Interview: Michael Myers
January 29, 2001
On Saturday, January 27th, Michael Myers repeated as the 53K
classical Noquemanon champion. Last year he won by a margin
of more than 14 minutes. This year, it was just a little closer:
a mere 33 seconds.
- Skinnyski: The 53K classical race was hotly contested
this year. The results show the top 3-5 skiers all finishing
pretty close together. Can you give a brief run down of
the race?
Myers: The pace was so slow during the first 7k that
my hands were getting cold. Both Eli Brown and David Chamberlain
[Factory Team member] had taken turns at the front, with
Dave doing most of the leading. I took the lead after
the first feed and picked up the pace considerably. The
pack of 10 skiers disintegrated as I watched Dave ski
away from me on a long hill 2k later. Dave came back to
me soon after that because of a broken pole. He skied
with Eli, Phil Rogers, Jey Carlson and myself for the
next 15k with only one pole! After Dave got a replacement
pole, he and I broke away again and again on the hills
only to be caught by Eli, Phil and Jey in the flats each
time.
- Skinnyski: Can you describe the last 1K or so of the
race?
Myers: With 3k to go Eli pulled me off the front and
then stepped aside, telling me that this was my one chance
to break away solo and win. Going by him I said I didn't
have anything left, but he just kept yelling GO NOW! GO
NOW! GO NOW! Those were the hardest, most painful 3k I
have ever skied.
- Skinnyski: What was the weather like?
Myers: Four to six of the fresh stuff had fallen the
night before. The temp morning of the race was 12F, going
to 18-20F by noon at the finish. The sky was overcast
most of the day.
- Skinnyski: What did you use for wax, both kick and
glide?
Myers: For glide I had Toko LF Moly followed by Toko
HF Blue with Toko Cold Powder mixed in. The Kick was Toko
Base Green ironed in with 3 layers of Toko Bright Blue
over the top. I had extremely good skis, which contributed
to my result.
- Skinnyski: Any other interesting stories from the race?
Myers: To my embarrassment I fell 500m from the finish
on flat terrain. I hit a section of soft snow, of which
there were many, and my legs just gave out from fatigue.
Fortunately I had a 200m cushion by then so it didn't
affect the outcome.
Related links
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Michael Myers finishing the New Year's Day Race - 1.9MB