Does Run/Walk work on snowshoes?

Yesterday I ran the Kahtoola 10K Snowshoe race in Midway, UT. Although I have snowshoed in the past, this was my first competitive race. It was 6 degrees and a little foggy when we started the race at 9am. I decided before the race that I was going to do a 3 min run : 40 second walk interval. Once we started it was very clear that this was going to be a different type of run. The first thing I noticed was that you "run" on snowshoes with a wider stride. You really feel it in your hip flexors and you need to concentrate on keeping your feet straight as they tend to pigeon toe as you lift them up.

I started towards the back of the pack to make sure I could get into a groove. Most racers started out as usual almost sprinting as fast as they could. I stuck to my plan and after 3 minutes did my walk break. Over the first 2 miles I passed 5-6 racers that were running out of gas. Over the next 4 miles I overtook more as I continued to stick to my plan. The race was on the Wasatch State Park Golf Course and was VERY hilly. In some cases I walked the hills and ran the down hills. The snowshoes helped grip the snow so there was very little slipping.

I ended up finishing the race in 1:25:10. I was 12th overall and 3rd in my age group. Overall it was a great experience and I can't wait to try it again next year. The imporant lesson I learned was that the Galloway method works just as well on snowshoes as it does on running shoes.