Friends of the Summerstown Trails (FOTST) hosted the 11th annual snowshoe race through beautifully groomed trails on a sunny Saturday.
Part of the Dion Canada Snowshoe Series, the event was the brainchild of Gilles Parisien and Pat Clarke, who had travelled to other snowshoe races and thought South Glengarry could provide an excellent venue for its own race.
This year’s event had 38 racers registered for the 4.6-kilometre and 7.5-kilometre races.
Megan Poulin raced with her teammate Dave McMahon, winning the 7.5-km. race in just over 39 minutes. But for Megan, completing the race was the triumph considering she has only recently recovered from a broken disc in her back sustained on a vacation in Europe. The fact that she completed the race is amazing, let alone in such quick time.
In the men’s 7.5-km race Bernie Hogan was first in 33:18; Hugo Duguay-Boucher second with a time of 37:41; and Dave McMahon finished third in a time of 39:39. In the Masters (40+) category, Sebastian Warner completed the race in 44:11.
Megan Poulin was the winner in the women’s 7.5-km. race with a time of 40:06; second was Lise Meloche in 45:09 and Trina Boisvenue third in 49:10. In the 7.5 km women’s race, Michelle Leduc was the master in a time of 50:46.
The winners of the men’s 4.6-km race were Clayton Delaney in a time of 32:23, Stephen McGrath second in 33:26 and third Trevor Forsey in 33:48. In this race Andrew Causey was the top master. Michelle Brokop was the winner of the women’s 4.6-km. race in a time of 33:13. Amanda Wong was second with 33:14 and Sarah Poirer followed in third with a time of 36:18. Master (40+) for the women’s 4.6-km. race was Chantal Tranchemontagne.
FOTST is a group of 88 volunteers, with a small core providing leadership to maintain the trails, organize events, fundraise for maintenance equipment and to purchase rental snowshoes, fat-wheel bikes and cross-country skis. A refurbished portable classroom provides the clubhouse where winter equipment can be rented, with over 70 pairs of skis and 10 bikes available. With access to the trails open for all four seasons, the venue hosts over 23,000 visitors a year.
Net proceeds from the snowshoe race are donated back to the FOTST to allow the continued care of the trails, host more events and encourage people to get outdoors to enjoy all that SDG Counties has to offer. Visit summerstowntrails.com to keep up to date with events happening at the Trails.
