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Team Planning for Race Team Finish Times

Cross Country Ski, by Åse Seeligson 43 minutes  19th in Division - 159th Overall Ranking

Before I head off towards the lightly dressed crowd of skiers in the sun-gleaming snow, I ask Sean to practice my name a couple of times so he can alert my attention at the finish line. I then place myself in the middle, while nervously wondering if I am in shape for this. To my left a couple speak Norwegian, and as I greet these fellow aliens… Bang! A loud gunshot jerks us all into movement! Given the number of skies and poles, legs and arms in close proximity, the start goes pretty smoothly, and soon the space between us increases. The first fifteen minutes goes well, but then I check my watch and realize my time is not looking good! My old time of 44 minutes is way out of reach at this pace! As skate skiers pass me left and right, thoughts start to crowd my head: “I’m tired! I’m not in good shape! This course is longer than I remember! I’m so slow! My skies are ancient! I have to pace myself to last! Why did I not practice more? Even: I could be sleeping!” On the third and longest loop I think I see huge numbers of skiers ahead of me and a much thinner crowd behind… I must be towards the end of the pack. Getting old! On the last downhill before the finish line, I turn to ask another skier: “Are we almost halfway?” He says: “This is it. We’re done!” I think he must have misunderstood me, but then I recognize a woman who was recently ahead of me and now stands on the sideline. Reality hits and I realize I can spurt now or never. Soon Sean calls out my name (pronounced correctly!); I hand off the wristband and experience an almost immediate shift of attitude. Forgetting that I was recently exhausted and out of shape, I think: “I’m not done! I have more to give!”  ^top

Downhill Ski, by Sean Vonnegut 36 minutes, 42 seconds  32nd in Division - 274th Overall Ranking

The crowd is serenaded with a large BANG from what appears to be an avalanche charge.  That was LOUD! Pandemonium ensues as the mass of cross country skiers take off! I am grabbing my stuff and heading toward the starting point. A short amount of time passes.  The dangerously fast cross country skier, Ase, has finished and is looking for me. I take the wristband and ski down the hill toward the Big Climb. The following is a narrated passage of the thoughts in my head: "Why can't we start climbing at this elevation?  Why do we have to ski down 100 feet if we just have to climb back up it? - This is going to hurt! - Using straps to keep my skis together really is helping me keep my concentration.  Now if they made a strap that could increase my cardiovascular endurance I would be in good shape.  Hey, if I was in good shape, I wouldn't need a strap!" So far I have passed 6 people, and on the steepest part of the course.  I have shown good speed so far, but how will I fare at the end? I find out soon enough, gasping for nonexistent air, by now talking out loud to myself… ”Arrgh, not much further....just one more step, just keep taking one more step…” I am now on the flat part at the top of the mountain.  To my horror, people are passing me on the easiest part of the course! Again I talk to myself, “Shouldn't have passed people...need air...skiing down good...walking up BAD!” I finally reach the top and notice an old football coach cheering on the contestants. Coach: “That's right almost there don't give up now!” Me: “Uh Hunhh!” Finally, I'm skiing down the hill, feeling good.  The cold air cools me off and energizes me when I need it most.  I notice a storm coming in from the south, so I race to alert the crowd below.  I get into a crouched position and burn down the hill.  A girl falls right in front of me, showering my face with ice balls.  Yes, it hurt, but I feel that it made me STRONGER.  I fly down the hill and have enough momentum to make it to the finish line with little skating necessary.  This makes me happy. I hand off to Diana. The crowd goes wild.  ^top

Running, by Diana Robinson 52 minutes, 15 seconds  15th in Division - 151st Overall Ranking

Atop the mountain once again. I will truly never learn! After an incredibly fast time by Åse, Sean flew in to hand off to me much quicker than I expected, but I was ready. I grabbed the wrist-band and took off. Running out of the snow in my racing flats was a challenge, but I managed to stay vertical. Many who know me well understand this is sometimes not an easy thing for me!! Down the road I ran. The first mile flew by in record time (for me) 5:40. I knew I had to slow down just a little or I would never reach the finish line in one piece. I passed a lot people on the way down. This was a welcome change from last year when I was running virtually by myself. It’s nice to have people to chase down! I reached the finish line in 51:00. Almost a 4 minute improvement over last year which I was very happy about even though I had a $600 incentive to beat 50:00 which I now realized I missed by one minute, one second! Ouch! This leaves me great incentive for next year! At the bottom of my run our speedy cyclist was still warming up and I had a small wait for him. No worries, though that waiting time was added to my official time, not his. I need to call the officials and get this rule changed if I am to win myself $600 next year! The run was fun, the team was great!! Thank you everyone!  ^top

Road Bike, by Craig Butler 1 hour, 48 minutes 33 seconds 26th in Division - 262nd Overall Ranking

The bicycle leg is about 36 miles. I estimated it would take me 2 hours and 10 minutes to reach the finish line, though I hoped that I could make it in 2 hours.  The people in each leg of the race had a cell phone for communication up and down the race course, particularly so each of us would know when the racer coming to meet us had taken off, so we would be ready for the handoff. However, there was no signal at the place I was waiting, so I had to rely on our estimates, made the day before. Little did I know that the first two legs were finished in record time, and that our runner would be arriving much earlier than I expected. Our runner had estimated that she would arrive at 11:00, so I figured I’d get up to the line at 10:50. At about 10:42. Ivar (my support person) says, "I can't believe how many runners come in and the bicyclist isn't to be found".  I replied, "Yeah, but with all the numbers being called off (there were over 400 teams), it's hard to hear your team number." Our team was #74.  Just then over the loud-speaker we hear, "#74! Your runner has come in!" I utter a commonly used expletive, and run for the starting line with my bike.  Grabbing the wrist band, I cry, "You're early!" Diana replies: I'm late!” (She was hoping for a faster time.) Off I go peddling steady but hard. The route, for the first half loses a lot of elevation. I can pick up some good speed as I head towards the town of Glacier.  Still, my old Schwinn bike doesn't have the tiny rear sprocket I need to get the most out of the hills.  I continue the race, managing to gain the steep hill into Maple Falls and continue on towards the Kendall area.  Just outside of Kendall, a man and woman pass me. I trade off and on with the man and then think I might be able to catch up to the woman who is a few hundred yards ahead.  I finally catch her as we near the hills of south pass.  After drafting her a bit, I said, "It was tough catching up to you." She replied, "You should get a faster bike."  I wasn't sure if I should be insulted when she added, "Back on the flats I saw your bike and thought, 'No problem, I can catch up to him'. It was tough!".  She was actually complementing me and insulting my bike!  She sped off to the finish line.  Shortly after, I saw a sign that read 6 miles to the finish. I started adding an extra push to the ride as I sailed down the other side of South Pass towards the finish line in Everson where I would hand off to Mel.  When I saw the tent at the side of the road with race volunteers taking notes, I knew I had just one more mile to go, so I really poured it on. Too late I realize that the tent with the note takers was at the two mile point. So I powered out the last two miles instead of the one mile I had planned for, rounded the final corner, crossed the finish line, braked to avoid hitting the Mel-shaped object ahead and nearly fell off of my bike. I put out my arm so Mel could grab the wristband. As he grabbed it, he shoved a piece of paper into my hand and yelled something about his car and where it’s parked, then ran away. I though I saw a large white rabbit carrying a pocket watch also, but I could have been mistaken. I was very tired, after all.  It took me about 20 minutes to get properly oriented, and find Mel’s car in the large field where several hundred others were parked. (This was the subject of the note he had handed me.) I then drove to Hovander Park but ended up taking an inadvertent detour, but that’s another story.  ^top

Canoe, by Kit Vonnegut & Mel Monkelis 2 hours 19 minutes, 38 seconds  20th in Division - 179th overall

Three hours of standing around in a light drizzle snacking and drinking water abruptly ended when we heard “Number 74 is two miles out” over the loudspeakers. Mel went to meet Craig, and Kit stayed with the canoe, adjusting its position relative to the other canoes in the staging area, moving it into what he hoped was an advantageous position. Then Mel came running with the wristband and we were off! Within moments of our entering the river and starting our race, we noticed the wreck of a red canoe shoved up against some brush on the right side of the river, and a little further along a canoe paddle jammed into a tangle of branches that formed a mid-stream obstruction. The message was clear - ”be careful!” The river is beautiful, but always changing, and always waiting to remind you that it’s in control! It took about ten minutes to get into our pattern for paddling, and soon we were powering downriver. We set our sights on a yellow canoe up ahead, and told each other “We’re gonna pass that canoe!” And so we did. And then another, and another. All told, we left 15 canoes in our wake, and were zeroing in on our 16th victim when the finish line approached. We made (for us) a record run down the river, despite capsizing at one point, to the hoots and hollers of spectators across the river. Fortunately, we found bottom with our feet and pulled the canoe out onto a gravel bar, emptied it out, put it in the water and jumped in. We lost about two minutes as a result, and though the day was cloudy, the dunking was refreshing in an odd sort of way. We witnessed a capsizing as well. We were passing a canoe, and in the blink of an eye their canoe was upside down, and the paddlers were two heads bobbing in the water floating downstream.  We read in the paper that the rescue boats pulled 25 canoes out of the river, and we assume this was one of them. We drew strength and inspiration from the shouts of encouragement from spectators along the shore, especially from the mass of people on the Ferndale bridge, because, of course, that meant we were close to the end of the race! As we approached shore, we spotted Bud awaiting the hand off, and suddenly we were out of the boat, out of the river, and carrying the canoe up the trail to the finish line at a brisk jog that was nearly the death of us, then Bud was off, and some nice people helped us carry our canoe out of the way, then time seemed to slow down and it was over and the sound of the crowd receded into the distance, and boy a cold beer would go down good right now, and we are so tired but yes we would do it again next year.  ^top

Mountain Bike, by Bud Hardwick 37 minutes, 38 seconds  10th in Division - 74th overall

While waiting for my canoeists to arrive, I catnapped in my car. As I drifted in and out of a light sleep, I had an amusing dream of Mel banging on my car window and shouting “We’re here! Get up and bike!” As our early team members finished their ‘legs’ faster than predicted, this dream appeared less amusing. Clearly, I wasn’t going to get a long siesta. With alarm I searched for a helper to hold my bike when I ran to meet the canoe, but Craig arrived just in time, fresh from his race and a slight detour to Canada (ask him). The start of my race began with the beautiful efficiency of the canoe take-out as Mel, Kit & I raced with it uphill to the transfer point. As I began my portion of the race I found the bike trail muddy and deeply rutted. I didn’t want to pass anyone. I had crashed three times the day before testing the difficulty of changing lanes. Then I remembered, this was a race and risk was a part of it. I promised myself, each time I passed someone, that it would be the last time, but I kept it up for an even dozen before reaching the asphalt. From there it was a painful grind relieved by the guard rail jumping, bridge dodging, and beach running segments near the end. Without slowing I crossed the finish line and looked for our kayaker, ‘Tall’ Paul . . . ^top

Kayak, by Paul Leeson 1 hour, 3 minutes, 7 seconds  27th in Division - 233rd Overall Ranking

Last year at this time if you had asked me to define torture in a single phrase I would have replied “Ski to Sea.” Of course, the circumstances were different then. I was out of shape and I had just finished a 37-mile road race on a mountain bike. This year was better. Five months ago I knew practically nothing about kayaking. However, with the help of Frank & Marjan, Kit & Bernice, Bud and others I quickly learned what I needed to know. Four months of going to the gym helped me prepare my body and by race day I thought I was ready. And this time I really was. To my great satisfaction, Bud handed off to me an hour earlier than we had predicted. I, in turn, ran to the kayak, carried it to the launch point (with Frank’s help), got in and paddled like hell! I didn’t set any records but I was happy with my performance and very impressed with the team’s performance.  ^top

A NOTE OF THANKS  
Support Staff Shines in ’02! 
The Race Competitors, the Board of the Mount Baker Club and the staff of the Rambler extend a big thank you to all the support persons on Race Day.
Bernice Vonnegut for transportation to the mountain (not to mention food and hospitality for team meetings); Frank and Marjan Eicher for the loan of their kayaks, instruction to our kayaker and transport on Race Day; Iver Heinrich, Bill Stauffer and Bruce Vanderpool for transportation support; Amanda Hardwick and Rich Sandeen for cell phones, Angela Fisk for cheering on the mountain, and all club members who turned out on Race Day to cheer our team and the rest of the competitors. Thanks to all of you!-- Kit V.  ^top

ADDITIONAL SKI to SEA THANKS
First, Last and Certainly Not Least
We began participating in this race three years ago with wide ranging goals including attracting new members, broadening the activities we lead, increasing the visibility of our club, and joining the race that our founding members created. I would never have guessed that our original expectation of just surviving the race could have led us to a finish in the top half of a field of 400 teams in such a short time. While accomplishing these goals has been important I think that the greatest benefit to our club has been completely unplanned. The fellowship, sharing, and general good feelings that our members experience while participating in this event has added a dimension to the club that is as wonderful as it is unexpected. From our loyal parade marchers, to the racers and their many helpers and alternates, to the faithful cheering section at the finish line, there are so many ways that we join together for this event. Well Done To Everyone! Special thanks to all those who have shouldered so much of the organizing: calling members about the parade location, preparing signs, Kit & Bernice for housing, transporting, and feeding all the racers; and Mel for the great victory party (and western style hamburgers). See you all next year! -by Bud Hardwick

SKI to SEA Parade Report
A light drizzle did not keep 22 hikers from participating in Whatcom County’s biggest event: The Ski to Sea Grand Parade. The parade route, considered an easy hike of two miles, (with virtually no elevation gain), was lined with spectators who shouted “Yea Hikers”, and “Good for You”. We returned the waves from the crowd , and all had a good time. -MC  ^top