2024: Mt. Ashwabay Summit Ski Race

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To (continue to) say that the 2023-24 Winter has been subpar and has negatively impacted snow-dependent communities in the upper midwest continues to be an understatement. The Canadian Birkebeiner, the North End Classic, the Pre-Birkie and the Vasaloppet USA (all scheduled for two weeks before the American Birkebeiner) were cancelled within the last week … a result of the ongoing the El Niño Winter and the accompanying low snow situation in our nordic Midwest. I was (and still am) very grateful to have had a second event in as many weekends go off without a hitch!

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2021: North End Classic

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Given the ongoing global pandemic (COVID-19), this was an event neither I nor the organizing body was sure would take place. But the North End Ski Club, the parent organization, did a fantastic job of complying with guidelines from health departments, reducing the field size, and put on a successfully safe event for parties involved. Once registered (courtesy of a timely tip from Maureen), traveling to be a part of this event – that I have come to love because of the people associated with it and the idyllic setting of its course – was a no brainer.

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2020: North End Classic

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Currently in week #09 of a 20-week training plan towards 2020 Spring Marathon, this too was an event I had deemed I am not going to participate during 2019-20 winter. But it is held on Sunday – the day after Pre-Birkie (in Cable/Hayward, WI) and  Vasaloppet USA (in Mora, MN) – in one of the prettiest settings I have ever skied in. Making minor adjustments in the aforementioned training plan (i.e., move Sunday’s rest to Friday) made room for this event.

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2016: American Birkebeiner

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Until about two years or so ago, Birkie was something I couldn’t care less about. So much so that I thought and truly believed that Birkie was a real physical town somewhere in Wisconsin. And I even tried looking for a sign to this town on my way to Red Wing, Minnesota, to participate in the 2014 Ragnar Relay Great River, and I don’t remember being disappointed at my inability to find it.

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2016: Noquemanon Ski Marathon

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About a week had passed by since my maiden attempt at skiing and dear friend Carrie suggested that I should consider partaking in one of the events at the Noquemanon Ski Marathon (referred to hereafter as just Noque — somewhat for the purposes of brevity but mostly to sound cool). The aforementioned maiden ski attempt had taken over an hour to cover less than one mile on relatively flat trails. More so than skiing, it was a battle between yours truly and formidable laws of gravity and friction that the latter two won in a merciless beatdown. Given the sheer lack of information, expertise and/or experience, the chances of me surviving the wild and presumably treacherous Noque trails let alone making it out alive were very very slim … if not non-existent. So, it didn’t happen in 2014.

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2014: Run The Keweenaw

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Run The Keweenaw, A Festival of Trails marks the completion of a full year since I took to organized trail running, and the first of its kind — trail running of the same distance and at the same location — that I have participated more than once. Remembering how much fun it was to be a part of the festival last year — running in one part, photographing the other two, and fantastic experiences and friends gained — signing up for this year’s edition was a no brainer. Given that the event consists of three races of increasing distance and trail complexity/technicality, and taking the banked training miles into account and some advice from the race organizers, participating in the first two events while photographing the last leg would turn out to be a natural progression (and a very good decision).

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