Lappe Nordic 24 hour Relay Race Report
by Dave Nelson
April 2, 2001
Dave and Josie Nelson at the NorAm
Twin Cities Championships, January 2001
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Lappe Nordic 24 hour relay race was a perfect way to wrap up
our ski season! The Lappe Nordic center comes alive every spring
for this 24 hour ski relay. This event is more than a grueling
ski challenge, it is also an event that celebrates cross country
skiing and the people that make it great! The race is held at
Lappe Nordic center, a true gem in the nordic ski community.
Their technical trails, great grooming, plentiful snow, ski
stadium and cool clubhouse are only part of the equation. The
clubhouse including sauna, wax rooms, ski memorabilia and more
were created from a love of nordic skiing that shows itself
in all its members.
This year was our second trip to the 24 hour relay since
our first time in 1999. The race has few rules and is only
competitive in terms of bragging rights. There were 21 teams
entered this year, with 3 from the US. Basically 1-12 person
teams are legal and hand offs must only be made at the end
of the 4.325km lap. Although we ski very hard through the
night, our first reason for making the trip has always been
to end the ski season with a ton of fun skiing! In 1999 we
brought 3 teams, a 2 person Team Tabor, a 4 person mixed team
"Night Danger" and a 5 person mixed team "Pressed Ham". This
year we came with one team, "Pressed Ham III", consisting
of Andy Bach, Sam Clay, Grant Nelson and David Nelson. (Those
that missed it from the 1999 year all plan to race it again
in the future but had schedule problems this year) Although
the snow conditions were great both in 1999 and 2001, this
year the conditions were slower in the night and faster in
the day with temperatures in the upper 20s to mid 30s. The
snow base had to have been at least 2 feet. We quickly rejuvenated
old friendships with our Canadian friends. Reijo Puiras(Lappes
famed owner) especially made us feel welcome stopping to chat
with us at all hours of the night and graciously offering
our team a heated trailer to rest our race weary bodies.
Highlights from this years race included watching Werner
Schwar, "the diesel" go solo for 315km. Werner skated for
the first half and then switched to classical for the last
half. On his last laps classical I could not believe how strong
and powerful he was still skiing. Watching and skiing with
the skiers from the Excel/ Peltonen team 492km, The Male Moose
Caboose team 472km and NTDC(National Team Development Center)
461km was equally impressive. The Lappe Jackrabbits was a
team made up of junior skiers who I would guess were under
age 12. They skied 264km!!! There were even skiers as young
as 5 years old! The other US teams were a solo, Pete Anderson
99km and a four person team named White Bear Lake, 353km.
Our team, Pressed Ham III, skied 100 laps 432km. We used all
kinds of crazy strategies, skiing short legs(15-30min), then
long legs(1-1.5 hours) and then short legs. But in the end
we were very tired, very happy to be done and still crazy
about cross country skiing!!!
Related links
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