Rainbow Rendezvous Deux

Rainbow Resort hosted their last race of the season on Saturday. A cold morning and new snow kept some racers away-but Minnesotans are a hardy breed and we embrace the cold-especially if it comes with snow! The morning temps were -14C but warmed up to -1C by race time. Fresh snow the night before and during the week made the course a scenic winter wonderland. The classic tracks were nice on the 6K Classic Loop and kick was an easy call with Polar/special Green/Power Grip Green working well. The skate loop was more challenging with the cold snow and despite several wax comparisons among the racers no one was raving about having "fast skis." In the 10 K, Jay Richards and Wynn Roberts cruised to a 1-2 finish in under 33 minutes. Sonja Bostrom and Jill Troutner jumped into the race and also finished1-2 for the ladies division. The Awards Ceremony actually started ahead of schedule and AWESOME awards were provided by Gear West (www.gearwest.com), Doyle and Mary Turner and Rainbow Resort. The Grand Draw Prize was a weekend stay at Rainbow Resort and the winner was local ski racer Connie Soch.

To supplement the post race fair of bananas, granola bars, and gatorade, the local Girl Scouts and "Lake Grove Church Youth Group" provided hot concessions and cookies. Medical support was provided by "White Earth Reservation Ambulance Service" out of Naytahwaush. Many Thanks to our Medical Team lead by Peggy Camasuli. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Other Thanks go to the Dick & Sandy Roman Family for their Race Course Support Site! The start/finish and results were organized by Ray & Carolyn Thorkildson and Keith Schumann. The Schumanns were out grooming the course at 4am-Many thanks to Team Schumann (Doug, Linda, Keith, Don, Iris) for their continued Race Support and Site Support.

The "Family Fun Event" consisted of 3 person relay teams with the surprise family event being a kite construction/flying final leg of the relay. 4 teams competed and while racers where on course, the other 2 team members where busy constructing their kites (note: white kite parts get lost in the snow easily). The winning kites were as follows: Spiderman was up in the air first with Bugs Bunny in hot pursuit-the Harry Potter kite struggled but the team eventually got Harry up in the air-the "Bob the Builder" kite really had a rough go of it and never really soared to heights of greatness on this day. Many thanks to all who participated!

Overall

10k Skate Overall Results

1.   Jay Richards	32:00
2.   Wynn Roberts	32:43
3.   Sonja Bostrom	35:35
4.   Jill Troutner	36:36
5.   Derrek Matson	37:12
6.   Rick Brosowski	37:55
7.   Greg Pratt		38:21
8.   Paul Roberts	38:46
9.   Jack Ellefson	41:15
10.  Lars Ellefson	44:19
11.  Conrad Roberts	45:07
12.  Kari Ellefson	51:22
13.  Anders Spidahl	52:01
14.  David Spidahl	52:02
15.  Cindy Spidahl	52:04
16.  Katherine Muller	56:06
17.  Bill Meyer		56:08

6K Classic Overall Results

1.  Pat Pratt		34:36
2.  Amy Xu		37:33
3.  Arne Bostrom	41:53
4.  Connie Soch		54:04


Age Groups

Ladies 10K Skate

16 and Under
1.  Kari Ellefson (Park Rapids)
2.  Katherine Muller (Brainerd)

17-30
1.  Sonja Bostrom (St. Paul/Skinnyski Race Team)

31-45
1.  Jill Troutner (Maple Grove/Skinnyski Race Team)
2.  Cindy Spidahl (Erhard)

Ladies 6k Classic

31-45
1.  Amy Xu (Plymouth)

45+
1.  Pat Pratt (Minneapolis)	
2.  Connie Soch (Waubun)

Gentlemens 10K Skate

16 and Under
1.  Wynn Roberts (Battle Lake/MN Biathlon)
2.  Lars Ellefson (Park Rapids)
3.  Conrad Roberts (Battle Lake/MN Biathlon)
4.  Anders Spidahl (Erhard)

17-30
1.  Derrek Matson (Baxter)

31-45
1.  Jay Richards (Maplelag/Skinnyski Race Team)
2.  Rick Brosowski (Erhard)
3.  Paul Roberts (Battle Lake)
4.  Jack Ellefson (Park Rapids)

46+
1.  Greg Pratt (Minneapolis)
2.  David Spidahl (Erhard)
3.  Bill Meyer (Nisswa/MN Biathlon)


Gentlemens 6k Classic
1.  Arne Bostrom (St. Paul)