch and an eight-mile run — his races were certainly not geared to the weak. Yet nothing compares to the event he and a number of eager competitors participated in this winter, celebrating its fourth anniversary.

“It was a snowshoe race, kind of like the Death Race, but on snow,” explained one contender, George Heinrichs ’11.

As there were only two marathon snowshoe races in the country, Weinberg and his friend, with Peak Races, decided to create their own four years ago, and were so impressed by the turnout that they decided to expand the race, offering four distances, including the 100-mile snowshoe race.

“We think it's the only 100-mile snowshoe race in the world and we can only find two times that distance has ever been done on snowshoes but never nonstop,” said Weinberg. “In 1758, there was the Battle On Snowshoes near Lake George, N.Y. The soldiers covered that distance while fighting. The other time was in the early 1920s, when some men left Montreal en route to Toronto on snowshoes.  I don't think they did this nonstop, though.”

The four distances attract a variety of participants from different racing backgrounds, including about 50 to 60 college-aged students each year. This year, about 200 people showed up to participate in the races on March 6.

“We have people who have never touched snowshoes and their goal may be to finish the 10k,” he said. “We have others doing the half-marathon, marathon and the 100-mile distance.”

The variety of races put on by Peak Races attracts many young athletes, including those like Heinrichs, who had been planning to simply do the snowshoe marathon on a Saturday morning, only to receive an e-mail from Weinberg inviting him to come down to Pittsfield on Friday.

“I drove down to Pittsfield, met up with Andy, and he asked if I wanted to do a Snoshoe Death Race,” said Heinrichs. “I said yes.”

The race brought plenty of surprises for Heinrichs.

“They began the race by giving us shirts covered with itching powder, but they didn't tell us,” explained Heinricha. “At one point I got to wrestle a U.S. Olympic wrestler. He threw me like a caber. Towards the end of the race they had us sit in a pond while they took us individually into the woods. They had set up a station for shooting. I had never shot a handgun, and this was a .40-caliber. I barely trusted myself to walk a straight line, let alone shoot a gun. I was somewhat spacey at this point in the race so they had to tell me that I had hit the targets.”

The lack of sleep was one of Heinrich’s biggest struggles; the race took place from 10:30 p.m. on Friday through 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.

“You don’t enter with a focused manner for this kind of race, as they never tell you what the race will consist of,” said Heinrichs. “Even while you’re racing you don’t know what’s coming next.”

Training for a competitive race of this type requires much focus and discipline, as racers must be ready for anything — from itch powder-covered shirts to wrestling matches with Olympians.

“Training for a snowshoe race is much like training for a running race but you must incorporate more hiking into the equation, and I always recommend strength training because carrying the extra weight on your feet and a pack can add up,” noted Weinberg.

Heinrich’s advice is to chop wood as part of training.

“Chopping wood is the one event that always occurs in these races,” he said. “Joe, the founder of Peak Races, has a lot of land and a lot of wood to split. So, he just has the racers do the work for him.”

Yet, what makes these races so exciting is not necessarily the skill set or training techniques; it is the union of adventurous, adrenaline seeking people.

Weinberg recalled the first year that he and his friend organized the race. When they returned to the house after dark from marking the course on snowmobiles, they found two college-aged men sitting on the porch.

“I still don’t remember how they [arrived], as they did not have a vehicle with them,” said Weinberg. “I think they may have hitchhiked from Tufts University. They were by far the youngest participants, but they were so pleasant to be around; they were in a great mood all day.

One of them was carrying a boom box, and they have returned every year and always carry the same boom box.  This year, they ran in Speedo swimsuits with paint all over their bodies.”

Though he participates in the race as a director, Weinberg feels that he can give back to the sport, for a love of endurance and for the young athletes who dare to take the risks of the race, testing both their physical and mental strength.

“It’s fun to be up all night, carrying a concrete bucket up a mountain,” said Heinrichs. “Being around other people who share this view is amazing. I wanted to be tested, to help clear my mind. At some point in the race I found this focus, undisturbed by worries or cares. I was where I wanted to be, doing what I wanted to do. Some might call this adrenaline mixed with sleep deprivation, but I call it contentment. I left the race with a stronger sense of self. Knowing what you're capable of is a terrific feeling.”