The International Snowshoe Championship, which decades ago attracted thousands to the city, was held one last time. Organizers said they were sad to see the tradition end, but the sport doesn’t attract the numbers it once did. The first international snowshoe convention was held in Lewiston in 1925, then held every winter for decades.

During relay races Saturday at Lewiston High School fields, some competed on old-fashioned wooden snowshoes, while others wore the modern aluminum kind.

As athletes circled the track passing batons, their shoes kicking up snow, the audience cheered, laughed and reminisced.

Rumford’s Sandy Welch, 73, watched the event wearing a red Le Paresseux club jacket. On her white-haired head she wore a tiara and across her jacket a “princess” sash.

Along with others, Welch was given the honorary title Friday night for her participation. A former snowshoer and longtime member of La Paresseux club, Welch said the sport is a lot of fun. “You make a lot of friends.”

Snowshoers of all ages competed.

Temperance Trepanier, 5, of Lewiston, was among the youngest.

“This is my first time and I did not need any practice,” the Martel Elementary School student said. She tried it because she comes from a family of snowshoers.

“My mom did it when she was a little girl,” Temperance said. Her stepfather, Kelly Mador, competed in the relay races Saturday.

Robert Gamache, 70, of Manchester, N.H., said he was the oldest competitor.

“I’ve been snowshoeing since I was 14,” he said. Gamache has an impressive history with the sport.

“I’ve broken four world records, jumping hurdles, the 400-meter relay,” he said.

In 1969, he was written about in Sports Illustrated.

To keep snowshoeing you have to be fit, he said. “You’ve got to keep running.”

A retired firefighter, Gamache said he loves to compete. “I do my best. If I don’t win, I try again.”

Denise Tanguay is another champion who snowshoed on Saturday. Tanguay has won multiple World Cups and has been featured in USA Today and Sports Illustrated, her sister Diane Tanguay said. Their father, Roland Tanguay, was a huge promoter of the sport, and for 33 years was president of Lewiston’s Le Montagnard, which hosted annual conventions. Their mother, Monique, was president of the women’s auxiliary.

Race organizer Marie Arsenault of Oxford said the event was made possible with help from the Lewiston Recreation Department and Lewiston High School Athletic Director Jason Fuller.

The best part of snowshoe races is the relay, she said.

“When those adults get going, the speed they accomplish is amazing,” she said. “It’s just so cool.” Another enjoyable part, she added, “is watching the little ones.”

Racing was divided into three categories Saturday: for children under age 11, for children over 11 and adults, and the “forced march” competition, which is a timed fast walk on snowshoes but no running.

The snowshoers ended their day with one last parade. A handful of snowshoe teams wearing their colors marched around the Ramada Inn, a tribute to days gone past when the parade attracted thousands who marched across Lewiston and Auburn.

Event organizer Arlene Tierney was pleased with the last convention. “Everything went well,” she said. Fern Ronan, 83, said it’s sad to see the tradition end.

“I hate the thought of them stopping. This is when we see the people,” Ronan said.