BIGFOOT SNOWSHOE RUN (Traverse City - 2019 - 5K)

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  Bigfoot Snowshoe Run 2019 Photos

244 Mile Drive




2019 Bigfoot Snowshoe Race was my birthday run and my first snowshoe run!  After discovering how expensive snowshoes were, I bought used snowshoes on Craigslist weeks prior to the run.  They looked hardly used and were a good price.  I tried them out around our yard briefly.  It was different but not as difficult as I had expected.

I found a great hotel in Petoskey called the Michigan Inn and Lodge.  I was drawn in by the advertisement of free hair cuts.  I had never heard of a hotel that gave free hair cuts, only free continental breakfast.  The drive up north was very snowy and at times dangerous.  When we got to Petoskey the roads were very icy.  The morning drive to the run was especially icy on back country roads.  It was an extremely beautiful drive with freshly fallen snow.  We saw a lot of snow mobile trails.  The run was located at a cool lodge with an RV Park.

It was very crowded inside the lodge.   I put my snowshoes on at the car.  In my short walk to the lodge the strap on one of the snowshoes snapped and broke.  It was not repairable.  Jason can usually repair anything.  RF Events was completely out of snowshoe rentals.  The run was about to start and my excitement started to drain.  I told the staff what had happened.  The lodge cleared out as participants went made their way to the start corral.  A miracle happened and the amazing RF staff found a small pair of snowshoes in a closet and gave them to me free of charge.  Getting the replacement snowshoes and securing them on my feet took so long I started after all the participants had left.  It wouldn't have been an issue on most other courses but this course was mainly thin trails lined by very deep snow and trees.  I got stuck behind a dozen walkers.  It was difficult to run around them with the knee high snow on either side.  The woods were hard to maneuver around if you left the trail.  It got really cold walking and I got really sad.  I wanted to move a lot faster.  It felt more like a hike through the woods then a snowshoe run and it took a very long time.  In the last quarter mile to the finish the trails opened up and I was able to clear the walkers and move a lot faster.  I was upset that I got stuck because of the snowshoe malfunction.  When I do this run again I will rent from RF Events or buy a new pair of snowshoes from a sporting goods store.  I ended up returning the Craigslist snowshoes for a refund when we got back home, something I have never done on Craigslist.

The chili back at the lodge for runners was the best chili in Michigan!!  It was even better than Dons of Traverse City in Novi! …ironically.  I inquired and found out the chili was from Slabtown Burgers.  We drove to Slabtown Burgers after the run and bought a quart of chili to take home.  We also tried a new brand of Root Beer that was really good.

We got a winter Petoskey trip out of The Bigfoot Snowshoe Race and a great stay at an awesome hotel.  In addition to the free haircuts Jason and the kids got it was dog friendly and had an amazing dining area with all kinds of finger foods, snacks to-go and soups.  I went back multiple times for snacks during our stay.  We also bought a hotel nightstand lamp in the lobby and brought it home for a memory.  The night before the run we went to Family Video and made it a hotel movie night.  Saturday after the run we went downtown Traverse City and visited a lot of fun shops.  Jason got an amazing pretzel and we took a few Traverse City goodies back home for ourselves and family.

Jason bought me a mini yeti statue the week following. They gave huge yeti statues out to overall winners.  They were amazing!  I wouldn’t have been an overall winner.  He felt bad the run turned out the way it did.  

Location: 4050 E Hammond Rd, Traverse City, MI 49686, USA

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