Marcia Ratliff/Winonan

Three inches of snow, cloudy skies and a stiff wind out of the east might not sound like peak running weather, but for Winona runner Erin Paulson, it was a perfect combination.

“I want to make the most of the beautiful days we have,” she said, removing her bright yellow mittens after crossing the finish line at the Winter Dash last Saturday.

The Winter Dash, hosted by the Winona State University women’s track and field team, was a combination of three events: a 5k, a 2-mile snowshoe race and short kids’ races.

Paulson, who was the first woman across the finish line for the 5k, said the cold rarely stops her from running. “But it’s nice to run when somebody has a clock,” she said.

Mason Rebarchek, head track and field coach, said he and the assistant coaches arranged the race as a fundraiser for the team. They wanted to do something more exciting than selling apparel and decided an event would be fun.

After tossing around the idea of an outdoor recreation festival with ice fishing and broomball, the coaches decided on a race.

“That’s what we know,” Rebarchek said.

And like Paulson, Rebarchek was not worried about the weather.

“Everybody’s got a New Year’s resolution to get healthy,” he said.

Many people shoot for a 5k every month—including January.

Although there were three inches of fresh snow on the ground Saturday, the trail was plowed before the race. “Traction seems to be okay,” Rebarchek said.

About 50 people had signed up early in the week, but by race day that number had grown to 44 for the 5k, 26 for the snowshoe race and 7 kids for the kids’ races.

“If you get about 30 people the first time, that’s a success,” Rebarchek said. “We’ll do it again.”

Rebarchek said he and the other coaches plan to hold the event for three years and then decide if it, like the Warrior Waddle, can become a permanent part of the team’s fundraisers.

This year, they just broke even, but Rebarchek hopes this will improve in the future.

The women’s track and field team has more than 60 members, many of whom turned out to facilitate the race on Saturday although they had a meet later that day.

“We’re trying to keep their commitment as low as possible,” Rebarchek said.

Rebarchek cooperated with Live Well Winona for the race’s online registration, and the team used the Lake Lodge as a base of operations during the event.

The start went well, and the finish went well, Rebarchek said. The only thing that went wrong? “I didn’t get cocoa. That would have been nice.”

Contact Marcia at [email protected]