Snowshoe running gives racers another season to run
MENDON — When he was in his late 40s, Charlie Sabatine put down the cigarettes, picked up a pair of running shoes, and started down a road of physical fitness.
Since then, the youthful 76-year-old retired math teacher from Victor has crossed a lot of finish lines. And lately, those finish lines don’t stretch across pavement.
On a gloriously cold and cloudy January day at Mendon Ponds Park, Sabatine was wearing snowshoes instead of running shoes.
He was also wearing an inspirational look of satisfaction after completing a grueling 10K qualifying race for the U.S. National Snowshoe Championships taking place near Syracuse in March.
Sabatine, the oldest competitor in a field of nearly 100, finished 90th overall in 1:25:16 to qualify first for the national meet in the 75-79 age group.
“It’s tough but it sure keeps you in shape,” said Sabatine, a newcomer to snowshoe running, which continues to grow in popularity as a fun way to melt away calories and the winter blues.
That someone like Sabatine thinks snowshoe racing is tough is a ringing endorsement for the challenging sport.
Not only has he hiked all 46 High Peaks in the Adirondack Mountains in the nicer months, he’s done it in the winter, too.
He has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, the legendary 19,340-foot peak in Tanzania, Africa.
And he not only runs marathons, he runs ultra-marathons, those mind-boggling races that double and triple the 26.2-mile distance.
“I just wanted something to do other than run on the roads in the winter,” said Sabatine, whose wife, Sara, is also an active hiker and runner. “This park, it’s a lot of elevation gain, so it’s quite a workout. But it beats being a couch potato. Get out and do something.”
At the 15th annual Winterfest, hundreds of folks got out to enjoy an array of winter sports. None sweated or smiled more than the nearly 150 that took part in three different snowshoe races at Calvary Lodge.
This is a big winter for local snowshoe running enthusiasts.
Not only do the nationals return to New York for the first time since their inception in 2001 in Plattsburgh, the first World Snowshoe Invitational is scheduled for Feb. 27 in Vancouver just miles from where the Winter Olympic Games will end a day later. Snowshoe racing’s governing bodies see the exposure that race will generate as a critical step toward gaining inclusion as an official Olympic sport in the future.
Nobody that has tried running in snowshoes needs to be convinced of its skillful and healthful merits.
“It’s a great winter exercise,” said Mary Rivers of Victor. “People don’t realize you can just put these on, wear any shoe, and just go. It’s not like cross-country skiing where you are looking for a nice groomed trail. You can go anywhere with these and we have so many nice parks around here.”
Rivers and her husband, Steve, each qualified for nationals in the 45-49 age class. For Steve, it will be his sixth trip, having competed and done well in Alaska, Vermont, Minnesota, Utah and Oregon in the past.
An avid runner, the Fairport teacher took to snowshoes in the wintertime with his son, Zach, who used snowshoeing as a cross-training bridge between his stellar cross country and track seasons in high school. Zach, who runs for Syracuse University, was the 2007 Class A state cross country champion and 2008 junior national showshoe champion.
“For me, I just enjoy being outside and running and this gives me an opportunity to do both,” Steve Rivers said. “I don’t particularly like running on the roads during the winter. I’m not a fan of dodging snowplows. It’s a lot prettier in a park.”
Mary Rivers got into the fun a couple of years ago.
There is a curve learning how to walk in snowshoes let alone run in them. But it’s true: anybody with a tad of determination and coordination can learn to snowshoe.
“You have to run a little bit wider,” Mary Rivers said. “The first few times you trip yourself, but you learn quickly. It’s just so nice because you can run on ice with these cleats underneath. You won’t fall.”
Modern snowshoes are constructed of high-tech tubing and equipped with a large, toothy crampon for superior traction. Rocks, stumps and bare ground are easily traversed with these four-wheel drive tires for the feet.
And while running in snowshoes may seem a bit whimsical — OK, crazy — the rich history of snowshoeing is filled with examples of people moving swiftly over the snow long before there was a United States Snowshoe Association and a race schedule.
Native American tribes such as the Iroquois raced across the snow in racquet-shaped designs in pursuit of whitetail deer.
Alaskan mushers assisted their dog teams by running behind their sleds in snowshoes.
Cazenovia’s Chary Griffin, local organizing chairwoman for the national race, has even collected antique postcards depicting Canadian citizens taking part in track and field events aboard snowshoes during winter festivals.
“The rules over the last 10 years in the United States have just sort of been invented,” said Griffin, 62, who will compete in her ninth national event. “The runners came into the sport, the skiers, and people were not sure if it was an adventure race or a track meet.”
It’s a little bit of both.
Griffin even trains in the summertime in her snowshoes running on grass and equine trails. Of course, like everyone, she prefers snow and prays for lots of it.
“It’s such great cross-training for running,” Griffin said.
“You become very efficient with your stride. It’s not hard on the joints like pounding on the roads are. And the snow is free. Why shouldn’t we be taking advantage of what is a lifetime sport?”
Charlie Sabatine could not agree more.
Many years ago he was 40 pounds heavier and a smoker. Then he got moving. He now moves on snowshoes when it’s white outside.
“I actually felt very good out there,” he said about his race. “I’ve had runs where I was really bummed out but today was nice. I wasn’t running fast or very hard — it’s just one foot in front of the other. But it was a good experience.”
How could it not be? Running through nature in four-wheel drive.
