American Birkebeiner

Thanks for the Memories

06/07/2010, 2:00pm (CDT)

By Gina Interrante

My husband (then boyfriend) indirectly inspired me to compete in the American Birkebeiner by suggesting that since I was new to skate skiing that I should start by competing in the shorter race, the Kortelopet. When I asked him if he started out by skiing the Korte, he said no. It was then I knew I was determined to skate ski the full Birkie.

Now keep in mind, I had just moved from Chicago to Southern Wisconsin and had no previous experience skate skiing and very limited experience cross country skiing at all but I kept thinking to myself, ”I think I can.”

Well, I had my work cut out for me and we skied religiously every weekend from December right up until the Birkie. I managed to learn a few maneuvers that somewhat resembled some basic skate skiing techniques, but it wasn’t a pretty sight to behold. Eventually it got me to the finish line and full of pride!

Now I am approaching my 18th Birkie and each time I cross the finish line a few tears of joy roll down my face because I realize just how lucky I am to be healthy enough to participate in this prestigious race! We all ski the Birkie for various reasons but the one thing that brings us together is we ski because, “We are able to…we think we can.” And the only way this is possible is due to the countless hours of hard work and dedication that is shown by the Birkie board members, the volunteers and groomers that make this the finest race in North America and perhaps the world!

Thanks for making our winter and our Birkie memories so complete!

P.S. It is never too late to donate to the skiers for MS –I ski because I can!  GINA (A.K.A. - Propeller Lady)
 

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Think of all the training, planning, and logistics of getting to your wave start at the Birkie. Now think of doing that for the 30th time. That’s exactly what 67-year-old Joan McNaughton, Minneapolis, Minnesota, has planned for February 27, 2010, at the 37th American Birkebeiner.

Joan skied her first Birkie in 1977. She hasn’t skied every race consecutively, but has only missed the event for reasons related to skiing. She missed the 2002 Birkie to volunteer at the cross-country ski venue at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. One year she skied the Kortelopet following a surgery.

Amid stories of the early years, Joan shared fearsome memories of Valhalla hill, and arriving to the start area with seconds to spare.

“It was a good thing we were plenty early the first year, since the race started eight minutes early with a false start. Once we were in the mass start area putting on our skis and heard someone yell, ‘Turn your skis!’. In the nick of time, we were pointed the right direction or we wouldn’t have had any skis left at all,” recalled Joan.

Joan worked her way up to Wave 2 and landed on the Birch Scroll cover in fall 1992 in the background behind longtime friend Becky Anderson. The cover photo created a flurry of inquiries for the Birkie office, “Who are those two women in Wave 2?”

When asked about mishaps over the years, Joan claims only to have lost a hat, bent a pole, and had her skis and poles stolen at the finish; which were later recovered. However, getting to bib pickup had some challenges including slipping off County Highway M at 8:00 p.m.

“My fastest classic race was 1984. It started in Duffy’s field. There was ice on the whole course. The tracks were cement. I went for it! We used klister with a little bit of blue over it. People cheered for each other every time we made it down a hill upright.”

Many route and grooming changes have occurred over the years. Joan recalls, “The first time the Telemark Hills cut off to the right, I could see three people off into the woods who didn’t make the turn, so I sat down. Before the Pisten Bully, there wasn’t any way to chop up ice on the course.”

Joan skated the course for the first time in 1987. She recalls passing skaters in the earlier years when she classic skied because the skaters were still figuring out how to wax.

“Some people carried kick wax with them when they skate skied. But, of course, no wax would stay on.”

When asked about shorty or micro skis, Joan says “I never won a race with those things, but I did learn to pick up my uphill tempo.”

“The worse the conditions are, the better I do. I prefer the course northbound. It has a nice flow,” said Joan.

Joan recalls one race where there was a -40 F wind chill, “I had a windbreaker under my racing suit. Normally, I feel plenty warm while racing. I rarely get 2-3 kilometers into races before I take my hat off.”

Wave placement is always nerve-wracking, but Joan says the best thing about turning 65 was getting automatically placed in Wave 3. Joan started out with no waves, then Wave 2, 3, 4, 5. “Every year I’d be worried I was going to slip back another wave.”

She has finished in the top three in her age group every year with one or two exceptions. Now, her race strategy is to start slow and get slower. She says, “If you can't get faster, just get older.”

In comparing the Birkie to the Chequamegon Fat Tire (Joan's done the Chequamegon 40 – 14 times), Joan says being in the back of the pack for mountain biking is easier because “the sand pits have been packed down harder for the later bikers. The Birkie is the opposite. The farther back you are, the more scraped away the snow.”

When asked about future Birkies, Joan recommends getting rid of the power line and moving the time of the Birchleggings reception so she can sleep in.

Look for Joan on the trail in her Birchleggings gold and purple bib on race day! Good luck going for number 30!
 

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