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The snowman
In the world of snowshoe racing, Tom Sobal is the leader
of the pack
By Miles Blumhardt
The Coloradoan
Tom
Sobal has been called the Michael Jordan of his sport. He's
won 90 percent of the 135 races in which he has entered.
He's
been featured on the cover of The Wall Street Journal.
So why does
the Leadville resident who holds down two jobs and his wife, Melissa, a
massage therapist, live below the poverty level?
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Courtesy
Redfeather
In flight:
Tom
Sobal jumps a drift during a workout.
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Because being the world's best snowshoe racer might
mean fame but it certainly doesn't mean fortune.
"The Wall Street Journal called me the Michael
Jordan of snowshoeing; but wait a minute, the last I heard Michael Jordan
was pulling down about $50 million a year," said Sobal, a product tester
for Redfeather Snowshoes who fixes bikes in the summer and tunes skis in
the winter for the mom and pop Leadville sporting goods store Bill's Sports
Shop. He also picks up a few coins snowshoeing in supplies for less than
hearty hut to hut skiers and snowshoers.
"He's getting compensated very well, but that's
OK. You have half the inner city kids in places like Philadelphia salivating
over a Michael Jordan video and they've never heard about me. When it gets
cold, dark and snowy, people would much rather go inside and play basketball.
I would rather snowshoe."
Sobal, who
is as simple as he is humble, doesn't take credit for helping snowshoeing
become one of the fastest growing winter sports, but he should. It's estimated
450,000 people snowshoe. Oh sure, snowshoeing heavyweights Tubbs, Atlas,
Redfeather and Yuba spun the sport around with their marketing magic but
Sobal even had a hand in that.
"Tom Sobal's name is known world wide,'' said
Larry Lucero, owner of the Runners Roost in Fort Collins and a teammate
of Sobal's on the Redfeather racing team. "He put snowshoeing on the
map. Yet he's so humble. We have hats in the store
signed by Jon Sinclair
and Libbie Hickman and so I wanted Tom to sign one last year when he came
down to run the Lory Trail Run. He was embarrassed to sign it.
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Courtesy
Tom Sobal
A
little icy: Tom
Sobal after a snowshoe race.
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While the
others signed their names across the entire bill of the cap, his was so
small you could barely read it.''
Because Sobal was winning every race around, Tubbs
hired him to participate in races, demo new products and tell the public
how great their snowshoes were. The money wasn't much but, hey, it paid
for competing in 20 races a year.
"After I started having some success, I approached
some companies for sponsorship and most just laughed," said Sobal,
who left Tubbs and joined Denver-based Redfeather several years ago. "I
wasn't asking for much. At the time Redfeather was using my name in their
brochures and I wasn't getting compensated. I wasn't ever into it to make
money, but it would have been nice to make some."
When you hear professional athletes claim during
contract negotiations that it's not about the money, it always is. But in
Sobal's case it wasn't. Consider he doesn't drive so he surely wouldn't
have a need for a Porsche or BMW, plus they wouldn't do well in Leadville's
snow. He doesn't
eat meat, so it's unlikely he'd have a need to eat at expensive restaurants.
And he lives in Leadville because he couldn't afford Vail but also because
to him, Vail has too many people.
He discovered Leadville in 1985 when after working
the previous four summers as a cook at a cattle ranch near Pagosa Springs,
he had enough money to take a summer off and travel. That traveling took
he and his mountain bike throughout Colorado "looking for
Here are upcoming
snowshoe races and clinics to help you get started:
n Off-Track Off-Beat 10K Snowshoe
Race - 10 a.m., Saturday, Leadville. Limited to 250 men and women.
Cost is $15. Contact: Race hotline 719-486-3561.
n Day of Infamy Snowshoe Race -
10 a.m., Sunday, Sunlight Mountain Resorts, 10901 Lay Road No. 117,
Glenwood Springs. 8K race. Cost is $12, $15 day of race. Contact:
Race hotline, 970-876-0683.
n Beaver Creek Snowshoe Adventure
- 10 a.m., Dec. 16, Beaver Creek Resort. Races include 10K run,
5K run/walk and 1K nature walk, kids' tours and 100-yard dash for
cash. Cost is $20. Contact: Series hotline, 970-476-6797.
n Snowshoeing as a cross-trainer
clinic - 9:30 a.m., Dec. 23, Nederland. Accomplished multi-sport
athlete Darrin Eisman will lead the clinic, which is limited to 20
participants. Cost is $45. Contact: Event hotline, 303-527-1798. |
the ideal place
to live." He never found it, but Leadville came closest.
"I chose Leadville to run trails," said Sobal,
who grew up in Gary, Ind. "But in winter there was too much snow. I thought
I'd become a competitive Nordic ski racer, but then I sort of borrowed some
snowshoes and I instantly loved it. It was like my first ride on a mountain
bike. Suddenly this big white barrier became a big white playground. Because
Leadville has one of the longest winters around and is the highest city
in North America, it seemed a perfect place to live."
Although snowshoe races were few and far between
back then, Sobal established himself as the snowshoer to beat. His collegiate
cross country running background, snowshoeing 30 to 40 miles a week for
six months at 10,200 feet and his powerfully lean 6-foot-2, 170-pound build
combined to make him Jordan-like.
In 1989, he set the world snowshoeing marathon record,
covering 26.2 miles outside of Minneapolis, Minn., in 3 hours, 6 minutes,
17 seconds. He went on to win five world championships, although he discounts
them as championships because there is no national or international governing
body in snowshoeing. Heading into this year, he had won 120 out of 135 races
he'd entered.
All that success made him a wanted man.
"I've heard rumors of companies offering $1,000
in incentives to beat me," he said. "I don't know if that is true.
It's still a big thing to beat me. I think I could count on one hand the
number of guys who have beaten me. If beating me is how people get their
jollies, that's OK with me"
At 43, Sobal realizes his time run is running out.
Last year was his worst year, as he won 11 of 15 events. With his legs not
able to keep pace with his mind, he's now getting more of his jollies directing
races and spending time winter camping with the couple's 4 1/2-year-old
daughter, Savanah.
"Tubbs has a strong team but even at 43 Tom
is still right up there,'' Lucero said. "And when he loses to those
in the prime of their careers, he doesn't lose by much.''
Sobal has largely been responsible for helping the
sport grow in Colorado. When he started snowshoeing in 1985, there were
only three races in Colorado. This year there are at least 30. It's that
number as much or more than his number of victories that Sobal hopes identifies
his place in snowshoeing history.
"One of the things I hope people will remember is
that I have given back to my sport more than any other top athlete has given
in theirs," Sobal said. "I've done countless free clinics and slide
shows, directed many true non-profit races and helped a bunch of people
get started. Snowshoeing will never be as big as many other sports. But
that's OK, I've put in my time and I've enjoyed it."
Interested?
Want
to start racing in your snowshoes. Well, first you better get in shape.
Here's how, according to Tom Sobal, one of America's top snowshoers:
nPick a natural area and explore, going
toward whatever catches your interest. Head out for half the time
you want your snowshoe session to last, then return in your tracks.
This will build general strength and endurance.
nFind a relatively smooth trail, groomed
trail, snowmobile trail or frozen body of water that allows for 20
to 60 minutes of tempo runs at a fairly steady effort.
nChoose a hill that takes anywhere from
30 seconds to 5 minutes to climb, then vary your workout around steady
climbs and fast descents. Work a good section on each downhill for
speed. For variation, pull a partner uphill on a sled then race them
down.
nSnowshoe over any deep snow loop that
takes you 3 to 15 minutes to complete on the first loop as you break
trail. Rest for 10 percent to 30 percent of the time it took you to
complete the loop then do it again. Repeat the same loop three to
six times. You should be going faster with each repetition. This workout
will expose you to a full spectrum of speeds and conditions.
nAs you snowshoe along a packed or semi-packed
trail, periodically locate objects off the trail in the deep snow,
such as a tree, log, rock, etc. Veer off the path and snowshoe hard
and fast until you reach the object, then return to the trail, recover
and repeat again further along your route.
nSnowshoeing with others adds to the
fun. Try taking turns breaking trail through deep snow with some friends.
Lead until you tire, then drop back to rest as you follow in the tracks
of others. It can be as much as six times more difficult to lead than
it is to follow in deep snow. By varying the efforts and time spent
leading, it is possible to keep a group of people with a wide range
of abilities together, each proceeding at their own effort level. |
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