The snow crunches with every step of metal. The echo of panting and heavy breathing is heard.

Some members of Ithaca College’s track and field teams, fresh off the indoor track of Cornell University’s Barton Hall, run as if they are on land, but they raise their feet just high enough to skim the crest of the snow.

Instead of concrete walls, snow surrounds other competing athletes, ranging from children to seniors.

The snowshoers filled the trails of Highland Forest Park in Fabius, N.Y., last weekend to compete in the 10th annual National Snowshoe Championships. In the event, the top five finishers in the senior divisions earned places on the U.S. National Snowshoe Racing Team, which competes internationally.

The local highlight was Ithaca College freshman David Geary, a member of the men’s track and field team, who won the 19-and-under junior division, making him a national champion. He started the sport in 10th grade and attributed his success to experience and extensive research of the trails.

“By looking at the elevation profile, I knew it was going to be a hilly course,” he said. “But I feel like I’ve had some training for it here at Ithaca as we have quite a few hills around.”

Instead of the hardwood and rawhide of traditional snowshoes, racing snowshoes are shorter and made of light metal and plastic bindings.

Those are the type of shoes that pounded the snow last weekend. Highland Forest’s close proximity to the college — about an hour away — gave local runners the chance to compete in the national spotlight in a sport that mirrors their own.

“This year it’s just convenient with nationals so close by,” sophomore Daniel Craighead said. “I’d done one [snowshoe] race so far in my life, and that was a lot of fun.”

Craighead got into snowshoeing last year when Assistant Track and Field Coach Eric Sambolec introduced him to it. Last weekend, Craighead finished seventh in the men’s senior division.

For many, snowshoeing is just a way to enjoy the beauty of nature, but for the athletes, it is a little more than that. Sophomore Heidi Baumbach had never done snowshoeing before this year, and she has already seen the value in participating in the sport.

“I originally bought the snowshoes for fun,” she said. “It was really just to go out there and run around on them. I kind of tie it into track, though. It transitions so well.”

Baumbach did not compete Saturday, as she qualified for the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships this weekend as a member of the women’s indoor track team.

But with Geary, Craighead and sophomore Tyler Murray all competing in the national races last weekend, snowshoeing is becoming a grassroots trend on the team.

“There’s already several guys who are very curious about it,” Sambolec said. “The curiosity level has definitely [been] piqued. Certainly they see the guys are doing well in their racing in not only snowshoeing, but on the track as well.”

They have all found the activity a refreshing change from having their feet constantly on the pavement.  With a solid snow pack, the snowshoes bring the athletes up off the ground a few inches, allowing the snow to give a little bit with every step. That allows for a slight variation from the normal road workout.

“It’s really unstable,” Murray said. “So it works more of the stabilizing muscles. It is tiring the next day, but it is a good, different way to train, with less pounding on the body so it’s a little easier.”

Murray first strapped on a pair of the shoes in his sophomore year of high school for that reason.

Many of the athletes, though, have noticed that the physical part of the body does not feel as much pressure from racing, but instead the most strain is on the cardiovascular system.

“It’s definitely more stress on your lungs and your heart,” Baumbach said. “Running on snowshoes, your stride is shorter. It’s more effort. You feel it more in your chest than you do in running.”

For most recreational snowshoers, the scenery attracts the athletes as well. The fact that cars are not whizzing by and that they are not staring at gray walls inside a building is uplifting.

“Competing is just a way to get off the roads,” Murray said. “It’s enjoyable, just snowshoeing by yourself sometimes. It’s something different to do.”

With the combination of trails behind the Terrace residence halls and the addition of a few feet of snow in late February, the athletes had ample space and time to practice for the event. While they are in the middle of track season, the athletes try to work it out so they run in groups, but as Murray said, sometimes they go out on their own.

The majority of the athletes are looking to continue either competing in races or just snowshoeing for recreation once they graduate from the college as well.

“It’s nice to be out in the woods with snow all over,” Craighead said. “It’s tranquil and relaxing.”