The World Snowshoe-Racing Champ Loves Running Up Volcanoes (and Cadillac Mountain)

By Adrienne Perron
Photographed by Tara Rice
From our March 2023 issue

During her first snowshoe race, 10 years ago, at Pownal’s Bradbury Mountain, Jennifer Britz’s lungs and legs were on fire. Never mind that she was a marathoner — the three-mile trail race was the hardest thing Britz had ever done. It was only her second time running in snowshoes, and although hers were designed for it, lighter and less clunky than normal models, she still felt like she was running in deep sand and wearing ankle weights.

And yet, somehow, the seasoned distance runner and snowshoe newbie notched first place for women. Britz had inadvertently found her niche — and she decided to run with it.