Northfield Mt Snowshoe Race

Jess and I headed over to Greg Hammett's house early Saturday morning to car pool. The first thing I noticed when we arrived at the visitors center was how windy and cold it was. I felt like I was a little under dressed. Despite the wind, Greg and I did a warm up on the roads for about 24 minutes. Once loose and on the starting line, I had second thoughts about my layering and quickly ran in and got my shell jacket. We were off. Greg, Ross Krause, and I quickly made our way out front and settled in. About 60 seconds into the race I got hot and had to take my shell jacket off. Oh well, better safe than sorry. The course was a steady climb for a couple of miles. I pulled away from Hammett, knowing he had some wheels for the down hill section and wanted to get a gap. The course was pretty quick for a snowshoe race and Greg was gaining on me on the down hill. I just could not turn it over as well. When he caught up to me we ran together for a bit and then he continued to pull away. All I could do was try to hang and eat his snow dust. He barrelled down with no apprehension. I think he probably had 50 meters on me at one point. I started to concede until the terrain leveled out a bit and I noticed I was reeling him in. I was now close enough to have Hammett Spray in my face again and had enough. I made a move on a short climb and pulled out again. This battle continued for the remainder of the race. Basically, I was stronger on the climbs and Hammett was faster on the descents. We went back and forth four times. The outcome of this race was going to be decided by the terrain. We were side by side now and could see the finish line. I mustered every bit I had to try and hold him off. I barely did and think this is one of the most exciting Hammett/Fyffe Duels of old. I look forward to many more. Race director Dave Dunham put on a great race. The course was fun, well marked, and challenging. Of course I knew this going into the day.