American Birkebeiner

We call him our courageous leader because he is. Ned deals with tough issues, within and outside of our doors, with patience, style and determination. He has a passion for cross country skiing…and a darn good group of kindred spirits behind him every step of the way.

Ned is the epitome of Birkie Fever. It started in 1974 when he put on a pair of knickers and wooden skis and started cross country skiing as a way to help manage recently-diagnosed diabetes. He joined the Wausau Nordic Ski Club, met Asbjorn and Vigdis Snekkevik (she would become the 1975 Birkie Womens’ Champion), and heard about this long ski race in Hayward. Ned was tempted to enter the ’74 event but thought he best learn to ski first.

Birkie buddy Jimmy Vanden Brook talked him into skiing the big race in 1987, but a broken leg put the nix on that plan. Finally, in 1988, Ned had his day skiing from Wave 6 on a very cold day. One race turned into another and, before he knew it, he had a string of 14 Birkies and three Kortelopets under his belt. The string was interrupted in 2006 when he left his 27-year position as a manager with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture Trade & Consumer Protection and signed on as Executive Director of the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation.

“I must admit that most years at some point during the race, usually between 35 and 40K I thought, ‘I’m not doing this again.’ But that feeling quickly disappeared and I signed up again and again,” he said. “I guess Birkie Fever had set in. I have talked several people into doing the event. One year I agreed to sing karaoke at a bar in Madison in exchange for a friend skiing the event. The friend got to pick the song which ended up being ‘Do ya think I’m sexy’ by Rod Stewart. It was painful for the audience and me, and I will never do it again. I also remember a ride in an ambulance as I was being taken to the hospital for subsequent heart surgery when I tried to talk the EMT into skiing the event. Yup, the fever’s there!”

When he’s not skiing, you’ll find Ned running, riding his mountain or road bike, hiking the Birkie Trail with wife Kathy and their dogs, or snorkeling off the coast of Puerto Rico.

We call her Queen Bee…and with good reason. Shellie knows EVERYTHING about the Birkie, can juggle 5 tasks at once, and usually has a lineup of people patiently waiting to ask her race-related questions.

Before the Birkie, Shellie, a busy full-time mom of three beautiful red-headed children, taught downhill skiing in the kid’s ski program and then became Recreation Director at Telemark Resort. She and husband Mark co-owned Lumberjack Village with the Scheer brothers; and then, in 1987, the Birkie was lucky enough to snag her part time. She has been with the Birkie ever since, part time for 6 years or so and then full time.

During the 20+ years she’s been with the Birkie, Shellie has been involved in just about every aspect of the race from Race Headquarters Chief at Telemark to heading up Registration and currently the Director of Race Operations and Chief of Race. Every year she experiences Birkie Fever from an organizer’s perspective.

“Helping organize the event each year, starting soon after one race looking toward the next, motivates me to do my own form of ‘training,’" she explains. “Each year takes on a different focus and feel. I like that. I love the tradition and history of the event, the many friends I’ve made -- skiers, volunteers and staff -- and I am very proud to be part of the promotion of a great sport which embraces a healthy lifestyle for thousands of people.”

Shellie and Mark accomplished their dream of building a new home near Cable, working every night and on weekends for six months to help complete the job. They wanted small and efficient, which they got; but the job felt BIG as they were insulating, painting, sanding, putting floors in, the shingles on and much more.

Shellie loves being a mom and a Grandmom as of April 19, 2009 , sharing her life with husband Mark, getting dirt under her fingernails in her gardens, riding her bike, kayaking, walking, living in the woods where wildlife abounds, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, playing the guitar and singing, and traveling in the US and overseas.

Jan hails all the way from Cable, Wisconsin…the only Birkie staff member born and raised in the beautiful north woods. She landed at the Birkie in January 1999 for a month and stayed for 8 years, so far. We think of her as the nicest office manager and number cruncher you’ll ever meet. Sure, she does that accounts receivable/payable thing, but she’s also valued as a source of wisdom for coveted information, resources and area contacts. Makes sense, as she knows just about everybody in the area.

Jan has the voice of an angel. An alto who can also easily sing tenor or soprano, she’s happiest performing top 40s and classic rock with some country and blues mixed in…or singing in the church choir…or singing in the car with Shellie Milford as the two drive to work in the Birkie Subaru. (We call them the Subaru Two.) Music is her passion. She’s been part of a number of bands including Tamarack, The Rickson Band, The Telemark House Band, The Lakewoods House Band, and Rockridge, just to name a few. When we’re feeling pre-race Birkie stress, it sure is nice to hear her sweet voice instilling calmness among the ranks.

Other things near and dear to her heart: kayaking, biking, going to California to see her son Jesse, talking with son Eli, having lots of laughs with good friends, reading and…get this!...belly dancing.
 

Susan Kendrick has recently joined the American Birkebeiner Team, replacing Cherie Morgan. A complete profile for Susan will be posted soon.

If you’re a skier, you want to be on Donna’s good side. A Birkie worker since the days of Tony Wise, Donna now oversees the nitty, gritty of registration, wave placement and bib pick up.

While Donna would love to place every skier in the wave they want, sometimes she just has to say, "You think you should be in Wave what? Nice try, but no." Don't take it personally. She's just doing her best to keep all 7,000+ skiers' best interests satisfied.

Donna first started working with the Birkie handing out blueberry soup to the skiers at old History Land in Hayward. Tony knew a hard worker when he saw one and pulled her into other facets of the race including seeding and wave placement. Donna then pulled Shellie Milford in to help as the job was so BIG.

In the “old days” of seeding and wave placement, you’d find Donna and Shellie in the basement of the Birkie office, then located at the old hotel on the corner of Highway 63 and Main. They were surrounded by massive books with five years of race results printed on large-scale computer printout paper. Hour after hour they’d look up skiers’ race and pace times and write the times for all the years they could find. Then they’d take the best time to seed the skier. Since everything was done by hand, it was a very labor-intensive task! Donna says the system today is light years ahead of those early years.

Donna is full of stories and regales us with tales about organizers, skiers and volunteers. She knows how to get us laughing while keeping everything efficiently on track for race day.

Donna has amazing energy. She builds, paints, stains and varnishes homes. In her free time she and husband Jim camp, white water raft and canoe.

Cindy came to the Birkie by way of Waukesha, Wisconsin, where she was a police officer. After 25 years in law enforcement, she got restless and decided it was time to trade in her blues for something a little more exciting…owning a bed and breakfast in Seeley. She left the city traffic behind for wide open spaces and joined the Birkie team in 2004, and has never looked back.

At the Birkie Cindy enters every single registration that comes through our doors. It’s a really big task.

When she’s not at the Birkie, you’ll find her biking, canoeing, and fishing, She plans to spend more time paddling her kayak and cross country skiing or just “being retired.”

When you call, Patti answers. Literally. Patti is our first impression queen, the voice greeting telephone callers and/or visitors. If she doesn't know the answer to your questions, you can count on Patti to dig until she discovers exactly what you need.

Patti landed in the Birkie office in 2000 after 5 years of living in Houston, Texas. When she retired to the northland, she decided she needed an exciting new venture and charmed her way in as Birkie assistant extraordinaire.

“I was interviewed by Cherie Morgan, Executive Director, and Shellie Milford, Race Director, for an Administrative Assistant position,” she said. “At the end of the interview process I begged to be hired away from the tire shop during the winter months. I've really enjoyed all of the people I meet at the Birkie.”

Patti is also known as the ambassador of good humor and entertainment for the Birkie office and skiers. In addition, she is Race Chief for Volunteers. If you would like to help during the race season, Patti is the one to contact. Her motto is "No Volunteer Left Behind.”

In her free time Patti enjoys cooking, fishing, crossword puzzles, poker, dancing, and listening to music.

We call her the Detail Diva and turn to her whenever something big must be organized quickly and efficiently. That’s her forte. She’s happiest organizing projects and knows how to manage the workflow of just about anything.

After 23 years in Houston, Texas, as Vice President for a home builder, she decided northern Wisconsin would be the place to settle for retirement. In 2003 she joined the Birkie team as the laminating, copying, and envelope-licking queen.

Today she works with Birkie sponsors helping them get set up for the Expo at Telemark, distributing their materials to skiers and making them feel extra special, because they are. Audrey is also the "party lady" in charge of organizing the VIP and Worldloppet Dinner for 200 people and the Volunteer Party for 400 people.

“I love my part time job at the Birkie; it makes the winter fly by,” she said. “The only part I don't like are all the skiers who come in with absolutely no body fat.”

In her free time you’ll find her gardening, sewing, reading, walking her cat on a leash, and, if the spirit moves her, cooking gourmet meals. Good thing for us that she was able to squeeze the Birkie into her retirement agenda!

Bill Pierce, Trail Supervisor, discovered the American Birkebeiner in 1977 when he watched his uncle race the event. Three things stand out in his mind: the banana yellow suits of all the Norwegians, wearing his uncle's full-length raccoon coat after he lined up at the starting gate, and seeing his uncle's bloody face and bib post-race (from a nose laceration after a face plant into the icy snow crust off the Birkie Trail). In 1978 the same uncle, a PE teacher, lent him a pair of wooden skis with three pin bindings, and Bill was hooked.

"I grew up with a very active family camping, canoeing and biking," Bill said. " My uncle got me into every kind of endurance event possible. I had run two marathons when I was 15, skied the Korte when I was 18, and either watched or participated in most American Ski Chase races before I was 20."

Skiing the Birkie was a natural for this athletic guy, and one race lead to another as he made his way into the ranks of the top 200 skiers. Of the 12 races he's completed, skiing the 2004 Birkie as one of the Birkebeiner soldiers stands out as the most memorable. Bill and ski buddy Johnny Geir Ingdall dressed in traditional garb, skied on wooden skis, supported and encouraged fellow skiers on the course, and carried "Baby Prince Haakon" (aka Jackson Morgan) to safety in downtown Hayward on race day.

"John and I met ski racing 20 years prior to 2004, so I asked him to mark the anniversary of our friendship with that ski," Bill said. "John is Norwegian and I’m American, so I thought it would be a unique reflection of our friendship and the event’s heritage. We talked to a lot of people and each other that day and culminated it skiing with Prince Haakon down Main Street to a roaring crowd. The day was about friends and people, and I will never forget that day."

Bill served on the ABSF Board of Directors for the past 10 years and as President of the Board for six of those years. He now oversees Birkie trail grooming as the Trail Supervisor and can be counted on during crunch time when everything must come together for 11,000 skiers from around the world.

Bill Pierce is currently the head coach for the Hayward Club, F.A.S.T. Performance Training. Bill has been competing and coaching for over 30 years. He has spent the last 7 years coaching juniors at Hayward High School and 3 years coaching Juniors and Elites for CXC Skiing. 

Bill says his Birkie Fever is unleashed in the weeks and days before the race with the build up of energy and excitement within the ranks of all the people who put on the event.

"I love all the hustle and excitement as the day gets near," he said. "To me it is not about doing the race as much as it is about putting it on."

When he's not working on the Birkie or coaching, Bill spends his free time with family and friends.