About the Birkie: Celebrating its 36th year, the American Birkebeiner (1-800-USA-BRKE;www.birkie.com), February 19-21, 2009, is the largest and most prestigious cross country ski marathon in North America. Spanning more than 50 kilometers from Cable to Hayward, the Birkie is part of the Worldloppet series of 15 international races, and part of the lives of citizen skiers from around the world. Sponsors of Birkie 2009 include Subaru, Becker Law Office SC, Premier Physical Medicine and Wellness Clinic, Johnson Bank, Sawyer County Record and Superior Publishing, and other businesses throughout the region and country. (Courtesy, www.birkie.com).
7,461 skiers raced in the 36th American Birkebeiner this year in Hayward, Wisconsin. In the womens’ race Rebecca Dussault of Gunnysack, CO won the womens race in 2:26:39.5 while Holly Brooks of Anchorage Alaska surprised everyone just missing the win by a boot with an official time of 2:26:39.6. Kristina Strangberg was ten seconds back in third with a time of 2:26:49.7. With such and exciting finish for Brooks followed by a win at last year’s Tour of Anchorage, it will be pretty tough for Brooks to ignore her cozy amateur status for much longer, especially with an Olympic year looming!
Matt Liebsch of Maple Grove, MN won the men’s 50K with a time of 2:11:47.9 followed by Wisconsin resident Bryan Cook finishing 43 seconds out and Canadian Dan Roycroft another 5 seconds back. “This is it… for all the marbles and jelly beans,” Liebsch wrote on his blog a couple of days before race day, “anything can happen.” His description of the race’s importance only gives us an idea of how happy he is with his performance.
Random Anonymous Coach Musings, Birkie Edition II: “The Birkie is what happens when you decide to do a lot of something really poorly.” (Courtesy, johnnyklister.com)
Gus Kaeding of Michigan gained the right to say “Yeeaaah, I beat Bjørn Dœhlie in a classic race,” as he beat the man widely regarded as the best cross country skier of all time today, right at the line with times of 3:00:27.8 and 3:00:27.9. The retired Norwegian ski king came to ski this year’s 54K Subaru Classic American Birkebeiner to get a taste of the race phenomenon modeled after the original “Birkebeinerrennet” from his home country. Geir Strandbakke, another Norwegian, finished third in 3:00:56.0.
