news
Blackhawk Hosts Successful Biathlon (Dec 30, 2011) »Bicyclist Attacks Madnorski Rollerskier (Dec 30, 2011) »
Easement protects ski trails at Minocqua Winter Park (Dec 30, 2011) »
events
Feb 04, City of Lakes Loppetmore »
Feb 04, Blue Mound State Park Candlelight Ski more »
Feb 04, Mirror Lake State Park Candlelight Ski more »
news archive
News Archive
Showing Up For the Birkie 20 Years In A Row on Feb 14, 2007
by Mike Ivey
Was it comedian Woody Allen who noted that 80 percent of success in life is showing up? That basically sums up my feelings as I approach my 20th consecutive American Birkebeiner. Unless something suddenly comes up - like a very sick little kid - I'll be sporting the prestigious "Purple Bib" on Feb. 24 as I shiver with several thousand other middle-agers in tights waiting for the race start. A testament to longevity rather than speed, the Birch Leggings Club now counts over 700 members, including 47 women, although I haven't figured why they honor you before completing your 20th Birkie. Do they throw you out of the club if you blow before OO and are be bused to the finish in a blanket? Frankly, it doesn't seem like a big deal to have skied 19-straight Birkies. You just send in your entry money and make sure to keep the calendar clear. The true warriors are the three remaining Birkie "Founders" - John Kotar, Ernie St. Germaine and Dave Landgraf - who've skied every race since 1973. And the real heroes are the Birkie skiers with major family and work commitments who manage to fit skiing into their busy lifestyle. For years, I was single, childless and could chase snow all over the Midwest. Only now - with a 20-month old son, Alex, and an understanding wife, Vicki Elkin - do I realize the meaning of commitment. So if I'm proud of anything it's simply staying healthy and managing to hold my Wave One starting position as I near age 50. Cross country ski technique is like a golf swing. You can improve with age. Actually, I had never cross country skied at all until I signed up for my first Birkie. I was a downhill skier as a teenager but gave it up after high school. Baseball was my favorite sport and I spent my 20s playing amateur ball in places like Johnson Creek, Neosho and West Bend. Ironically, it was a baseball buddy and colleague Brad Falduto at The Capital Times who introduced me to nordic skiing and challenged me to ski the Birkie with him. That first year, 1987, was about the time the skating craze was taking hold. So instead of learning to kick and glide on classic skis, I jumped right into freestyle. I bought a pair of 200-centimeter Elan classic skis, sawed off the big curly tips and called them skaters. I lined up in Wave 6, the back wave, and some four hours and a half-dozen crashes later I had come down with a bad case of Birkie Fever. I even managed to catch my baseball buddy on the power lines before we reached Telemark. (The race went from Hayward to Cable in those days). The next year, I actually had real Fischer skating skis, took a lesson from Dan Clausen at Minocqua Winter Park and managed to ski my way into Wave One. I've been in a holding pattern there ever since. Over the years there have been ski camps, new boards, expensive waxes, foreign language race videos. I've raced the Mora Vasaloppet, the Badger States Games, the Capitol Square Sprints and the Stormy Kromer Pursuit. And guess what? After all that racing I still finish in the same place in the Birkie, somewhere around the middle of Wave One. There was that magical year in 2002, with a light drizzle falling and a shortened course that ended at Rosie's Field, when my Germina skis with the "wet grind" were absolutely flying. I posted my best finish ever, 240th place - just 40 skiers back from the coveted "Elite Wave" where the real fast skiers reside. "You're right on the cusp, dude," said Ken Lambrecht of Middleton, a training buddy had managed to make the leap from Wave One into the front group several years earlier. With visions of podium dancing in my head, I spent the next summer training hard, biking with my pals in the Bombay Bicycle Club in Madison, rollerskiing in the fall, lifting weights, hoping to finally crack into the illustrious Top 200. No luck. At the 2003 Birkie it's back where I belong, somewhere around No. 400. The good news is that I no longer dream of making the Elite Wave. Now that I'm a family man, I've got everything in perspective and will consider it a victory to simply keep making it to the Birkie each year. So keep fit, get plenty of rest, practice yoga and don't fret over something as silly as a cross country ski race. After all, there are diapers and runny noses to worry about.
Mike Ivey is a journalist with The Capital Times in Madison. He will be attempting to complete his 20th consecutive Birkie on Feb. 24. Photo: Action Sports.
