Marquette, MI — With mild temperatures hanging in the 30’s all day under sunny skies in the morning turning overcast by afternoon, a record 1216 skiers took to the Noque trail Saturday, January 28 for the 8th annual Subaru Noquemanon Ski Marathon and Ski Hall of Fame Half Marathon.
The Subaru Factory team again dominated the 51-kilometer men’s classic race placing team members in the top four positions. Chad Giese, set a record time on the course, finishing in 2:22:07. This is Giese’s second time winning the Noque; his first win was in 2003. Eric Meyer, took runner up position, finishing in 2:24:48. He also finished second in 2004 and third in 2005. Newcomers to the Noque were third place finisher, Andre Watt who skied in at 2:24:54, and Justin Easter who finished in 2:25:04. Rounding out the top five was Alexander Churikov, skiing for Rossignol, who finished in 2:27:39.
On the women’s side, Rossignol skiers took the top two positions in the 51-kilometer classic race. Kim Rudd won the race with a time of 3:07:57 for her first win in the classic race. Vicki Asmus, finished second with a time of 3:10:06. Kelly Skillicorn of Winona, MN, rounded out the top three coming in at 3:10:34.
In the 51-kilometer freestyle division, Matt Weier skiing for Team Atomic and a Marquette resident, cruised to his second consecutive first-place finish clocking in at 2:11:17, setting a record in that division at that length. Vilhelm Hampusson, of Team Rossignol followed in second at 2:12:44 and Dusty Olson, of Duluth, MN took third in 2:19:08.
In the women’s 51-kilometer freestyle race, Diane Tremblay, of Hayward, WI won easily in 2:33:58. She was followed by Aubrey Smith, of Marquette, MI in 2:37:02 and Paulette Niemi of Ironwood, MI in 2:38:34.
In the Ski Hall of Fame Half Marathon, more records were broken with the fast conditions. In the 25-kilometer men’s classic race, Dan Dehlin of Marquette, MI, placed first with a time of 1:07:43. The women’s 25-kilometer classic was won by Kathryn Ladig of Bemidji, MN. The 25-kilometer freestyle men’s winner was Sean Beckman of Ironwood, MI. The women’s 25-kilometer freestyle winner was Stephanie Howe of Marquette, MI.
Organizers of the Subaru Noquemanon Ski Marathon were thrilled with the number of participants this year, the caliber of the racers, and the overall logistics of the entire weekend events.
Jon Mommaerts, race organizer, says, “We pulled off another race under trying circumstances. With record high temperatures in the 50’s one day before the race, we had to work hard to get the last portion of the trail in shape. My thanks to the hundreds of volunteers who undertook the hard work of keeping the trail in shape, keeping the skiers happy at registration, and on the trail. It was a super weekend. We’ll continue to make improvements to the trail and look forward to everyone coming back for our ninth race on January 27, 2007.
For more information on race results and the Noquemanon Ski Marathon, visit www.noquemanon.com or call 1-888-578-6489.
Women’s 51-k classic:
1 Kim Rudd
2 Vicki Asmus
3 Kelly Skillicorn
Men’s 51-k freestyle:
1 Matt Weier
2 Vilhelm Hampusson
3 Dusty Olson
Women’s 51-k freestyle:
1 Dianne Tremblay
2 Aubrey Smith
3 Paulette Niemi
Complete results at http://www.itiming.com/html/raceresults.php
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