Lynner Pawlicki has strong showing at National Snowshoe Championships

Lynn resident James Pawlicki finished 20th overall in the US Snowshoe Association National Championships 10K in Woodford, Vermont on Saturday.Pawlicki, who is training for the Boston Marathon, finished third in the masters category (40-plus) on Saturday. He is 39, but will turn 40 in October, and “the Snowshoe Association bumps you up to the next decade and age group,” he said.Asked what snowshoe running feels like, he said, “It?s surprisingly natural movement. It?s just like running with regular sneakers. There are little snowshoes of lightweight aluminum strapped on your sneakers. They?re not too wide, not too long. They can hit your ankles, but you learn pretty quick.”And, he said, “conditions are everything. You could be running on groomed cross country trails, which is easy.” On the other hand, he said, “the depth of snow could be heavy or light. If it?s deep (over 4-5 inches), it?s harder, like cross country skiing.”He added that snowshoe racing in deep snow can affect heart rate, and “you have to temper yourself.”Pawlicki has competed in snowshoe races for the last 10 years. He ran in two races last year, and Saturday?s race represented his third in 2014.To qualify for the National Championships, Pawlicki had to finish within 130 percent of the winning time at one of the qualifying New England races. He qualified at a race in New Hampshire six weeks ago, finishing 10th.?I was close enough,” he said. “The winner was two minutes in front of me.”Eighteen countries, including Canada, were represented at the Nationals. The course included the summit of Prospect Mountain. The Nationals come to New York or New England once every four or five years, Pawlicki said.On Saturday, there were “a ton of spectators,” Pawlicki said, including his partner, Krissy Kozlosky. Pawlicki?s brother, Chuck Safford, and Safford?s girlfriend Sandy Wilkins also showed up, making the cross-state trip from Burlington, Vermont.?It was nice,” Pawlicki said. “I was surprised. Krissy reached out to my brother. He had to drive three and a half hours.”Pawlicki will compete in his final snowshoe race of the year on Saturday, at the Granite State Snowshoe Championships in New Hampshire, also a 10K.