Beaver Brook 5K

Shortly after the fun I had at Feaster 5 I received an email with other race listings in my area. Most were in MA, but one in NH caught my eye: the Beaver Brook 5K in Hollis, NH. I knew of the Beaver Brook Trails, even have them in a guidebook, but I've never been.

I liked the idea of a trail race - roads are nice and all but trees are prettier. The fact that the registration fee was less than a dinner out and it was at 10am instead of 8:30 didn't hurt either. I sent the info to Pocket, and we signed up yesterday.

Last night I received the following email from the race director:

Snow has covered the trails at Beaver Brook!!!

We will now hold a snowshoe race in conjunction with the trail race.
We will have at least 30 pairs of snowshoes to loan if you want to race on snowshoes!
Or you can Snow Run the race. We will give prizes to both runners and shoers.

Snowshoes? oooOOOooo.... My Runner has been waxing poetic about snowshoe racing, and I've been wanting to at least try snowshoeing since last year (when we had so much snow it would have been the easiest way to travel). NOW I could try it for FREE!

I immediately sent the email to My Runner and Pocket. I wanted feedback from My Runner - did I need different shoes/gear? Is this a good/horrible idea? I ended up getting him interested in signing up. Yay! I wasn't sure if Pocket would go for it - she's never been snowshoeing either. But she expressed interest, so we're on!

My Runner warns that it's going to make the race feel 5x longer, which I sort of expect. But I'm treating this as a fun run: it's a chance for me to check out local trails, experience the outside, try snowshoes (or at least snow-running), meet some local folks, and hang out with friends.