WOLFE TRACKS - Updated February 10

Updated snowshoe rankings have been posted (includes results from Smuggs). I've also included the Senior Men's division (50+).
Enjoy.

*Smuggs = Northern Vermont Snowshoe Challenge at Smugglers Notch

Horse Hill Snowshoe Race Update

Posted on the race website today:


Alert - Snow on the Way!!! If we get 3 inches+ we are on for 2/13
Otherwise we reschedule a Day-Night Doubleheader on the 20th!!!

I'll let you know later how much snow (if any) we get in southern NH.

2/10 Update

Nuttin

Nadda

None

Zip

Zilch

Zero

Great Track Workout

Going into last nights indoor track session at the Hampshire Dome I didn't really think it would be a hard workout. On paper it seemed simple: 3 x 400,400,800 repeats. Boy was I wrong. Those 800's were tough on short rest and following a couple of pretty fast 400's. Very happy with the workout. I'm always happy when I run consistent throughout the workout.

Set 1
400   77s
400   77s
800   2:40 min
Set 2
400   77s
400   76s
800   2:41 min
Set 3
400   77s
400   78s
800   2:40 min

I can't wait to get out on the roads and put all this speedwork to the test.
DH Jones 10m in Amherst,MA on 2/28 is next.

WOLFE TRACKS - February 8 (UPDATED)

UPDATED: I didn't want to distract from the REAL New England Snowshoe Rankings so I changed the name of my rankings to WOLFE TRACKS. I do this for fun. I like playing with the data. No disrespect was meant towards the GSSS (and Chris Dunn). The work he's done promoting snowshoeing and especially the rankings system he started last year is greatly appreciated. Thanks Chris!

 
I've added a Snowshoe Rankings page to my blog (upper left-hand column) and will try to keep it updated weekly. I couple of notes about this weeks rankings:

1. I've only included races from the WMAC and GSSS series so far. I would have included the Vermont race this past weekend but I have yet to find the results. If they ever get posted I'll revise the rankings (if necessary).
2. Minimum of 3 races required. For now, if you raced more than 3 races I've dropped your lowest score and averaged the rest. After a few more races I may switch to a 'best of 4' or 'best of 5'. Not sure yet which is a better method for scoring.
3. In addition to the Men and Women Open and Masters divisions I've also included a "top 25 overall". No particular reason, just thought it might be interesting to see how the various divisions rank compared to each other.

Northfield Mt Snowshoe Race

30" of snow...in Washington DC? Too bad it didn't come during the week. It could have kept those folks from spending money for a couple of days. Oh, well, maybe next time. In the Northeast we continue with our snow drought, which forced the postponement of the 5th race in the Granite State Snowshoe Series (Exeter Hullabaloo Snowshoe Race). What to do, what to do? Thankfully the WMAC also has a full slate of snowshoe races and luckily one was scheduled for today. Sweet!
So I headed down to the Northfield Mountain Recreation Center in Northfield, MA with my WMAC driver Bill Morse, hoping the mountain held more snow then the surrounding towns (which were nearly bare). Dave D and Paul B assured us (via pictures no less) that there would be a snowshoe race. In Dave we trust.

Strength of Field

One of the two factors I considered for my snowshoe rankings was Strength of Field (SOF). How competitive was the race up front?  It's kind of a measure of how many fast guys showed up and not how tough the course was.
I've tracked 11 snowshoe races so far. Here's how I ranked them:

Rank	Race	SOF
1	Woodford	98.64
2	Sidehiller	98.61
3	Feel Good Farm	96.68
4	Brave the Blizzard	95.73
5	Turner Trail	95.69
6	Greylock	95.60
7	Pooh Hill	95.33
8	Beaver Brook	94.67
9	Salem Greene	94.36
10	Curlys	93.49
11	Hoot Toot Whistle	90.47

Anyone who was at Sidehiller this past weekend knows this race was stacked! I was surprised Woodford came up #1. A quick look at the results might explain it. Anyways, just another list to talk about :-)
I'm starting to feel like dd with all these numbers!

MA/NH Snowshoe Rankings - (Wolfe Formula) UPDATED

NOTE: rankings have been updated. I think I fixed all the spelling errors in the results.

Rankings are always good for discussion (or arguments). I love checking out the rankings done each week by Chris Dunn (Northeast Snowshoe Rankings) and Dave Dunham (Northeast Masters).
Chris uses a top secret formula to come up with his rankings, with a minimum of 3 races (I think).
Dave uses his intuition based on his familiarity with the racers, with a minimum of 2 races.

Generally, I think Dave does a fair job in ranking. The 'eye' test works well in snowshoe ranking. However, I value what Chris does as well. It would be nice to have a formula to rank folks...fairly and accurately. The fact is, not all racers race head to head very often. With so many choices nowadays, it's hard to really tell how folks would do against each other. This is where the 'eye' test fails (somewhat). The more folks race, the better Chris's rankings become (in my opinion). I wanted to extend the rankings to include a few more folks.