Way back in the early spring, I attended the NENSA Board Meeting in Hanover. A topic of discussion was adding more rollerski racing to the calendar in order to drum up excitement for the sport, add options for ski-specific competition outside of the winter, and get groups from all over New England together.
My hand shot up at that meeting and, with the Range in mind, I volunteered our club to organize, host, and pull off a big fall rollerski race.
Well…thanks to many dedicated volunteers, an absolutely pro timing crew, and racers from U16 to college and beyond, we pulled it off!
I’m not sure where 100 registrants stacks up in the list of “all-time-biggest North American rollerski races” but I have to imagine this event was up there. Even if there was one DNS bringing the number down to a tantalizing 99, that’s still pretty impressive. A big component was the presence of the UVM, Middlebury, St. Mikes, Bowdoin, and Harvard teams. Having the college skiers around definitely added to the intensity of the field (UVM went 1-4 in the women’s race and 1-6 in the men’s) but also just reinforced how healthy the culture of skiing is in our corner of VT. This was brought to light last spring where the same vast mix of age groups and backgrounds was on display at the Cochran’s Nordic Cross event, and here we were again with all sorts of skiers mixing it up.
The day started with U16 races, followed by open categories. Lots of banners, V-boards, team tents, music, and even an MC (thanks Dave!) kept it feeling like an Eastern Cup on rollerskis. Coach Liam and Carl Priganc got some great photos to add to my random collection throughout the day.
Photographer extraordinaire Carl Priganc sporting the Pug Socks
Ali and Magda were the first Pugs out on course, and they both skied great. The U16 field’s weren’t super big but even still, it was evident just watching them ski that they were going to end up finishing 1-2 (Magda won, Ali was 2nd). We did some intervals on this exact course earlier in the week so the home course advantage probably helped, too. They both skied this little transition on Airplane Loop so well that I had to make it into a specific video:
Ali and Magda after their race!
In the U16 men’s race Aidan took it out fast and held his pace for the win. After a few skate rollerski races in the row he was itching for a classic race and he made the most of it. The double poling was snappy, and the striding looked like a great combination of smooth and quick.
Aidan hungry to go fast and hungry for some prize bread
U16s being U16s
The open races brought on some big race fields (31 women, 55 men) which means a busy course and lots of fast racers cruising all over. It was a really cool scene for sure! This was also when the UVM domination really took over…the coolest part, though, was seeing folks who were juniors just a year or two before now representing their new college teams…for example, last year’s Eastern Cup winners Alex Lawson and Elliot Ketchel racing for Middlebury and Bowdoin, respectively.
Matt Doyle promoting the Pugs on his helmet alongside NENSA’s Justin Beckwith. Kai gets ready to start in the background
Kai has done a great job navigating a busy autumn and had a really great race in 21st, showing he can compete right with New Englands top Juniors and hold his own against Midd, Bowdoin, SMC, and Harvard skiers
Timmy put his rifle away for this one and broke out the classic skis for the third time in a month…and he hung tough even with a broken pole on the third lap
Coach Adam cheering on Dakota who did a bit of miscalculating and ended up skiing extra distance…I guess if you’re adding kilomters to a race the time to do it is now and not winter!
Familiar faces: Harmeyer brothers en route to 1st (Bill) and 5th (Henry)
It was an awesome fall day and the weather even turned out great. Special thanks to supporters from NENSA, Rossignol, Toko, and Niflheim Nordic! Looking forward to the 2nd annual event next season!
Results: 2017 MNC_EABC fall classic
Photos from Carl Priganc: Fall Classic Priganc
Photos from Liam John: Fall Classic John
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