Herkabeiner Results

Whatta day for a ski race! 19 people at the start of the 1st Herkabeiner.
Impressive for the day after the Birkie.
8 laps of 3k each played out like this:

1st: Jason Beerends 1:18:33 skate

2nd: Guillaume Girard 1:21:30

3rd: Finn Kolsrud 1:22:10

4th: Kevin McConnell 1:25:40 :)

5th: Tom Scholz 1:25:51

6th: Grant Hedley 1:28:00

7th: Norbert Koenigsfeld 1:31:25

8th: Brent DeGeus 1:32:48

9th: Jim Troepkea 1:33:09
10th: Jack Piper 1:33:37

11th: Megan DeGeus 1:33:54

12th: Ryan Nenninger 1:35:20
13th: Katie Ouellette 1:36:20

14th: Brett Griggs 1:36:30 (and he groomed the trail last night!)

15th: Jack Noble 1:41:00
16th: Doug Bottorf 1:47:30

17th: Kyle Williams 1:51:56 18th: Robin Williams 1:51:56

19th: C.T. Kruekeberg 2:08:30 classic

Everyone skated but for the mighty C.T. We took in $87 more in donations for that new grooming sled and it was great that people brought out gatorade, muffins, Pop Tarts, orange segments, etc.
I got as many pictures of you all as I could, but with handing out the drinks, keeping track of the laps (sorry Jack!), ringing the cowbell, and getting the finish times (sorry again, Jack!) I did not get a good picture of everyone. I tried...

Thanks to ATLAS for the free drink cards and 30th Century Bicycle for additional prizes. That wraps up ski racing organizing for me for this year. If anybody wants to have more they have to organize, because I am out. It was fun, thanks to everyone who came out for the events and all the behind the scenes folks!

The Herkabeiner!

Rumors. Speculation. Hearsay. BEGONE! True. Fact. Honest.

The Herkabeiner will be a mass start ski event at Ashton this Sunday, Feb 28th!

Pick your technique! Start at 9am from the shelter! 25k!

Finn is designing some kind of crazy course, but expect to get familiar with the ground you ski, yes.

No entry fee, but donations to keep the trail grooming sleds running are gladly accepted. Tell your friends. Tell people you don't know. Come on out to Ashton this Sunday Morning!

Questions? email geepickle (at) gmail (dot) com

Results, 2-23-10

Mass Start Mania! Couldn't help myself. But let us start at the beginning. It was really cold and windy out there tonight. Just lookit this picture here:

See? That is cold! As go time approached racers were few. Morale at race HQ was low. Then, headlamps in the distance...
13 racers in all, we had a quick talk and decided that mass start was the way to go to avoid a mass hypothermia/frostbite event. So we did it. Oooo-la-la! Here is what happened:

1st: Finn Kolsrud 19:09 1st lap 9:15 (skate)
2nd: Jason Beerends 20:29 1st lap 9:44 (skate)
3rd: Guillame 21:24 1st lap 10:33 (skate)
4th: Jeff Barnes 21:24 1st lap 10:33 (skate)
5th: Todd Gillihan 21:33 1st lap 10:33 (skate)
6th: Grant Hedley finish unknown 1st lap 10:42 (skate)
7th: Hodge 23:40 1st lap 11:24 (skate)
8th: Jim Troepka 24:04 1st lap 11:45 (skate)
9th: Steve Dodge 27:06 1st lap 13:29 (skate)
10th/11th too close to call: the Eppens 32:04 1st lap unknown (classic)
12th: Cable Greay 33:51 1st lap 14:25 (skate)
13th: C.T. Kruekeberg 36:40 1st lap unknown (classic)

I missed a few times, but nobody seemed to mind, and the finish order was accurate. I think. Bags of frozen fruit donated by 30th Century Bicycle, along with some waterbottles & such. $30 more collected for the new snowmachine fund, might be able to spring for that custom paintjob! Big thanks as always to you racers for coming out, Brett Griggs fer grooming, Brian Deutschendorf for the timing equipment, and Touch the Earth for the lantern, cones, first aid kit, etc.
I am starting to believe that an 8 lap mass start Ashton event this Sunday is a real probability. So start to spread the word, I will post a real race alert here with real details, but for now just plan on 9am Sunday Feb 28th. The Herkabeiner!

2-23-10 Race

Racing tonight, 3rd week in a row for the tt! I always believed it could happen. All the same details, 7pm start, pairs, pick your partner if you want and pick your style if you are able.

Headlamps Strongly Advised!

Donations Strongly Accepted!

I hope some of you Birkie tapering folk will still come out, it would not be the same without you.

The skate course has been changed a bit, we will be going clockwise tonight so we will see how the skate / classic times might differ. Hope to see you out!

2-16-10 Results, Notes, Errata...

Morning everyone, sorry the results did not get posted last night, but I was pooped!

It was a beautiful night out under the smiling crescent moon, but it sure was windy... Mark Guthart came out to do the timing and we had 20 racers.

> 18:28 - Gardar Signrrosen (skate; 9:10/9:18)
> 18:38 - Brian Eppen (classic; 9:20/9:18)
> 19:10 - Jason Beerends (skate; 9:22/9:48)
> 19:23 - Finn Kolsrud (skate; 9:35/9:48)
> 19:27 - Jeff Barnes (skate; 9:35/9:52)
> 20:34 - Wayne Fett (skate; 10:05/10:29)
> 20:52 - Guillaume (skate; 10:20/10:32)
> 21:40 - Grant Headley (skate; 10:45/10:55)
> 22:00 - Brian Abbott (skate; 11:05/10:55)
> 22:25 - Jim Troepka (skate; 11:11/11:14)
> 22:30 - Kevin McConnell (skate; 11:00/11:30)
> 22:56 - Hodge (skate; 11:10/11:46)
> 23:06 - Kim Eppen (classic; 11:32/11:34)
> 23:11 - Geoff Perrill (skate; 11:38/11:33)
> 24:05 - Meghan DeGues (skate; 11:53/12:12)
> 25:51 - Cara Hamann (skate; 12:43/13:08)
> 27:35 - Jack Noble (skate; 13:57/13:38)
> 31:15 - Cable (skate; 14:35/16:40)
> 31:59 - Robin Williams (skate; 16:05/15:54)
> 33:19 -  C.T. Kruckeberg (classic; 16:30/16:49)

Super fast time from Garder, Brian Eppen turned in his usual blazing fast classic performance, and took the best finish line crash award for the second time in his career! The Barnes / Kolsrud pairing was the most competitive of the night, just 4 seconds seperating them at the finish. Kim Eppen again did her part to make sure that all classic ski race prizes wind up in the Eppen house, 2 nice 6 packs to go with their pile of trophies.

The donation box had a good night, too, with around $120 stuffed in there. Thanks for donating, that is all piling up towards a new grooming sled. Big thanks as always to all of you for racing, Mark Guthart for his steady and cheerful timing, Brett Griggs for the grooming, and 30th Century Bicycle for prizes.

With so much snow on the ground and the forecast looking favorable I am hopeful we can have another tt next week, and plans are being made for a season ending, daytime mass start event on Sunday Feb 28th. Day after the Birkie, 8 laps, 24 k, the Herkabeiner!

Stay tuned...

2-16-10 Race Is Go!

Don't be grumpy, tonight we race!
7pm, Ashton, Headlamps Strongly Recommended, 2 laps, counter-clockwise, paired starts, the usual. Big sign in board format again, hope to see you there!

4 1/2 Minute 35k Skate Race Video

Saw this video on the Silent Sports page.

City of Lakes Loppet 35k Freestyle from Scott Brown on Vimeo.

Could we someday aspire to having a long mass start race in Iowa City? MNRA would be an awesome venue, with no sidewalk or tunnel skiing, although that does look pretty cool.

2-11-10 Results

It was an awesome night for ski racing so we did it. 15 skiers signed in on the big board - to the results then!

Place - Name - Overall Time - Method

1 Finn Kolsrud 18:50 (skate) 19 minute barrier falls to Finn's mighty thighs!
2 John Stanec 19:05 (skate)
3 Brian Eppen 19:22 (classic -1st mens)
4 Dave Swanson(?) 19:31 (skate)
5 Jason Beerends 19:34 (skate)
6 Greg Duethman 19:36 (skate)
7 Guillaume 21:25 (skate)
8 Grant Hedley 22:27 (skate)
9 Jim Trepka 23:00 (skate)
10 Kim Eppen 23:03 (classic - 1st womens)
11 Hodge 23:38 (skate)
12 Jeff Barnes 23:45 (classic)
13 Brent DeGeus 24:27 (skate)
14 Steve Dodge(?) 27:01 (skate)
15 C.T. Kruckeberg 33:23 (classic)

The Donation Box was overflowing with good will and dollar bills, $93 raised tonight!
Finn shows off his 1st place (and nicely handcrafted I must say) trophy, while Grant laughs at him because he won a gift certificate to ATLAS.

Thanks for coming out everyone, thanks to Paul Sueppel for helping out, to Brett for the grooming, Brian Deutschendorf for the timing equipment, and most importantly, the snow, just for being there.

Ski Race 2-11-Nite!

Ashton 7pm start. TT format, paired starts, pick your technique.

No entry fee - DONATIONS NEEDED! Them grooming sleds don't fix themselves!!

Tonight there will be a sign in procedure ala the grand tours.

Big board with start times and pairings, you sign in where you want to start and who you want to ski with. Put your style down, too, much help for the organizers.

Headlamps strongly recommended!

The usual schwaggy prizes, homemade trophies, good cheer, low-fi vibe. Hope to see you out there, and don't just tell your skiing friends, drag them out there and let's have a ski race!!

2-9-10 Race Postponed 2-11-10

Due to too much (insert groaning sound here) snow falling too close to race night and the potential for afternoon windy conditions the grooming can not be assured and so we are postponing tonight's race until Thursday night. 7pm.

Honest.

The most people we have ever had show up for the tt series is 30, and the New Year Mass Start had 36, so with 2 days notice and a damn near guarantee that a race will in fact happen lets see if we can beat that total. Clear your calendar, adjust your schedule, hire a babysitter if you have to - come race on Thursday night!

Basically Ashton is an icy mess

No ski race tonight. (2-2-10) Full Ashton assessment.

Still early February at least, might get to have a couple more...

No Race 1-26-10

Hey there, ski racers, not enough snow to give you all the quality night ski race experience you have come to expect from the well oiled machine that is the Iowa City Nordic Ski Series.

Rest up and go do the Iowa Games races this weekend in Dubuque!

General Information

DATE

Saturday, January 30

DEADLINE

Early Registration Deadline
($20 Entry Fee includes both Classical and Freestyle)
Postmark: Friday, January 15
Online: Friday, January 15

Late Registration Deadline
($25 Entry Fee includes both Classical and Freestyle)
Online only: Monday, January 25

Pre-Registration is preferred.
On-site registration will be accepted with a $25 fee.

SITE

Mines of Spain State Recreation Area, Dubuque (located south of Dubuque at HWY 61/151 and HWY 52)

TIME

10:00 AM Classical and 2:00 PM Freestyle

No Race Report

Well at least 2 of our steady Iowa City ski-folk brushed aside the "sanctioned" cancellation last night. Anyone else have results they should like to share? Thanks Sean!


Hi Steve and fellow skiers,

Well, there was a race tonight. The race was unsanctioned, unfair, and unfreakinbelievable! We two (Finn and Sean) held a screaming time trial smack-down.

I can see why the race was cancelled: it was too fast.

Finn talked me into doing the time trial, but then I upped the ante: new time trial distance: 4 laps. Either 4 laps or nothing.

Deal.

I was not feeling good, I didn't get enough sleep last night, I didn't stretch, I am worried about my students, I skied with my heavy training poles, and my hat was askew: those are all the excuses I could muster.

4 laps
Sean: 39:56 (9:32, 19:40, 29:57, 39:56)
Finn: 36:55

Overall Podium:
1st: Finn K
2nd: Sean S

40+ Podium:
1st: Sean S

20+ Podium:
1st Finn K

Tonight was the fasted conditions I've ever seen at Ashton.

Peace,

Sean

No Race Tonight 1-19

Sorry folks, no go tonight. Go ski if you are into it, we just can't do a race with the snow the way it is.

MNRA was groomed, so console yourselves with that.

TT Results 1-12-10

A great night for ski racing and spectation! I brought my camera but in all the fuss forgot about it. Oops. Thirty skiers! No doubt lured by the very nice hand crafted trophies up for grabs? To the numbers, then:

Place - Name - Overall Time - Method

1 Erik Lei 19:10 (skate)
2 Gardar Signrrosen 19:12 (skate)
3 John Stanick 19:27 (skate)
4 Paul Denninger 19:30 (skate)
5 Jason Beerends 19:45 (skate)
6 Finn Kolsrud 19:45 (skate)
7 Wayne Fett 20:20 (skate)
8 Todd Gillihan 20:21 (skate)
9 Brian Eppen 20:25 (classic) (1st- m - classic)
10 Sean Scanlon 21:15 (skate)
11 Kevin McConnell 21:54 (skate)
12 Brian Abbott 21:56 (skate)
13 Jim Trepka 21:59 (skate)
14 Brent Degeus 23:27 (skate) WAX!
15 Charlie Ritter 23:40 (skate)
16 Jeff Barnes 23:52 (classic)
17 Cara Hamann 25:09 (skate) (1st-f-skate)
18 David Bartells 25:27 (skate)
19 Jean Gilpin 25:52 (skate) WAX!
20 Steve Dodge 26:04 (skate)
21 Cable Grey 27:28 (skate) WAX!
22 Kim Eppen 28:03 (classic) (1st-f-classic)
23 Grant Headley 28:20 (classic)
24 Doug Bottorf 28:24 (skate) WAX!
25 Paul Sueppel 29:28 (classic)
26 Nick Ski 30:51 (classic)
27 Sandy Kessler 31:26 (skate)
28 CT Kruckeberg 33:12 (classic)
29 Kyle Williams 37:18 (classic)
30 Robin Williams 37:52 (classic)

if you wish to protest these results, good luck with that, & sorry for any and all spellings gone awry

Huge thanks to all who came out to race, and to Brett for running the synchros, (and doing the grooming). The cash donation box was overflowing with goodwill, between the mass start race and tonight's tt $313 has been raised to keep the groomers grooving! If you see a WAX! next to your time above you won one of the Geoff's ski tunes, you can pick it up at the shop. And Erik, you left before collecting your very nice handcrafted trophy, you can pick it up at 30th Century Bicycle, or maybe at another race?

Hope we get to do it again next week!

There were some Pearl Izumi Lobster gloves picked up in the parking lot, if they are yours they are at Geoffs!

The Frozen Spoils

I'm not saying you should cheat...

I'm just saying bring your A games tonight, cause' the trophies are pretty sweet!

Thanks to the Rock Lobster for being such a pole busting monster and donating his shrapnel to the cause.

It Is On!

Okay folks, conditions are perfect for tomorrow night. So bring your A game and sense of humor and let us race!

Tuesday, January 12th at 7pm

2 laps

donations begged for (Please, we may not get to have many races, but the grooming goes on!)

pick your poison: classic or skate

Headlamps STRONGLY advised

You must sign a waiver

Until tomorrow, then, rest easy!

Any questions just email me at geepickle (at) gmail (dot) com

No Go...

NO RACE TONIGHT, SORRY CHUMS...


Next week looks like a slam dunk, though, so don't thrash yourselves too badly over the weekend, save a little!

Let Us Eat Wait

We got a pile of snow, temps are good, and I have a stopwatch in my pocket. What is to stop us now? Maybe ungroomable conditions and high winds drifting the course all up. A recon team has been dispatched to Ashton (I think?) to assess, call on racing will be made by 3 this afternoon. If no race go ski or snowshoe or whatever anyways, as always.

Stay tuned!

Take the Ski-Heads Bowling

We here at ski race world HQ understand there is some kind of collegiate sporting event involving an oblong ball made of pigskin going on tonight plus it is going to be really cold (more so for us standing around running the syncros than you lucky racers) so we are going to go for Thursday this week, call will be made by noon on said Thursday.

Please believe we really just want to have races, not postpone them, but there is much to take into account, so as always, just go out and ski your two laps and have fun, because that is the name of the canteloupe.

Mass Start Mania!

Today the 2010 Iowa City Ski Race Season double poled off the line and straight into the wind. Fine snow conditions, really cold temps, and a sizeable field (for 2 days notice, even) made the day a total success. Finn Kolsrud busted out the fancy pants and showed how skate skiing is done, narrowly holding off the indefatigable Brian Eppen and his slick as flourocarbon glide wax classic technique for the outright win and the 72 slices of American Cheese!

Brian and all the classic skiers may have skied further (farther? Scanlon, a little help please, sir!) but that is one for ski race historians of the future to debate, not for a mild mannered ski blog writer to contemplate.

Full results are posted here.

Hope the Tuesday tt series can get going soon, keep yer tips crossed!