2006 RACE REPORTS

by Debbie Kolp

GUNNAR HAGEN MEMORIAL

Some of the heaviest snowfall in recent memory greeted this year's Gunnar Hagen Memorial racers, and with temperatures just below freezing, waxing was the challenge we've come to expect. Some people had good luck with 70 or 75 hard wax, while others tried klister with hard wax over, hairies, or good old no-wax.

Dartmouth graduate and XC Oregon team member Levi Hensel came up from Bend to win the men's 30k (on no-wax skis), while the women's 30k was won by ageless perennial champion Ginny Price. The men's 10k was won by Tommy Aunan, and the women's 10k by Robin Pederson.  Full result lists are posted on this website.

This year's race results were also subjected to an age handicap, using a system devised by an actual professional actuary. As it turns out, this time the age handicapping made no difference in the winners of any of the races, but some of the results further down the list were interesting. Next year we might try handicapping for BMI, number of children under the age of ten, and number of hours spent in front of a computer for work.

The Ozbaldy Grooming Crew had their own unofficial awards for Elegance of Flow and Economy of Motion as the racers came around the sharp corners of Ozbaldy. The winner of the first lap was Rune Harkestad, Per Johnsen won the second lap, and David Lindahl won the third, with Jeff Hashimoto and Brian Dumais receiving honorable mention. The Crew awarded Most Spectacular Crash on Ozbaldy to Dale "360" Bohm. The unofficial Small Women with Big Hearts award was given to Nancy Lindahl and Suzanne Corkran, who proved that there can be just as much drama at the back of the pack as there is in the front by duking it out right to the finish in spite of weariness, deteriorating conditions and heavily icing skis.

Many thanks to our wonderful sponsors: Marmot Mountain Works, Second Ascent, Essential Baking Company, Nordic Saga Tours, and Arc'Teryx. Marmot, in Bellevue, has long been a provider of high-end Nordic equipment on the east side, and now Second Ascent in Ballard is filling the gap left in Seattle by the demise of Swallow's Nest. Essential Baking in Fremont gave us our delicious bread for the after-race feed, and Nordic Saga, an Edmonds travel agency, donated a weekend in Leavenworth. This year we added Arc'Teryx to our list of valued sponsors, as they gave us several of their top-notch jackets and pants. Please be sure to visit all of our sponsors for your sporting equipment, travel and carbohydrate needs; we appreciate their generosity!

STAMPEDE

This year's Stampede racers delighted in absolutely perfect conditions, with a bright blue sky, cold crisp temperatures (four degrees early in the morning, warming up to the mid-20s in the sunshine by race time), and hard-packed snow, perfectly groomed.  Chief of Course David Tower and Junior Olympic Qualifier Race Director Don Brooks designed a route that took out the mean hills and made everyone happy, from the slower skiers who appreciated a little easier trip, to the faster skiers who found they could hammer the whole course.

The Stampede had 77 finishers in the 15k freestyle race and 46 in the 5k. The overall winner was OJ Charlie Smith, from Mount Bachelor, and the top master was Kent Murdoch. The first woman in the 15k was Spokane's Deb Bauer. The 5k freestyle was won by J2 Erik Bjornsen, from the Methow Valley, and the women's winner was J2 Monica Markvardsen, from Black Jack Ski Club. Full results are posted on this website.

This year the Stampede was held in conjunction with the Junior Olympic Qualifiers, and kids from all over the Northwest took on a classic race on Saturday, then joined in with the masters on Sunday for the Stampede.

Special thanks to our wonderful and generous sponsors, who donated a truck-load of prizes to make the awards ceremony extra rewarding. Draw prizes and finisher awards came from Marmot Mountain Works, Second Ascent, Arc'Teryx, Nordic UltraTune Systems, Nordic Saga, Winthrop Mountain Sports, Brooks, Vital Forsikring ASA, Ikea, Gear West, and Montrail. (You can see from this list that we had some awesome prizes to give away!) Thanks also are due to Essential Baking Company, for providing part of our post-race feed; CommEn Space, who provided our outstanding trail maps; and Einar Svensson, who donated copies of his highly recommended book on skating.

Race Director Doug Holtan did an outstanding job of organizing a vast crew of much-appreciated volunteers for both days of racing, and the event went off without a hitch. Many thanks to everyone who helped make the weekend a success, especially the timing crew, headed up by Angie Grieg and Keith Ritland, who cranked out the results quickly and accurately, and the post-race feast crew, with Kaare and Aase Gjolmesli and Berit Lund keeping everyone well-fed and hydrated.

Thank you to everyone who made the trip to participate in the 2006 Stampede. We'll see you all back here next year, although we cannot guarantee such perfect conditions ever again!

OZBALDY 50K RACE

Race Director Dave Newton had warned us he couldn't guarantee that the perfect conditions we had for the Stampede would be repeated for the Ozbaldy, but he came mighty close! Warming temperatures in the day or two before the race, combined with cold nights and expert grooming, left the course very fast and somewhat technical, giving the 53 racers plenty to challenge themselves with.  It snowed lightly at the beginning of the race, then gave way to overcast skies and temperatures in the low to mid 30's.

A lead pack of four (Kent Murdoch, Brad Bauer, Vesa Suomalainon, and Jon Fewster) stayed close together throughout the race, trading leads and pulling each other back in.  The race came down to a sprint in the final yards, as Vesa pulled ahead of Brad to win by one second (in 2:11:02), with Kent one second behind Brad and Jon nine seconds back.  All four of the leaders exhibited masterful pacing, with the fourth lap faster than the previous three and the fifth lap the fastest of all!

The women's race was a little more spread out, with Deb Bauer of Spokane winning in 2:28:52, followed by Marcy Ostrom minutes back and Joy Blakeslee ten minutes behind her.

At the awards ceremony, Dave had the pleasure of handing out fistfuls of fabulous prizes to racers and volunteers, courtesy of our wonderful and generous sponsors. Once again, we sincerely thank our sponsors: Marmot Mountain Works, Second Ascent, Arc'Teryx, Nordic UltraTune Systems, Nordic Saga, Winthrop Mountain Sports, Brooks, Gear West, and Montrail.  We also send a big shout out to Ruben Beedle, our fantastic groomer, who has worked long hours in all kinds of conditions to make sure our trails are race-ready and in great condition for every event.

That's the end of Kongsberger racing for this winter. Thank you to everyone who came and participated in our races; it was fun having you join us. Check our website next fall for the dates of next season's competitions, and we'll see you here, trained and rested and ready to fly!