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From left to right,Tim Kennedy, Jan Horak and David Eckel will once again compete in this weekend’s American Birkebeiner cross country ski race. Between them they have more than 120 years of racing in the Birkie. Staff photo
Three Cook County skiers will go to the start of the February 26, American Birkebeiner (Birkie) race with one goal in mind. Finishing.
Between the three, David Eckel has finished 41 races, Jan Horak 42, and Tim Kennedy 39. The trio will be among the few competitors who have amassed so many starts and finishes in the Classic 55K race that runs from Cable, Wisconsin to Hayward, Wisconsin.
“I’ll be on the starting line Saturday morning with Jan and David,” said Tim Kennedy. “This will be my 40th Birkie and I will join Jan and David in that special group. My training has been somewhat inconsistent this season, not as many kilometers on the trail. But that won’t stop me from completing another Birkie. This race is challenging in so many ways; distance 55 km. classic and 51 km. skate, hills, big hills, that are unrelenting, skiing with 10,000 other skiers, and the big variable, weather and trail conditions. In the end everyone crosses the finish line as a winner. And some of us know that we will be at the start line again in another year to do it all over again.”
As for Jan, he will be turning 75 this coming summer but he said, “I refuse to think that if I get to a certain age, I will have to quit skiing. My double polling is strong. We burn wood here and hauling wood keeps me strong. I have skied about 400ks this winter and I’m ready. It’s not like the old days. I’m not skiing fast. I’m skiing to finish, to meet up with my friends I have made over the years, have a good time and catch up with everyone.”
The Birkie is North America’s largest cross country ski race. In 2020 competitors came from 49 states and 27 countries.
Cross country skiers are sent off in waves, based on their expected finishing times and often their finish at previous Birkies. Because of all of their finishes Horak, Eckel and Kennedy will start in an elite wave, the Spirit of 35. It includes the Birkie founder, Ernie St. Germain, who has completed all 46 Birkies.
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