The 2014 City of Lakes Peace Coffee Pre-Loppet Summary

Thanks City of Lakes Loppet Foundation for putting on a great quality race!  The trails were in great shape and the temperatures were about as good as it gets, especially this year.

My day of racing was a success even before the 17 km race started.  My biggest measure of success these days is getting all my kids to the start line on time and with kick wax that actually works for them.  Whew! the Swix VR 60 was the ticket, thanks Piotr .  Caden (10) won his U12 5km race, Bryce (8) was second in his 2km U10 race, and Ethan (5) was 7th out of 12 in his 7 and under race.  Ethan only fell three times and only cried once; quite an improvement from the Twin Cities Championships when he said, "I fell 29 times and cried the whole way".  Thursday evening, Ethan put his tooth through his lip skiing at Wirth; I was proud of him for just getting out there on Saturday.

Start of the Youth 5km Classic Race (Caden is wearing the bright blue hat and grey MYSL suit)

 

I lined up for the start of the 17 km without a warm-up, well I guess running after my kids for the last couple hours would count as a warm-up.  Just after the start, there was a pile-up right in front of me; I narrowly avoided it, but lost precious time in the process.  My skis felt fast (I waxed with Fast Wax's HSLF 10 teal, followed by HSF 10 green, and a final coat of Flight Cold using the Base Saver to apply it).  I also waxed my kids' skis with Fast Wax and they were very happy with their skis.

Bonnie Skiing the Pre-Loppet

I didn't look at the course map before the race, so I wasn't sure where I was on the course or what kilometer I was at.  I saw my son, Josh, cheering me on around the time I was entering Wirth Lake for the second time.  I asked him "how far to the finish", thinking it was between 2-4 kilometers.  He said it was just across the lake. 

Bonnie Skiing on Wirth Lake Toward the Finish

 

I tucked in behind another skier to catch a little draft across the lake.  I was greeted by family, friends, and a nice bag of Peace Coffee at the finish.

 

Vakava had many age group podium finishes at the Pre-Loppet:

 

30-39 females - Anna Peterson 3rd (8th female overall)

40-49 females - Bonnie Weiskopf 1st (2nd female overall)

30-39 males - Nathan Porath 2nd (6th overall)

                     - Craig Cardinal 3rd (7th overall)

60-69 males - Dave Christopherson 1st (61st overall)

 

Other strong finishes from Vakava include:

Ryan Atwell (15th overall)

Paul Olson (76th overall)

Mike Nohr (77th overall)