Atlas Mad Trapper 2011 Results

Given the race takes place at The Ark in the Gatineau Hills, finding elevations change isn't overly hard to do. But apart from elevation the trail provided hard packed snow, some ice, a couple of short sections of leaves, some crusty sections, and a long stretch of deep, flat granular "powder" that simply refused to pack or offer any resistance at all. Lise Meloche laughed at the muscley boys ahead who tried to power through this stuff and found much better results by "becoming one with the snow".

As always, all racers crossed the finish line with big grins smeared across their ruby red faces. The first Canadian National Champion to be crowned was 15 year old Connor O'Neil in the 5k division. This was Connor's first year of racing and he crossed the line running with the pack of 10k leaders (including Dave McMahon and Alexander Michel). Connor also was named the Solefit Orthotics 5k Series Champion with 3 first place victories over the season. Connor is definitely "one to watch" in Ottawa's running community.

The second Canadian Champion to be named was Lise Meloche in the Women's 5k Division. This was Lise's first snowshoe race ever and she was sure to remind her partner Dave about this as she taunted him with her trophy. But after the cracks Dave had made about Lise in her absence at a previous Mad Trapper night race, Dave certainly had this abuse coming! Nice work Lise.

Grace Harju finished in second place securing her the title of the Solefit Orthotics 5k Champion for the 2011 season.

In the Atlas 10k Series, Alexander Michel lead a tight bunch of 7 runners through the first loop of the 10k course but steadily pulled away on each and every hill. Alex finished 50 seconds ahead of Rob Lefebvre from Cornwall for his third win of the season securing him his second National Championship title and his third Atlas Mad Trapper Series championship.

On the women's side, Sophia Tsouros bagged her first overall win of the season which not only secured her the title of 10k National Champion, but also gave her the Atlas Mad Trapper Series Champion title as well. Sophia was so excited to win her brand new pair of Atlas Race Snowshoes that she left her old pair of Atlas snowshoes behind! No worries Sophia, they'll be here waiting for your next visit to the Ark.

We had 48 participants for Saturday's race and although we were 2 racers short of my goal, I was more than happy with the turnout. The Mad Trapper may not attract a large quantity of racers but we certainly attract the highest quality of racers. You can tell that peope who race the Mad Trapper love life and prioritize enjoying their time outdoors and sharing their recovery with like-minded individuals. This is made most apparent by the number of racers who continue to linger after the last award is handed out and after the last drop of Monique's chili has been consumed. I want to personally thank all of you for making the 2010/11 Atlas Mad Trapper Snowshoe Series such an enjoyable one for me.

We'll definitely be back in 2011/12 following the same schedule as this year: the first race will be the "flatter" course, the second course will be "hilly", the third race will be the Bushtukah Night Race, and the 4th race will be a combination of the flatter and hilly.

And you can check out some of the race photos at the Low Down to Hull and Back online newspaper here: http://www.lowdownonline.com/mad-trappers-race-near-wakefield-quebec/

Thanks again to our sponsors: the Atlas Snowshoe Company, Solefit Orthotics, and Bushtukah Great Outdoor Gear. And of course to all of our racers!