By Marty Basch

Kevin Tilton removed the snowshoes from his running shoes after finishing the nearly five-mile snowy course through the woods and along a mountain lake in about 37 minutes.

"It was like beach sand out there," he said following a fourth place finish in the Pooh Hill Scramble at King Pine ski area, part of the Granite State Snowshoe Series.

Tilton's an elite 28 year-old mountain runner from North Conway. He's a frequent top 10 finisher in challenging summer races like the Mount Washington Hillclimb but shifts gears in winter to snowshoe racing.

"Basically, it's an extension of trail running," he says. "Most runners are out on the roads in winter dodging snow banks, plow trucks and cars. Getting out on the trails is what we do during summer, so why not in winter."

High school cross-country runners, seasoned marathoners, trail runners, ultra addicts and others are increasingly trading pavement for snow in winter to compete with small, lightweight snowshoes on their feet.

Series ho

There is the nine-race Granite State Snowshoe Series in its second year. The Western Massachusetts Athlete Club Dion Snowshoe Series holds more than a dozen events across Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and upstate New York. The U.S. Snowshoe Association's National Snowshoe Championships are  March 5 to 7 in Fabius, N.Y. 

Pain-loving adventure junkies can partake in the grueling Peak Races in Pittsfield, Vt. with the debut of a 100-mile race March 5 followed March 6 by  a marathon, half marathon, 13-miler and 6.5-miler. More than 150 racers are expected for the marathon with 7,200 feet of elevation change and a 10-hour time limit.

Dashing

Many snowshoe races fall between 5- and 10-kilometers in length. Competitors  dress like going for a winter road dash and run on snowshoes with a minimum surface area of 120 square inches and weigh a few pounds.

"A lot of the races are short and you get warm really fast," says Bob Jackman, 27, of Warwick, R.I. a two-time Boston Marathon runner. "You would think you have to bundle up, but I'm only wearing two shirts and it's like 20 degrees out here."

Snowshoers also have to adjust their stance a bit to avoid clipping their ankles and falling in the snow. Their strides are also a bit choppier as they can't extend their legs as much in the forgiving snow.

Snow conditions and terrain are other challenges as groomed trails can be easier to navigate versus wet heavy snow or even fluffy powder. Racers move along on the flats but can find themselves hiking up hills. There are wide lanes to pass and tight, winding ungroomed single track paths too.

Jim Johnson, 32, of Salem has taken to the winter trails. A lapsed runner making a comeback and winning climbs like the 2009 Ascutney Mountain Challenge and Loon Mountain Race, he is the reigning Granite State Series champ in his second year of snowshoe racing. He won Pooh Hill and did it by going slower than his summer competitions. It's a mental adjustment he has to make.

"The one thing I tell people is they have to plan on adding three or four minutes sometimes per mile to your pace depending on how difficult the race is, conditions and the hills," he says. "That is a tough adjustment for fast road guys."

Don’t drown

Trail runner Ben Nephew of Mansfield, Mass. lauds snowshoe running as low impact and a strength builder. But it's not all that easy.

"You suffer from start to finish," says the 34 year-old. "It is a very exhausting type of race and more of a full body kind of thing. Your mid-section will get exhausted from fighting through heavy snow and you can't get enough oxygen. I tell everyone it's like drowning for a half hour."