A Wicked Wonderland

When the going gets tough; the tough gets Wicked!  They put on shoeshoes!

Eileen Dunn, Steph Cooper, Patrick Smith, Billy Shea, Dan Cooper, Denise Murphy, Bill Morse

Steph, Denise, Billy (in the rear, of course!)

front:  Patrick, Bill  standing:  Crystal, Steph, Eileen, Billy, Denise (Dan Cooper: photographer)

Well, I guess there’s no denying that winter has once again descended upon us with the fury of a scolded cat!  As I write this on a snowy Sunday morning, it’s hard to believe that less than a week ago the temperature was in the 60′s!  So goes New England, but does this sudden onslaught of cold weather and fluffy white stuff mean it’s time to hang up the running shoes for the season?  Hell, no!  As Wicked members we will always find a way to get out there and “do our thing,”  despite what Mother Nature may dole out.

Such was the case yesterday morning (Saturday), when an intrepid group (and friend of..) Wicked runners assembled at Forest River Park where temperatures were stalled in the teens and ocean effect snow flew horizontally into our faces.  As it turned out, there were two groups who showed up.  The first group, I must admit, were the most inspiring.  They showed up ready to assault this storm in the “normal way,” with their running shoes.  That group consisted of Annie Rose Willis, Moe Kelly, and James DeLuca.  James actually ran to Forest River from his home in Beverly!  Ahhhhh, the enthusiasm of youth!  The second group arrived prepared to tackle the terrain in a somewhat different fashion–on snowshoes.  That group consisted of Bill Morse, Dan Cooper, Steph Cooper, Patrick Smith, Denise Murphy, Eileen Dunn, Crystal Anthony (from Danvers 5K), and yours truly.  

For those of you unfamiliar with the sport of snowshoe racing, you may want to check it out.  I was the novice in the group, unfamiliar with the equipment and oblivious as to how to actually run with these “funny things” on my feet.  Once the “things” were attached to me, with appreciation to Dan Cooper who assisted me (Hey, he actually took them off me when we finished. I guess being the senior in a group pays off at times–not by much, though, Mr. Morse!), I ventured off to test the experience in the deep, untouched, newly fallen slow.  ”This, isn’t so bad,”  I thought. “I can do this!” Running with snowshoes reminded me of what it would be like running with flip-flops on, without fear of the things falling off.  I was now ready to become part of the “line” and explore Forest River in a very different manner from which I was familiar.  

With Patrick in the lead, scouting out the best pathways to maximize both the beauty and the challenge of our run, I gleefully followed along.  What I soon discovered, and I mean very soon discovered, was that this was the quickest onset of anaerobic breathing I had yet to experience.  ”My God, am I that out of shape?  I know I haven’t been running as much as I had been, but, whoa, this is something else!”  This, I soon realized, was going to be a challenging trek.  I carried on, however. There’s something quite beautiful about newly fallen snow, unmarred by footprints, clinging to the branches of trees, that makes you appreciate, for a moment perhaps, how fortunate we are to live where we do.  I tried, at times more successfully than others, to appreciate this as I traversed whatever trails Patrick forged for us.  Crisscrossing the park, I soon found myself at the rear of the “pack” admiring the “snake” in front of me, slithering back and forth, up and down, repeat that trail, do it in reverse.  As I plodded along, the group periodically would stop for a break. This inspired me to pick up the pace so that I could meet up with them and join in on their break. To my chagrin, however, immediately upon my arrival they would be fully rested and ready to take off again.  Drat! This was getting to be a very humbling experience.  After about an hour of this, the adventure ended.  I remember commenting to Stephanie, “I didn’t feel this tired after running a marathon.”  But, it was a “good” tired.  I had tried something new.  I never fell (although Dan Cooper said I could not be considered a snowshoe runner until I did fall).  I was outside doing something healthy rather than home in bed, lamenting the shoveling I would soon have to do.  Is it something I would do again? Absolutely, and if there is one thing Wicked has taught me, when you put your mind to something, you can accomplish it.  

Thanks to Bill Morse, a champion snowshoe runner who generously let me use a pair of his snowshoes, I was able to try this out. After I (excuse me) After Dan Cooper removed “my” snowshoes,  I handed them to their owner who posed this question to me.  ”If I let you hold onto these, do you think you will practice this coming week?” After a second’s pause, I replied in the affirmative. He then said with a sly grin on his face, “You know, you have to show that Steve Touchette that you’re better at this than he will be.”  What better incentive is that! And as I now look out the window and see the snow furiously mounting up outside, I know I will have ample opportunity to indeed slap those things onto my feet and plod away!  Watch out, Steve!

A Wicked Happy Holiday to all!