Minnesota Marathoners - Second Race Weekend
February 2, 2004
Going Nordic in New England
Craftsbury Marathon, VT
By Evan Pengelly and Justin Pavlish
The long days of driving and fast food dinners from our first
week of travel were replaced by days of rest, easy skiing,
and excellent home-cooked meals the past five days. We crossed
the Canadian border and entered northern Vermont Tuesday night
and by late Wednesday afternoon, we had settled in with our
host family; the Trautz's of Cabot, VT. Over the years, the
Trautz family has become accustomed to opening their doors
to cross country skiers. Five years ago when their son, Nick,
was a member of the Williams College Nordic Ski Team, they
would frequently host other members of the team before collegiate
races at Craftsbury.
On Wednesday afternoon, we met with Nick Trautz, (a fellow
Alpina/Madshus team member), at the Craftsbury Nordic Ski
Center and from there caught our first glimpse of the Craftsbury
Marathon race course. That afternoon we skied from the 25km
marker to the 45km marker. This section of the course contained
numerous short to medium length gradual climbs, fast descents,
and even a few flat areas all bounded by thick pine forest.
We were quite surprised to find that this portion of the course
closely resembled the terrain found in much of northern Minnesota.
Our initial feelings after finishing the workout were optimism
and excitement for Saturday's marathon.
Thursday we woke up to find that old man winter had kicked
it up a notch and that we'd be skiing through some pretty
intense and cold wind. Nick had already told us that the beginning
of the race would prove to be challenging and we were curious
to find out just how difficult it would be. We drove to the
beginning of the race course, at Highland Lodge, and with
our skate skis on we trudged through the snow drifts and battled
the wind through the first 3 ½ km of the course. This
first part of the course consists of an almost continuous
steep climb that has been named Barr Hill. The first male
and female skier to reach this point in the race receives
a one hundred dollar preem. After skiing the first 7 km of
the course we knew that the challenge we had in front of us
would be no easy task.
Our preparations the day before the race were fairly uneventful.
We slept until late Friday morning and when we finally got
up and going we drove out to the end of the course and got
at chance to see how the final couple of kilometers looked.
Much to our surprise, we found a brutal climb that starts
at 48 km and doesn't end until the 49 km marker. From there,
the course ends with an easy 1 km stretch into Craftsbury.
That night Nick's mom cooked a fabulous meal of lasagna which
we hungrily devoured. Having filled up, the three of us and
Nick put our heads together to decide what to put on our Madshus
Hypersonic classic skis. After a little debate we went with
Swix HFBD6 for glide because much of the course consisted
of slightly dirty snow mixed with pine needles. For the kick
wax, we chose to use Swix Binder covered with Swix VR30. Waxing
went fairly quick with the wax table Roger Night from Swix
sent us because it allows two wax benches to be mounted on
the table at once. With our skis ready for the race, we went
to bed feeling well prepared for what was in store for us
the following day.
Race Day: Craftsbury, An Uphill Climb For MN Marathoners
By Pat Lorentz
Race day morning came quickly and coldly. We woke at about
6 am to find that the temp was 6 below zero. As I stuffed
myself with as much oatmeal as by stomach could take I was
thinking the kick would be solid but had concerns about the
glide. My pre-race warm up solidified my breakfast intuitions.
I found that I could kick up anything but the glide was pretty
much non-existent. I knew what the problem was, too much kick,
however; I didn't want to scrap any kick off my skis fearing
that once we got 30 km into the race I would find myself lacking
kick. I was hoping that my skis would free up a bit once I
got a few k's on them.
Evan, Justin, and I took to the start line and I looked across
the front line noticing a very solid field of top national
racers as well as some strong Canadian racers. The gun sounded
and we were off. The front pack went out extremely hard. The
pace was more like a 5K race pace instead of a 50K race pace.
Justin shot out in front of me and Evan followed slightly
behind me. Out of the start we climbed and climbed and climbed.
My striding consisted of kicking and then kicking again instead
of kicking and then gliding. I pushed my redline trying to
hold on to the second pack as the leaders kept up their superhuman
pace. Justin slipped into the middle of the second pack and
I was doing everything I could to catch the back of that pack.
After working hard for quite sometime I managed to hook up
with Justin in the second pack. When I caught Justin I was
totally anaerobic and had been for a few kilometers. My triceps
were starting to burn and my back was starting to tighten
up. At this point I looked over at the side of the trail and
observed the 11 K marker. I remember thinking that this was
going to be a long day at the office. Justin and I skied together
along with about 8 other skiers in the second pack. Over the
next 9 kilometers we continued to climb up some serious hills.
Justin made a number of pulls trying to break the pack but
everyone held on. At 20 kilometers the course finally flatten
out and my skis had freed up drastically. The mid-west boys
went to work. Justin made a big pull and I jumped out of the
tracks, got around some guys and settled in behind him. Justin
and I cranked on the double polling, push each other and dropping
all by one guy in the second pack.
The three of us skied together until about 35 kilometers
when Justin made another pull up a long gradual up hill. By
the top of the hill Justin had put about 30 meters on me and
I was struggling to close the gap. I fought for a few kilometers
to catch up but found the gap was holding at about 30 meters.
After hitting a feed station about 38 kilometers I decided
to make one last big push to real Justin back in. I pulled
hard and closed the gap considerably, but I just didn't have
enough to close it all the way. I had worked so hard on the
climbs earlier in the course that I just didn't have enough
pop in my arms to catch up. At 40 kilometers I knew it was
not going to happen, I was not going to catch Justin so I
looked behind me and noticed that I could not see anyone for
a good 300 meters. At this point I made a conscious decision
to shut it down. I knew my position in the race was not going
to change much so I eased up. In a normal season when I do
2 marathons I go as hard as I can from start to finish, but
this year I am doing 8 marathons. Next weekend is the Mora
Vasaloppet, my favorite marathon, so I decided to bag the
last 10 K. The race ends with a huge climb at 48K, a climb
I like to classify as a nut buster.
All in all it was a great race and I am glad we traveled
east to experience it. All the people working for the Craftsbury
Marathon were extremely friendly and helpful. I would highly
recommend this race to anyone who is up for a hard classic
ski. There is also a 25 K tour that makes a number of stops
for eastern food specialties for those who are looking for
a less exhausting ski.
Results:
Justin - 3:20 28th
Pat - 3:25 37th
Evan - 3:28 41st
Total men 50km racers: 280, winner - Patrick Weaver (Alpina
Boots) 2:52
Special thanks to Nick Trautz and his family for taking us
in and to all our sponsors: Swix, Alpina, Madshus, Rottefella,
Hammer Gel, and E-Caps.
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