Snowshoe Championships in Leadville This Weekend

High School, College Races Added This Year

The United States Snowshoe Association (USSA) will hold its 20th Anniversary 2020 Dion Snowshoes U.S. National Snowshoe Championships in Leadville this weekend February 28 – March 1. According to the USSA, the 2020 National Championships will see several changes this year. New to the program are the inaugural US National Middle School/High School 5km Snowshoe Championships and the inaugural Collegiate National 5km and 10km Snowshoe Championship events. These new divisions make the trails at Colorado Mountain College (CMC) – Leadville the perfect venue for these competitions marking two decades of snowshoe racing.

While this year’s championship weekend has been redesigned to include something for everyone there will  definitely be some well-known endurance athletes from the snowshoe and trail worlds at the start line, including:

• Michelle Hummel of Albuquerque (two-time U.S. Women’s National Snowshoe champion and the 2018 WSSF Women’s World Snowshoe champion)
• Josiah Middaugh of Vail (six-time U.S. Men’s National Snowshoe champion and a former U.S. and World XTERRA Triathlon champion)
• Joseph Gray of Colorado Springs (five-time XTERRA Trail Run World champion)

The United States Snowshoe Association produces the annual racing event at host sites that bid for the honor. Cable, Wisconsin, hosted the championships last year. Bend, Oregon, and Woodford, Vermont, have also served as host sites. Leadville’s selection in 2020 sets it apart as the highest USSSA national snowshoe championships in the races’ history. But don’t let the altitude dissuade you from joining in the races because several “open” events have been added to the program to level the snowfield, including:

• Kids Kilo event
• 5km Citizen’s Run/Walk
• 4 x 2.5km Snowshoe Team Relay.

The Colorado Cup Snowshoe Races in January served as a qualifier for this weekend’s 2020 Dion Snowshoes U.S. National Snowshoe Championships taking place Feb. 28-March 1, in Leadville.

The races will all be held at the CMC trails with an assist from student groomers who should be kept busy as a solid week of daily fresh snow is in the forecast leading up to the event.  These courses should provide some one-of-a-kind challenges. Participants are also being encouraged to enjoy the on-site Vendor’s Expo, Friday Night Athlete’s Reception and Saturday’s Award Ceremony.

“It makes sense for us to host the championships since the races can be held on our stellar campus trails,” said Darren Brungardt, the championships’ race director, who’s also an assistant professor of mathematics at CMC Leadville and the head coach of CMC’s cross country running team.

For registration details and more, go to runreg.com/2020ussnowshoechampionshipscom or the event website, www.2020ussnowshoechampionships.com. For information about Leadville, visit leadvilletwinlakes.com; visit coloradomtn.edu/leadville for information about CMC Leadville.

Leadville Loppet Supports The MBT!

The Leadville Loppet saw some growing pains in year 17 as more than 287 competitors took to the same trail that the annual race raises money for: The Mineral Belt Trail.

“Next year we’re going to have to expand the course and use the entire Mineral Belt Trail (MBT),” reported Howard Tritz a member of the MBT Committee and a Leadville Loppet race organizer. Up until now, the race provides an out and back – and back again – format, tallying the distance for the bigger races by course backtracking. But as the number of competitors grows each year, that model has complicated things on the course for racers.

This year the race started and finished at the athletics fields at Colorado Mountain College (CMC) in Leadville and continued east throughout the historic mining district. For the bigger races, the turn around point was at E. 12th Street, aka the animal shelter junction. From there Tritz explained that skiers have to add an extra loop in to make the full 44k distance. The reason the course does not use the entire MBT trail which would eliminate the out and back format (to some degree) is that crossing the intersections on Highway 24 at East 12th Street and Stringtown would involve permits from the Colorado Department of Transportation. That could be in the works for next year – stay tuned! But for now here are the results.

One of the big winners of the 2020 Leadville Loppet was Alex Hamilton, 26 of Leadville who took top honors in the 44k Ski Skate Division with a final time of 2:43:29. Congratulations!

2020 Leadville Loppet Results

44K Ski Classic

• Ryan Sederquist, 28, Leadville,  2:47:51
• Graham Baird, 43, Greeley,  2:57:46
• Kyle Beling, 24, Albuquerque, NM,  3:06:04
• Full RACE Results

44K Ski Skate

• Alex Hamilton, 26, Leadville, 2:43:29
• Nathan Jones, 36, Buena Vista,  2:57:03
• Diana Finkel, 48, South Fork,  2:57:40
• Full RACE Results

22K Ski Classic

• Jeff Spencer, 37, Leadville,  1:24:55
• Jeff Paulson, 39, Boulder, 1:27:12
• Chris Rohlf, 18, Colorado,  1:33:46
• Full RACE Results

22K Ski Skate

• Tyler Scholl, Kremmling, 19, 1:11:05
• Nathan Hough, Laramie, WY, 1:13:44
• Trevor Willoughby, 23, Leadville,  1:15:45
• Full RACE Results

10K Ski Classic

• Ethan Greiner, 23, Buena Vista,  41:37
• Ron Uhle, 62, Breckenridge,  43:59
• Dina Pesenson, 43, Los Alamos, NM,  51:58
• Full RACE Results

10K Ski Skate

• Zachary Thomas, 20, New Albany, OH,  36:22
• Pengfei LIN, 25, Leadville, 36:33
• Becki Bryant, 22, USAF Academy, CO,  36:51
• Full RACE Results

5k & 1k Kids’ Events

• Full Race Results

The 2020 Leadville Loppet saw 287 competitors race in a series of divisions to raise money for the Mineral Belt Trail.

The day culminated with a lively awards ceremony held in the gym at Leadville’s Colorado Mountain College where a variety of homemade soups and chilis were served, allowing everyone to warm up after what turned out to be a snowy event.

So that’s a wrap for this year’s Leadville Loppet report. From a growing interest in skinny skiing among local students to pushing qualifiers on to race the famed “Birkie” to raising money to keep Leadville’s beloved MBT up-to-par for its tens of thousands annual users, thanks to all who help keep one of Lake County’s best assets open and safe for all to use and enjoy!