Athlete Race Recap: Tug Hill Yeti Quest & Town of Celebration Half Marathon

A search for a yeti and a run in the sun - two very different races in two very different climates were on the schedule for Full Circle Endurance athletes this weekend!

• Tug Hill Yeti Quest - Osceola, New York
• Town of Celebration Half Marathon - Celebration, Florida

Tug Hill Yeti Quest

On Saturday, January 28, 2023, Mary Houck (along with a team of friends) took on the Tug Hill Yeti Quest in Osceola, New York!

For this adventure, participants compete in teams to see who can find the most checkpoints in the least amount of time.  They traverse the course using only snowshoes and/or skis (all of which they must carry with them the entire time).  To navigate the course, they are only permitted to use a map and compass (GPS is strictly forbidden, even on tracking devices such as Garmin wearables).  

Mary’s team competed in the eight-hour event, which had 48 possible checkpoints.  They started out on skis, used snowshoes for the middle sections, and skied to the finish.  Over the course of the day, they navigated steep ravines (both up and down) and encountered deep snow.

I’m so pleased to report that they found 45 out of those 48 checkpoints in 7 hours, 50 minutes.  (Sadly, no yetis were spotted, but we have hope and the search continues.)  They placed 8th overall and 2nd overall in the Teams of 3 or 4 People Category.  More importantly, everyone on Mary’s team had FUN and felt a true sense of accomplishment when they finished the day.

Congratulations to Mary and her adventurous team!

Town of Celebration Half Marathon

On Sunday, January 29, 2023, Maureen Novak ran the Town of Celebration Half Marathon in Celebration, Florida!

Maureen had to go to Florida for work last week, and decided to have some fun along the way by signing up for this race. After two big races at the end of 2022, she’s firmly in Maintenance Phase right now, but C-Races like this are absolutely appropriate to include during this phase.

Maureen reported that the route was beautiful (seriously, just look at her photos!), flat, and snow-free.  (A trifecta for a New York-based athlete in January!)  She felt strong throughout all 13.1 miles and was able to finish with a negative split (faster second half) of the race.

All in all, this was a wonderful interlude (dare I say a Celebration?) in Winter and in Maintenance Phase. Way to go, Maureen!