Peak Sports Snowshoe Race draws crowds

On Saturday, March 5, Peak Sports held its annual Peak Snowshoe Challenge. The course, which weaved through the Green Mountain National Forest of Pittsfield, Vt., awelcomed 250 participants, including a handful of students from the College. Each individual snow shoed a 6.55-mile loop, and could chose to continue racing to complete a four loop snowshoe marathon (with 7,200 feet of elevation change) or a two loop half marathon. There was a 10-hour time limit for the races. Some ambitious individuals opted for the 100-mile race of 15 loops. They had 24 hours to complete the course, which amounted to 28,000 feet of elevation change.
The race began promptly at 8 a.m., and all participants were invited to a pasta dinner, awards ceremony and slideshow after completing their loops. Participants could also enjoy a sledding tour on Sunday morning, as well.
“I think that all Peak races provide amazingly innovative ways to challenge yourself, and the races utilize Vermont’s landscape to really push people to their limits,” said Jen Friedlander ’13, who competed in the race for her first time. “Snowshoeing up a mountain is something very few people have the opportunity to do. Taking advantage of our surroundings is really important — there are so many great things we are able to do.”
Andy Weinberg, who coached the men and women’s swimming teams at the College for two years, organized the event; as a result, many swimmers, including Friedlander, joined in the festivities. Six years ago, Weinberg founded Peak Sports and is now the race director for all of its races, including the annual Snowshoe Challenge. He believes it is “fun for students to get off campus and do something crazy,” which each one of his races promises.
“I think the college kids bring so much energy because they are such fun people to be around,” said Weinberg. “The students get a great experience at the College, but there are some neat Vermont things to do off campus too.”
In addition to the snowshoe racers, there were 20 individuals participating in a Death Race practice run. Throughout the winter and spring, there are six weekends of training in preparation for the official Death Race on June 24. Weinberg and his three partners are sworn to secrecy regarding the details of this summer race.
“We wanted something out of the norm and a different challenge,” said Weinberg, who also teaches Physical Education and Health in Proctor, Vt., though he lives in Middlebury with his family. “I wanted to challenge people physically, emotionally and mentally.”
The death races are 24-hour events in which individuals must complete extreme tasks, such as chopping wood and then hiking the pieces up a mountain, selecting rocks from a freezing river and using them to construct a three-foot statue and assembling a bird house, all the while fighting sleep deprivation.
Cross country runner Donny Dickson ’11 participated in the race two years ago and was excited to come back to compete again. He felt the workout complemented his training well, especially considering he opted to complete the half marathon this year.
“The event was an absolute blast. There was no shortage of enthusiastic people, as well as a huge range of how seriously people were taking the event, so it was easy to find a niche,” he said. “Within the first five minutes I was running with an old guy who somehow started talking about his time in Nam. He seemed pretty cool.”
This year, Amy Lane from Massachusetts won the women’s marathon division with a time of four hours and 42 minutes, and her fiancée, Brian Rusiecki, was the men’s marathon champion. He finished after racing for three hours and 52 minutes. Weinberg was pleased with the results, but said no participant has yet to break the course record of three hours and five minutes. Stanis Moody-Roberts ’11 won the college marathon division, and the Middlebury students also fared well in the half-marathon, placing second through fifth place in the women’s division.
An avid organizer, Weinberg has planned over 70 races. He enjoys spending time with the competitors, and began organizing races, “to give back and have these individuals come race in [his] town.”
Peak Sports’ next race, the Ultra Trail Run, will take place on Saturday, April 30. This is a 30, 50, 100, 150, 200 or 500-mile race that follows a 10-mile loop. Contact Weinberg at andy@peak.com for additional information.