With their snowshoes under foot and overcast skies overhead, two athletes with local ties took to the trails in a five-mile snowshoe race which tested both their leg power and will power. The Feb. 7 race was held at Smuggler’s Notch Ski Resort & Nordic Center near Jeffersonville, Vt. Thomas Beckum of Caribou turned in a very commendable time of 40 minutes, 3 seconds, yet ended up second overall by a narrow margin.
On the women’s side, Marie Strouse, formerly of Caribou and currently a graduate student at the University of Maine at Orono, easily outdistanced the compeition to claim top honors with a time of 49:21.
The performances have qualified both Beckum and Strouse for the United States National Snowshoe Championship, to held March 6 near Syracuse, N.Y.
