MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: Just when you thought the Minneapolis World Cup was over, the Loppet Foundation was able to pull one more delightful rabbit out of its hat. Ever wonder how you might fare on a World Cup racecourse? Apparently, lots of people have, and thanks to the Loppet Foundation’s “Share Winter Playday” held Monday after the real racing was over, there was an opportunity for regular Joes and Janes to launch themselves onto the World Cup course; starting gates and all.
There is a long fascination of wanting to see how the average person stacks up against professional athletes. While Monday’s story may not quite rival George Plimpton’s account in Paper Lion of what happens when a writer plays quarterback for an NFL team, it was still an engaging way to see just how tough the World Cup course is.
Many people must share this desire, as it was again quite the scene in Wirth Park with over 400 people registered for their shot to ski the Sprint course. According to Loppet Director of events, Kelly Donahue, over another 4,000 people sent in RSVPs for an open ski event on the ten kilometer and Sprint courses. With so much activity on hand, the venue had much of the same verve and excitement as it had during the races.
In addition to an opportunity to ski the World Cup course, Stifel U.S. Ski Team members were also on hand for an autograph session. While skiers of all abilities were challenging themselves on the racecourse, a long line of autograph seekers snaked along Wirth’s sidewalks waiting for their chance for a brief encounter with their favorite skiing stars. The line for autographs stretched for hundreds of yards, as fans waited over an hour to get signatures from ski team members.
Another unique event was coaching for girls and women—middle school age and up—led by Rosie Brennan (USA). It was a rare opportunity to ski with, and get the insights of, one of the best skiers in the world about how she tackles a Sprint course.
To be fair, it was more than just your average Joes and Janes taking on the Sprint course. There were some very good skiers and lots of outstanding youth skiers. The number of children under ten years old skiing the World Cup course was stunning. “Today is all about the community,” said Donahue. “Skiers ranged in age from 5-87 years old.” And there were over 100 volunteers helping out. It was a little shocking seeing such large numbers of under ten year olds scooting up the steep Sprint course climb. It was even more shocking to see how fast they were skiing.
Everyone had their individual reasons for skiing the course. Emma, who emphasized that she was five and a quarter years old, not five, and her mother Nicole wanted to ski on the world cup course after seeing their heroes conquer this terrain.
There was a group of teenagers from Thunder Bay, Ontario led by an individual going by the name of “Dr. Glide.” “It was so fun to ski the course,” remarked the good doctor. “It was an awesome experience, the trails at Wirth really showed the efforts put into them.” When asked to divulge his real name, he remarked that “his kids wouldn’t let him tell anyone.” He no doubt has wise children.
Dr. Glide was just one of the many participants who approached the event as a festive occasion.
The Hilton family skied the course to see what it was like for the racers: “It was amazing. We live here, but this is a different course than normal and it’s really fun to show it off.”
The Lee family from Princeton, Minnesota saw it as a once in a lifetime opportunity to ski the same course as World Cup racers. 11 year old Abby had no problem skiing the entire course without falling.
Then came my opportunity. Along with Amy from FasterSkier, I was matched up against Kyla from Durango Colorado, along with Lavinia Raffoul from Temperance, Michigan. The conditions were tremendous with extremely fast and controllable snow. The course’s biggest hill was indeed very steep and gave a better understanding of the fitness needed to go all out on such a climb. I was reduced to using a herringbone skate to make it over the top.
At the start of our group, Kyla immediately burst to the front, quickly outdistancing every adult in the group and winning our heat. I suspect that being dressed as a lion gave her some type of aerodynamic advantage (that’s my story and I’m sticking with it!). Kyla the lion easily won her group and joined the hundreds of skiers who got to match their skills against the best in the world.
It was a good chance to experience what racers go through, including the obligatory post-race interview questions which I was subjected to by my FasterSkier colleague. This is what happens when the slowest skier at FasterSkier takes to a racecourse.
FasterSkier: Can you describe what your training plan is like?
Me: Why?
FasterSkier: I want to make sure I do something else.
Me: Nice—but probably a good idea.
FasterSkier: What was your goal today?
Me: To not make a complete fool out of myself.
FasterSkier: Did you have any other goals, because you might have missed that one?
Me: Then I’m batting zero.
FasterSkier: You looked like you were really struggling today.
Me: Not really, that’s pretty much how I always look.
FasterSkier: What was your time today?
Me: Well, that’s a funny story. I couldn’t record my time because I lost my watch. It was kind of like when the timing equipment for Canmore got lost.
FasterSkier: Really? your watch was lost in a labor strike?
Me: No. My wife threw it away after I set up a Strava segment from our couch to the mailbox and gave myself the top ten FKTs (fastest known time).
FasterSkier: Sounds like she did the right thing.
Me: Yeah, I get that a lot.
FasterSkier: Thanks for taking the time to talk.
Me: Wait, don’t you want to know anything else?
FasterSkier: No, I think that’s already way more information than people want.
Me: Once again, that’s fair.
The Loppet Foundation again pulled off another well-orchestrated day of racing, as for a couple of minutes, fans of all ages got to live out their fantasies of being on the World Cup.
