NENSA Announces 2014-15 Masters Racing Calendar with Zak Cup, Club Cup, & New England Marathon Series

Alex Kochon · September 22, 2014

The 2014-15 season offers a great slate of races combining to fill the calendar with a challenging and fun series of events contested across New England. NENSA is excited to announce the New England Marathon Series, the Zak Cup and Club Cup Series, and the One Day Club Championship.

Highlighting this year’s calendar are three special back-to-back weekends of Masters racing. Craftsbury plays host to the Masters National Championship at the end of January, with the 10K and the Marathon on the NENSA Zak Cup and NEMS. Then, there will be a Maine Racing Weekend, February 7th & 8th, kicking off with the Flying Moose Classic in Bethel, ME and followed up with the John Roderick Marathon at Black Mountain of Maine in Rumford. Participants in both the Flying Moose and the long-course of the Roderick Marathon will receive special recognition at the Black Mountain awards ceremony. Then the Zak Cup series rolls into New Hampshire and wraps up with a big classic-skate double weekend finale at Bretton Woods. The 21K classic course of the March 7th Omni Mt. Washington Hotel Bretton Woods Nordic Marathon is the penultimate Zak Cup event. Sunday, March 8th, the Mt. Washington Cup will serve as the Zak Cup Series final. Special recognition will be given to all athletes competing in any distance of the Bretton Woods double weekend.

Zak & Club Cup Series Schedule:
Dec 7: Quarry Road Opener: Waterville, ME: Skate, 10K, Mass Start
Dec 27: Mt. Hor Hop: Westmore, VT: Skate, 10K, Interval Start
Jan 10: BogBurn, Pomfret, VT: Classic, 13K Men & 7K Women, Interval Start
Jan. 19: Geschmossel: Bretton Woods, NH: Classic, 15K, Mass Start
Jan 24: White Mountain Classic: Jackson, NH: Classic, 30K, Mass Start (NENSA One Day Club Championship)
Jan 29: Craftsbury Masters National Championship: Craftsbury, VT: Skate, 10K (AXCS Masters National Championship)
Jan 31: Craftsbury Marathon: Craftsbury, VT: Classic, 50K, Wave Start (AXCS Masters National Championship)
Feb 7: Flying Moose: Bethel ME: Classic, 20K, Mass Start
Feb 14: Silver Fox Trot: Hanover, NH: Skate, 10K, Interval Start (EasternCup)
Mar 7: Bretton Woods Nordic Half Marathon: Bretton Woods, NH: Classic, 21K. Mass Start
Mar 8: Mt. Washington Cup: Bretton Woods, NH: Skate, 10K, Mass Start
New England Marathon Series Schedule:

Jan 24: White Mountain Classic: Jackson, NH: Classic, 30K, Mass Start (NENSA One Day Club Championship)
Jan 31: Craftsbury Marathon: Craftsbury, VT: Classic, 50K, Wave Start (AXCS Masters National Championship)
Feb 8: John Roderick Marathon: Black Mountain, ME: Classic & Skate, 50K, Mass Start
Feb 28: Rangeley Lakes Loppet: Rangeley, ME: Skate, 50K, Mass Start
Mar 7: Bretton Woods Nordic Marathon: Bretton Woods, NH: Classic, 42K, Mass Start
Mar 21: Sugarloaf Marathon, Sugarloaf, ME: Skate, 50K, Mass Start
Zak Cup & Club Cup Series Information:

The Zak Cup offers a great Masters racing experience at a diverse set of venues across the region, with each event taking on its own local flavor. The NENSA Zak Cup Series brings together NENSA’s traditional Zak Cup age group series and the Club Cup Series into a single series of events featuring some of New England’s finest citizen races. All events that are part of this series are scored for Club points, with all participants earning at least one point for their club. Only one distance on each day is scored for the Zak Cup to ensure the best head-to-head competition within age groups.

Zak Cup Scoring: Scoring rules remain the same as last year. See NENSA.net for more information.

Men: M1 – M8: Best 5 finishes but a minimum of 4 finishes needed.
Men: M9+: Best 4 minimum of 2.
Women: M1 – M6: Best 5 minimum of 3.
Women: M7+: Best 4 minimum of 2.
Zak Cup Points: All participants must be active NENSA members at the tien nof the race. Scoring for both overall and within NENSA age classes follows a modified World Cup system with points to the top 15 as follows: 25, 20,15,12,11,10, and so on with 0 for 16th and higher. If at the end of the season there is a tie for any of the top 3 places in an age class, the tie is broken first by overall Zak Cup points; if the tie remains then it is broken by head to head competition. If a tie still remains then multiple place awards will be given. Scoring is based on all finishers, regardless of NENSA membership. Final point total is based on the “best-of” criteria described above. Protests for individual race scoring may be filed within 10 days of official race score posting on the NENSA website and within 14 days of final series scoring. Protests should be sent to current Chair NENSA Masters committee, Bryce Wing (Bryce.wing@valley.net).

Club Cup scoring: All participants must be active NENSA member at the tien of the race. All skiers in a club older than BKL are scored in their respective age class with 1st-10pts, 2nd- 9pts, 10th and up, 1 pt. Club Affiliation can be changed up until the final race of the series. Scored points are not changed retroactively, that is a skier scores points for the club for which they are currently racing. At dual distance events both distances are scored for the Club Cup, but only one is scored for the Zak Cup. Non-NENSA finishers are not removed from the results when scored for the Zak Cup or Club Cup.

New England Marathon Series Information:

The events of the New England Marathon Series offer a classic cross country ski experience with fully supported courses showcasing some of New England’s premier venues. The New England Marathon Series has something for everyone, welcoming skiers of all levels to test their endurance, or just make the most of a winter’s day on courses ranging from 25K to 50K. Elite racers and recreational touring skiers alike are invited to enjoy a traditional ski marathon experience and some of the finest skiing in New England.

With continued support from L.L.Bean and Swix, NENSA will continue to offer the New England Marathon Series Challenger Award. Racers will need to complete a minimum of four races to be counted for the Marathon Challenger Award.

Distances: M1-M6 must race Full Marathons.
M7+ have option to ski ½ or Full Marathon, with the exception of Jackson where everyone skis 30k.
Using the M7+ cut off this season to aligns with the standard for Masters Nationals at Craftsbury.