![]() ![]() The snow had mostly tapered and we were only slightly delayed on our way to bib pick-up in Hayward. The drive from the airport was a little slow with some snow, and we even saw the elusive snow plow ( snowus plowus, a common species in Massachusetts but rare in its native Minnesota) going the other direction. (By the way, there’s not going to be as much suspense in this race report as in past years, as you might be able to tell.) I was to pick up a friend (and certified Good Skier, ski orienteering national champion and City of Lakes Loppet winner Ali Crocker) at MSP and bided my time in Saint Paul watching the snow fall as her plane slowly made its way across the tarmac in Detroit (she lives in Toledo, as in “Holy Toledo! Some girl from Ohio got 7 th place!”). ![]() I had to repeatedly tell myself “tomorrow is the Birkie and you’re skiing in Hayward, don’t go play in the snow” to keep myself from getting in the car and driving to Battle Creek or Wirth or-because I am a masochist-Murphy Hanrahan and tiring myself out before the race. I knew I had just beaten a light snowfall in to town, but the flakes were cascading down outside. I eagerly went to sleep-they say that the night before the night before the race is the most important-and slept soundly for eight hours with only one “dehydration and rehydration break”.įriday morning I peeked out the window. I settled in at a friend’s house in Saint Paul with some enchiladas (feed) and we reprised a 2008 tradition of watching a tape of the election results on Fox News, for comedy. The weekend started with an uneventful flight out on Thursday evening and only a slight gaffe when I left my boot bag at the baggage carousel and had to go sprinting through the airport to retrieve it before driving away in the rental car (but-sprints!). It was my best finish (by place), it had particularly good conditions, it wasn’t mind-numbingly and frost-bitingly cold, and I even had the chance to go and play in the woods the day after the race. But this year’s race was perhaps the best one for me of the eight I’ve skied. I am generally guilty of saying this-in past, present or future tense-at some point during Birkie weekend. Time ahead of 200th place (Elite Wave qualification): 2:13.9 affiliation: founder, copywriter, coder, editor, et ceterator.
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