2008 Birkie...Said and Done

It’s hard to believe that the end of the season is nearing! The Birkie is over and the last races of the season are approaching fast.

The Birkie was a huge success this year with nearly a record breaking 7,000 racers. Unlike last year, there was great snow and even some sun to awaken us the morning of the race. Despite the frigid temperatures at the start of the race, the conditions were nearly perfect and warmed up to a comfy 28 degrees by the end of the race.

The night before the race, I was quite nervous and yes a little scared to experience my first 50k starting in less than 12 hours. My goal was to stick with the lead pack of girls and hang on as long as I could. The race started at a comfortable pace as we climbed our way up the power line. I was in a good 8th position. This lasted for 17k until I found myself leading! “What, I’m leading?” I thought to myself. Although it was not my plan to lead at any point in the race, I decided it was okay because I would shortly receive a feed at 18.5k from Hallsey and I would most likely get passed. Well, as I approached Hallsey to take my feed, the rest of the pack slowed down as well and I ended up back in the lead. While I was a little frantic about leading more of the race I figured that if I was in the front, setting the pace for a while, I wouldn’t have to worry about getting dropped. My energy was good and I continued to ski at a comfortable pace. Around 30k I decided to finally let someone else pull the group. Despite a few sporadic surges to break up the pack, the women stayed close together. By 40k the pack finally broke up a bit. I did everything I could to bring up the rear and hang with the lead group of three women. The course became familiar to me as I had fortunately skied it the day before. I knew that the 3k stretch across the lake meant that the finish was quickly approaching. Evelyn, at this point had gapped Kristina Stranberg, Sarah Conrad and I. My skis were still running fast and I decided to lead across the lake, hoping to gap the girls behind me. Unfortunately, that did not happen and as soon as we turned the corner, with 100 meters to go along main street, the two girls made their sling-shot move and started sprinting. My reaction was just a little delayed and wasn’t enough to catch them at the end. I ended up fourth, 9/10th of a second out of 3rd. So close, yet so far!

I was quite pleased with my result. While it would have been exciting to stand on the podium with my teammate, Adam Swank who placed 3rd, I have to look at the positive and realize how far I’ve come. I guess this first 50k sets a pretty high standard for the next one.

I am back in Sun Valley for the next few weeks, getting ready for Canadian Nationals which will take place in Callaghan Valley, B.C. I am excited for these races! I will keep you posted on how things go! Cheers!