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Please don’t think that the irony escapes me as I write about snowshoeing during record-setting winter warmth. There’s not a snowflake in sight.

But with an every-other-week seasonal schedule for this column, the time is now or never to talk about snowshoe races, qualifying rounds, the Empire State Winter Games and the U.S. national snowshoe championships.

Once upon a time, snowshoeing was the practical transportation means of hunters, hut-to-hut hikers and search and rescue teams. But snowshoeing is currently enjoying a booming sporty status as the frosty kissing cousin of running.

The Northeast, and Central New York in particular, have caught up with the snowshoeing rage experienced a decade earlier by our west coast counterparts in the mountainous states.

As you will learn here, there’s a blizzard of snowshoe races and festivals all over New York. Take a look at my bi-weekly running calendar.

You’ll find up-to-date snowshoe racing opportunities — long and short — qualifying rounds, and off-beat runs including a 6-hour snowshoe ultra, and a 24-hour loop-de-loop.

Read the rest at The Ithaca Journal

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Will, 28, from Didsbury, had never run more than five miles when he decided to take part in the North Pole Marathon - where temperatures plummet to 30C below freezing.

Will is one of a team of 10 from restaurant chain PizzaExpress which will attempt the gruelling 26.2-mile circular course on the ice cap to raise money for disabled children.

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Fifty runners - mostly professional athletes - will take part in the event on April 8.

Last year explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes took part and concluded: “I’ve been at the Pole before but this was pleasantly different in that I didn’t have to haul a sled there! The race is a unique combination of two things I enjoy: polar challenges and marathon running. It’s a great test of fitness and stamina.”

As part of his preparations Will, a regional trainer for PizzaExpress, has been standing inside industrial freezers for up to 20 minutes - but no amount of running can prepare him for the terrain and the temperatures he will face.

The rest of this story is at Manchester Evening News

Technorati Tags: Arctic, cold, i-run.com, marathon, racing

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There was no chance of anyone catching frostbite during Sunday afternoon’s 31st annual Delavan Panther “Frostbite Classic” Half-Marathon.

Instead, a tornado watch had runners and race officials joking about the possibility of the race being cut short, or even renamed.

Close to 120 runners participated in the race, which is hosted by the Illinois Valley Striders Running Club, and is the first race of the 2006 season in IVS’s Grand Prix Series.

“You just don’t jump into a race like this one. You have to have trained through the winter,” said Dave Camp, who supervised the 13.1-mile race. “People who do this race are serious runners, and they like a challenge.”

Mike Lynn, one of those who assisted in putting on the race, agreed, saying, “These are people who like it cold and windy when they run.”

“And with tornados,” Camp quickly added, saying it was the first time he could remember the race being held while a tornado watch was in effect.

Camp joked that the race might be renamed the “Tornado Classic.”

As a safety precaution, Delavan Emergency Services and Disaster Agency was on hand, and a school bus was stationed on the race’s route in case runners had to be evacuated due to severe weather.

“We’re very excited to see how this turns out, with the rain and tornado watches,” Staley Krause, one of the runners, joked before the race.

Read the rest at the Pekin Daily Times

Technorati Tags: cold, half marathon, i-run.com, racing, run, runner

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The organizer of this weekend’s Foot Pursuit 5K Run & Walk was expecting about 100 people to brave the cold weather to participate.

But the race on the hilly trails of Sunset Hill Farm County Park ended up drawing 208 people — more than twice as many as organizer Scott Hartz thought would attend.

Hartz said the excellent turnout means the proceeds — which go to the Porter County Chapter of the American Red Cross — will top $3,000.

Hartz said the race is now expected to become an annual event.

“Everybody seemed to really enjoy themselves and I think it was above and beyond what they expected,” Hartz said.

In addition to drawing individual running and walking enthusiasts, the race also drew police officers, firefighters and other public safety personnel to compete in the Police/Fire Challenge portion. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources took the team crown, beating federal law enforcement teams, state police and local police and firefighters.

Read the rest at the Northwest Indiana News

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Technorati Tags: 5K, i-run.com, Indiana, race, racing, run, running, winter

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xardoz posted a photo:

2/11/06 - Photo by Will Ramos - Holiday Lake 50k++ Ultrarun - Holiday Lake, VA

From Flickr with the trail running tag

Technorati Tags: flickr, i-run.com, race, racing, run, running, ultramarathon

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