Joe Gray wins his first snowshoe race

US Mountain Running Team member Joe Gray (Lakewood, WA) may be the reigning Mountain Running National Champion but until this past Sunday had never competed in a snowshoe race. Joe finished 16th at the 2009 World Mountain Running Championships in Italy this past September so there was little doubt he'd have the fitness to do well. The question was how well would he adapt to racing on snowshoes.

Early on in the race the answer was clear to everyone behind Joe - this guy was going to run away with his first win. Joe won the 2010 White River Snowshoe race 4 minutes ahead of the next best finisher in a time of 40:54. The top female finisher was Christy Runde - 50:18 in 5th place overall.

Complete results can be found here.
Photos can be found here.

That's it for snowshoe racing in Oregon this winter. If you finished the White River Snowshoe race chances are you qualified for the 2010 USSSA Snowshoe National Championships. Check out the USSSA website for more information.

More form Nancy Hobbs at the IAU / WMRA Meetings

Here is another update from Nancy Hobbs:

More updates: The 2010 World Masters Mountain Running Championships in Poland will be same course for all athletes between 8-9km on an uphill course. The closest airports to the venue (Korbielow) is Warsaw or Prague.

The Youth Mountain Running Team Challenge will be held in Saux d'Oulx (site of the 2004 World Mountain Running Trophy and World Masters Mountain Running Championships). The date is June 26. This is for youth 16-17 years old. The event is hoping that some USA athletes will compete.

Slovenia will host the World Long Distance Mountain Running Challenge in 2011 -- site is 9th Gorski Marathon 4 Obcin PODBRDO. Date is 18 June. www.lto-sotocje.si/maraton/ This race is 35km with 2550 m total ascending and 2550 total descending. Start is at 803 meters in Petrovo Brdo. Maximum height on course is 1760 meters. Men's course is 3:21:52 while women's course record is 3:56:25.

Italy will host the 2011 WMRA World Masters Mountain Running Championships. The site is Paluzza Udine Italy. Date is proposed as September 18. The race will be an up/down route. The WMRA Mountain Running Grand Prix is set for 2010 and will include Grand Ballon in France - May to kick things off. The race dates are posted at www.wmra.info.

Best, nance

Nancy Hobbs at IAU / WMRA Annual Meetings

Note from Nancy Hobbs (Director or the All American Trail Running Association and Chairperson of the USATF Mountain, Ultra and Trail Running Sport Council):


Greetings, I am presently in Monaco for IAU/WMRA meetings at the IAAF headquarters. I learned last evening that the 100km slated for Gibraltar will have a much improved organization from the 2009 50km road event held there. The course will be an 8km loop -- this is the initial read on the route -- which will be flat. The government is involved as the organizer and we are assured it will be a great event. The 50km road event will be held either in August or fall in either Ireland or Italy -- we'll learn more today on this. THere will be a long distance trail challenge and we'll learn more today on this as well. The date will be in July. The WMRA meetings begin today - we will make plans for the world masters mountain running and also venues for Grand Prix and more. Best, nancy

Winter Trails Day - Mt. Hood

This past Saturday was Winter Trail Day and saw a great event put together at the White River Snow Park on Mt. Hood. Hundreds of people showed up for a free snowshoe test available from Atlas, MSR and Tubbs. Portland based Keen Footwear was on hand giving away free pair of socks and REI managed registration while providing refreshments. With temps in the 40's, no wind and clear roads, the area was also full of other recreational users including tubers, sledders, skiers and walkers (and of course plenty of dogs). For those people interested in snowshoe racing, the White River Snow Park will be home to a USSSA National Championship qualifier on Saturday, January 24 put on by Kevin Foreman and his team at XDog Events.

Orcas Island 50k and 25k Races

Here's an update from our neighbor to the north (no, not Canada) on the Orcas Island 50k and 25k races:

I just wanted to let you know that the Orcas Island 50k and 25k races are nearly full, just a couple handfuls of spots left in our 300 runner limit. The only way to get into the race after it fills is by either volunteering at the work party on January 31 at Moran State Park or by bringing a volunteer with you to the race (we still have a few aid station and start/finish volunteer positions available).

Also please stay tuned to some exciting news regarding the complete 2010 calendar (which will most likely include some new races) and an online slideshow of the 2009 Rainshadow Running Highlights.

Thanks for your support and I look forward to seeing you on the trails soon!

James Varner
Rainshadow Running
www.rainshadow-running.blogspot.com