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For the Tuesday Night Turtles, this was a big day. We had a bunch of newbies coming up for their first taste of snowshoe racing. This was supposed to happen at Beaver Brook a few weeks ago, but with the postponements, this was the one. A few of us "veteran" snowshoers in the Turtles have been talking up the GSSS series since last winter and we have quite a bit of interest this year, not bad for a bunch of flatlanders here in RI. Today, our rookie list was long, Jake Scheiffelin, Jackie Jackman, Martin Tighe, Warren Angell, Tara Cardi, Tony Wild and George Ross. We also had Bob Jackman, Dave and DJ Principe, Chris Jasparro with his wife, Vicki and myself on the DL list for the day. It should also be noted that Ben and Matt Keefe ran, but got to the race a half hour late and only did one lap.
I shot the start of the race and then hiked up Moose Mountain to get some good downhill running shots. First time by, Josh Ferenc and Kevin Tilton had a sizable lead on Ben Nephew, they were all moving pretty quickly out there. Bob Jackman was first Turtle by, followed by Dave Principe and surprisingly, his son DJ on his tail. DJ is 12 years old and he was hanging with the big boys on the first loop. As the rest of the Turtles made their way by, they looked pretty comfortable, well, all but one. George Ross was complaining his calf was cramping up, so he ended up bailing at the end of the first lap. George was listed in the Coolrunning results as finishing the 2.7 mile Wimp Run, as race director Mike Amorello calls it. At the brewpub later, George summed it up by saying it " Was the fucking hardest thing i ever did"
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Post race, we did the usual thing and went the local brewpub. This time it was a favorite, Martha's Exchange in Nashua. With a cold, my taste buds were a bit off, but the cask IPA was very tasty and would have been even better if they had filled the glasses up to a proper level. A good time was had by all.
See the photographs i took at the race here: scottmasonphoto.com
Read Chris Dunn's race report HERE .
1 comment:
Words of a Newbie: while Scott's words are true in that my calf cramped up as I crested the final hill and I did not wish to risk an injury as I have had enough obstacles to overcome in the past year. If the truth be told the calf 'tweak' gave me the reason (a.k.a. excuse) that I needed to stop because I was simply toast at the end of the first lap. In awe of all who raced yesterday - the complete race - I was kinda happy with my debut - as pathetic as it was. It was a great day at Feel Good Farm but a very, very, humbling experience. So, humbling in fact that I really figured that I was one and out but in the clear light of day I will make a second attempt at Sidehiller.
Where, I am sure, that I will be pushing up the rear but I will strap on my Dions again!
George WIMP Ross
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