That Was Some Kind of Burr-Kie!

Congrats to all who finished the Birkie, Kortelopet and Prince Haakon 12K in ultra-frigid weather. A lot of Illinois people did very well despite the conditions. We even had some podium skiers in the Kortelopet. More later. I will update when I catch my breath.

Hanging Tough at Stump Farm

Against a tough field that included international skiers who originally were ticketed to compete in Madison, Illinois skiers did well at theStump Farm 18.5K in Suamico, WI, just north of Green Bay, on Saturday (Feb. 19). On a miracle course of pulverized ice/snow and shoveled-in white stuff, Jan Myrda won the M30-39, Jukka Lyly Yrjanainen won M40-49, and Mike Choate (2nd, M50-59), Tom Dvoratchek (3rd, M40-49) and yours truly (3rd, M60-Plus)also picked up some hardware. Dave Fyhrie skied a great race, but was out of the money is his exceptionally tough M50-59 group. Hats off to the Ashwaubenon Nordic Ski Team and the Reforestation Camp for pulling off this race. If you didn't see the results, Norwegians, Russians and Swiss dominated the podium. The Madison races were called off because of the legislative budget standoff/protest at the capitol building.

Myrda 2nd at Pre-Birkie 42K

Defending champion Jan Myrda, 39, of Palos Heights, was second on Saturday at the Pre-Birkie 42K in Hayward, WI. Jan skied a 1:56:16.7, but lost to John Bauer, 43, of Hayward, who won in 1:54:23.5. Illinois skiers did well throughout the results in both the 42K and 26K. Mike Choate, 53, of Chicago (2:06:00.3), and Roger Prevot, 51, of Chicago, placed third and fourth in the M50-54 age group. Chuck Kessler, 65, of Northbrook (3:01:08.7) placed second in M65-69. Check out the results. You'll see a lot of familiar names.

Lyly-Yrjanainen, Nadler Win 27Ks at VASA

Jukka Lyly-Yrjanainen, 45, of Elk Grove Village, won the 27K Classic, and Andrew Nadler, 16, of Chicago, won the 27K Freestyle on Saturday at the North American Vasa races in Acme, MI, next to Traverse City. Jukka (the Finn-Hook guy!) won his race in 1:40:18, nine seconds ahead of runner-up Jim Harrington, also 45, of Petoskey, MI, who finished in 1:40:27. Nadler, a CXC skier and a sophomore at Latin School, won the freestyle race in 1:25:21. Second-place went to Ryan Halstead, 23, of Grayling, MI, in 1:25:39. Ring those cowbells! Two Illinois wins at the Vasa is really something! Congrats to both. 50K and 12K races also were held. Illinois skiers did not win them!

Choate Paces Non-Race Race

The unofficial NIN Non-race Race at Arrowhead drew about 20 skiers to the snowy trail at Arrowhead Golf Club on Sunday. The new snow, about 2 inches plus) was on top of the trailm which was not regroomed. Still, it wasn't bad to ski on and through as we plowed ahead.Everyone had fun while busting their lungs a bit in what officially was an 8.6K. No times were kept. The top five (all I know for sure) were Mike Choate, David Fyhrie, John Chadwick, Robert Nadler and Kevin Flowers. If I hear how more people did, I'll update. Thanks to Kevin for having the idea to have this non-race race after we were told we could not have the official NIN this weekend.

Jan Myrda Wins Badger State 43K Freestyle

Jan Myrda of Palos Heights did us proud today, winning the 43K freestyle at the Badger State Games in Wausau, WI. Jan beat an impressive field (Andy Weddle was second) in a time of 2:04:52. Way to go, Jan!! OK, I'll stop after this. I just noticed that Andrew Nadler was second overall in the 21K freestyle, also at the B.S.G. He is a 16-year-old from Chicago. He lost by two seconds. And finally (I missed this one completely), Tom Dvoratchek of Streamwood won the 10K freestyle . . after skiing the 21K classic! Way to go, Tom!


You can check out the reuslts at:

http://onlineraceresults.com/race/view_race.php#racetop

Skiing on Lake Shore Drive!

James Johnston of Chicago didn't waste much time on Wednesday morning, getting out for a ski on Lake Shore Drive while cars sat abandoned behind him. Most snowfall totals around the area were in the 18-22 inch range. High winds created huge drifts. When we hear that any ski trail is skiable, we'll let you know. See upper right.