Note: this is a picture from last year’s Birkie but it works just as well this year. The only caveat is that all of the guys pictured would say they’ve gotten a little better looking and a tad bit smarter since last year’s race. Five Cook County cross country skiers celebrated at the finish line of the 45th annual American Birkebeiner 55k cross country ski race that runs from Cable to Hayward, Wisconsin. From L-R: Mike Costello, who lives in Grand Marais and South Carolina; Tim Nelson, who lives in Lutsen and the Twin Cities; Tim Kennedy, Grand Marais; Jan Horak, Tofte; and David Eckel, who lives in Grand Marais. Photo courtesy of Kathy Horak
Jan Horak is in rare air. The Tofte native is one of less than 35 people who have skied 40 or more American Birkebeiner races.
And while this year’s 45th annual race presented some challenges, the 71-year-old said he never felt better after completing the 55k (34.1 miles) classic cross country ski race that runs from Cable to Hayward, Wisconsin.
Jan finished in 6:18:18.
Because of new snow— about 2 inches fell overnight on Friday–and somewhat warm temperatures, hovering 28-32 F near the end of the race, a lot of skiers had trouble with their wax.
“You had to put your wax on thin, so your skis didn’t ice up, and a lot of people didn’t guess right on the kind of wax to use. I saw people trying to rub the snow and ice off of their skis on trees. One fellow, near the end with about 10k left, was rubbing the bottoms of skis on the sign to remove the ice and snow. A lot of people had to pull off the track to work on their skis.
“As for me, I went with my fish scale (no wax) skis. Because I go out with the ‘Spirit of 35’ group, we start first. For about 20 minutes my skis worked great in the new snow. Then the fast skiers came by, and the trail got packed, and the trail got greasy. I had trouble getting up the hills, so I would go out of the track and get into the fresh snow when I was climbing because otherwise, I had no traction. Going downhill was really dynamite.
“Late in the race I moved to the skate lane to go up some of the big hills. I have to say at the finish I felt great. In talking with some of the skiers who are around my age, they say they finish with a smile and are thankful to continue to be able to ski the Birkie.”
Tim Kennedy, age 69, completed his 38th Birkie, finishing in 5:52:11, about 50 minutes slower than last year. “Conditions were kind of tough,” Tim said. “It was a beautiful day to ski, temperatures were 28F to 32F, but it had snowed that morning, and the snow had a lot of moisture. Finding the right wax was tough. I didn’t have a lot of kick, but it was great going downhill!”
David Eckel, age 60, finished his 39th Birkie with his usual “whoop.” Dave crossed the line in 6:45:58. Dave, Tim Kennedy and Michael Costello are all headed to Switzerland in a week or so to train and then ski in a race using the skate style technique. Since none of them are great “skaters” the race will be mostly for fun and the experience of taking part in an international race on foreign soil.
Other Grand Marais skiers who completed the 55k classic were Jonathan Rova, 4:03:20; Nancy Rova, 4:04:57; Michael Costello, 4:10:07; Tyson Smith, 5:00:49, and Tim Nelson, Lutsen, 5:18:41.
Kathy Horak, Jan’s wife, also had a tremendous day. Kathy skied the 29k (18 miles) kortelopet on Friday, finishing in 2:48:58. Ann Raiho, Grand Marais, finished in 3:12:52; and Lutsen’s Anastasia Koch, 4:27:05, and Grand Marais’ Jen Schueler, 4:27:07 finished almost side-by-side in the classic kortelopet.
Former Cook County residents who participated (that we recognized) were Phil Bowen, now living in Northfield, Minn., who completed the 55k classic race in 4:24:45 and Cory Berg, now living in Bemidji, who finished in 4:12:48.
Kerrie Berg, Cory’s wife, placed 11th overall in the women’s field of the 55k classic race. At one time an elite skier, Kerry crossed the line in 3:47:31. In her 35-39 age group Kerrie placed second.
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