American Birkebeiner

There’s nothing like the energy of a team to bring out the best in a group of athletes. The team spirit and camaraderie motivates men and women of all ages and fitness levels. Now there’s an outlet for all that energy, training and motivation. The Team Competition is intended to be a fun addition to the American Birkebeiner.

The American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation and Lake Superior College in Duluth, Minnesota will again present the Team Competition. For 2010 the Team Competition has been expanded to include an Open category for organization, e.g. businesses and club teams of men and women, regardless of age.

Team Divisions now include:

• "Juniors" for current High School and Middle School students. These skiers are not required to be on an existing team, or from the same school.
• "College" for current college students and staff members from an institution of higher learning. These skiers do not have to be from the same college "department" or "school".
• "Open" for skiers from the same business or organization including clubs. These teams can include junior and college skiers.

Here’s how it works:

• Teams must have at least three members. There is no limit to the number of members on a team.
• There can be more than one team from a high school and middle school, college or university, or business, organization or club so don't feel that you can't go out, find some friends and put your own team together.
• All Team members must be registered in the same race, i.e. either the Birkie or the Kortelopet.
• Teams must include at least one skate skier and at least one classic skier.
• Teams must include at least one member from each gender.
• The team’s finish position will be based on the total combined time of the three fastest finishers, including at least one member from each gender and at least one skate skier and one classic skier.
• Individual team members will be placed in start waves based on the same individual criteria used for all other skiers, and therefore will not necessarily be starting together or with other teams.
• There is no additional fee for participating in the team competition.
• Teams may choose their team name. The ABSF will reject any names determined by ABSF to be in poor taste.

The top three team “scorers” for the top two teams in both the Birkie and the Kortelopet in all three Divisions will receive awards.

Lake Superior College also sponsors College Cup events at the Grandma’s Marathon Road Races and the NorthShore Inline Races in Duluth, MN. LSC also provides online training courses for these events and the American Birkebeiner. Click here and then on the "What's Happening" tab on the LSC web site for more information.
 

• The Team Registration Deadline was February 15th.
• Each team must have a Captain who will be the primary contact between your team and the Birkie organization.
  
• All team members must already be registered individually in either the Birkie or Kortelopet when the Team Registration Form is submitted. To avoid confusion and incorrect results, it is very important that the team member names identified on the Team Registration Form are identical to the name appearing on each team members individual registration form.