A Stunning Snowshoe Season for New Hampshire Dynamic Duo

As anyone who lives in New England can tell you, this past snow season is one that will go down in history— though you will likely find that everyone has their own reason. Many towns broke snowfall records; some meteorologists suggest that it may have been the snowiest year in New England since 1717. Others will tell you about some of the greatest ski conditions they have ever seen, or of snowbanks bigger than their houses.

For mother and daughter Nancy Brome and Jeannie Brome, this winter will be remembered for a very personal reason.  Both athletes competed together in the Granite State Snowshoe Series, which was comprised of eight races throughout the state of New Hampshire. The event managers agree that this winter was the “greatest season of snowshoe racing in the history of New Hampshire snowshoe racing”. Nancy and Jeannie’s team, the Sweetie Pies Athletic Team, placed second in overall rankings this year, an impressive achievement, but for the mother and daughter duo, that story goes far deeper.

“My Mom has always been my biggest fan, greatest motivator, and source of inspiration,” said Jeannie. “Throughout the years, she was my loudest and most enthusiastic cheerleader at every track and cross country meet. She never failed to position herself along the course where I needed the most motivation to help carry me through the finish line.”

When Jeannie was out of school, for some time she lost track of her motivation and began to stray away from athletics. In hope of inspiring her daughter, Nancy began training and running races, and eventually completed an ultramarathon. Soon after, Nancy and Jeannie started competing together in various events. Jeannie even went on to climb all forty-eight mountains in New Hampshire with elevations over 4,000 feet in 6 months.

Yet, they could sense that there was something special about this winter’s Granite State Snowshoe Series.

“My Mom was faster this season than in the past years,” said Jeannie. “She inspired me with her hard work and dedication to training and forced me to push myself outside of my comfort zone. I spent all season chasing her around the race courses. There were times when she could hear me behind her and would call out to me to try and keep me with her.”

Their dynamic really began to shine through when halfway through the season they were head to head in the rankings. “It became almost poetic,” said Nancy.

The series culminated at the New Hampshire & Northeast Snowshoe Championship on March, 7th in Moultonborough, New Hampshire. The championship was the most difficult event of the year, over 6 miles in length.  The sky was cloudless and blue as they took off from the starting line. The course was narrow and dense with steep and winding hills, making passing difficult and often impossible.  Sunlight streaked through barren white birch trees and wiry pines. “The snow was very soft and deep, so it was difficult to navigate, but it got faster as the race went on,” said Jeannie.

“This was an especially challenging race for me,” said Nancy. “Towards the end, I hadn’t seen Jeannie all day, and I was losing steam. Suddenly I heard, “Go momma!”, and turned around, and there she was.”

Following snowshoe racer etiquette, Nancy pulled over to the side and let the faster person pass. Yet, as Jeannie began to approach, she turned to urge Nancy on. “I didn’t want her to slow down. I wanted her to come with me to the finish. So I said to her, “Come on, Momma. Let’s go.”  They ran the last mile of the race together, Jeannie leading the way.

As they neared the finish, another racer began to approach, and Nancy kicked into gear. “At that point, I went into momma bear mode, and I knew that nobody was going to stand between me and my baby,” she said. In the overall women’s standings for the Granite State Snowshoe Series, Jeannie finished in 11^th and Nancy in 12^th, ending a perfect season in the perfect way.

“This season was special for so many reasons,” said Nancy.  “I don’t know how often families finish together, but for us it is something we’ll never forget.”

Photo courtesy Paul Merritt

Nancy and Jeannie would like to thank Chris Dunn, the founder of the Granite State Snowshoe Series and owner of Acidotic Racing.  “Without his commitment to running the series and increasing the popularity of the sport, we wouldn’t have found our way into snowshoe racing and would have missed out on an amazing and meaningful race season.”