American Birkebeiner 2010

After many months of training with family and friends the 37th Birkie finally came and passed!!! It was another great year for the race as the conditions were fantastic and more than anything it was good to be with family and friends in a beautiful part of our nation. We ended up renting a cabin on Nelson Lake outside of Hayward, WI that had a beautiful view and pleasant setting. Ryan, Amy, and Sully Sportel(and Mesa) were there along with my mother, father, and I!!! After the race my brother and his wife along with another sister-in-law(Katy) came to visit and have few drinks too!!

The race as usual was a wonderful challenge for Sportel and I. This was our second consecutive Birkie to do together. Last year we were in Wave 10, this year we were supposed to be in Wave 3. Since the cabin was so close we thought we had plenty of time to get to the start on time but oh were we wrong!! We sat on the highway in the middle of a traffic jam far removed from any city where traffic is a normal thing with my dad driving and Sportel and I sitting there with lots of nervous energy!! Good thing Willy(my dad) was there to throw out some inappropriate jokes that kept us laughing and remembering this was just for fun!!! Parents always seem to have great perspective and I love them for that!!! Anyways, we made it to the start of Wave 4 after sprinting for what seemed like a couple of miles...At least we got a few chuckles from folks laughing at us with our Wave 3 numbers on standing with all the Wave 4 skiers...

As we finally got going we settled into our rhythm for the 50K that lay ahead of us!!! Besides skiing with one of my best friends on a beautiful trail I would have to say my favorite part of the race was skiing with a Eastern European guy that was probably in his 40s for about 10k.....I am not sure if he practiced this, and excuse my language, but all he said repetitively was "fuuckkin' hills, nother fuuckking heeel!" To me this was absolutely hilarious and it really threw my breathing off!! I was hoping I would see him later in the race or at the bar after but I never saw him again..

Another beautiful aspect of this race is seeing those that are in there 70s-80s still doing what they love to do..Some of them may not look pretty but they are there for the challenge and to keep themselves healthy! I highly respect these "Birchleggers",those that have done many of these races...They seem to encompass the sport and the challenge of life. As I have said before this has been one of the hardest mental and physical challenges I have ever done! It made me stronger for what I was about to go through a week after the race. My mother became very ill and ended up on life support for a couple of weeks..I have never had a family member so close get so sick. It pulled all the family/friends together and gave us a good lesson on how fragile life is and that is is full of "Bitch Hills." Long story short she is on the mend now and I look forward to seeing her loving face at the finish line of the Birkie cheering me on for many years to come!!

For the 2011 race, Sportel and I have a few goals:
1. Try not to stay up too late and finish the growlers!
2. Get up early enough to actually start with our wave!
3. Have as much fun as possible...This seems to be a main motto in our lives and we have made it this far so why not keep it going!!
We will both move up in Waves since we did better than the year before...2009s time was 3hours and 30min for me and 2010 for me was 2hours and 52 min...pretty happy with my results.. I know Sportel also did better than his last years time and he did it with a broken pole and a back injury so hats off to his courage to battle through this years challenge!

Cheers to a wonderful year at the Birkie and I can't wait for the next....it is only 326 days away now!! I have minimal shots from the race this year but here are a few from the cabin....Hope you enjoy!!

This is baby Sully, Ryan and Amy's little boy. After hanging out with this little guy it really made me realize "I want one." Someday!

This is my sister-in-law Katy, one of Molly's sister's. She has been coming to the Birkie for years and the last couple we have met up with her at The Sawmill for some drinks and hanging with the Euro's...Already looking forward to next year!!

Here Sportel is at the waxing station in the basement of the cabin. This place was sweet! We spent plenty of time down here the night before the race debating which waxes to use and how much beer to save for after the race....As you read above we somehow decided to finish the beer the night prior to the race!! You can always get more after the race as we ended up doing.

Sportel using the cork spinner to get that S%^t into the bases...Good times and I hope we can rent this wonderful cabin next year again..