Wakeley and Colie win Michael Seaman Memorial

Unexpected snow made for some interesting conditions at Sunday's Mike Seaman Memorial 5k/10k Classic at Forbush Corner...that and temperatures right around freezing. The course went out and around the Green and Back 40 trails, then turned onto the second half of Rollercoaster before returning to the lodge.

Tracks were glazed where people were testing skis, making even skins and zeros a little slippery. Hard waxes did work, but tended to ice if one stepped onto the new snow outside the track. Adding to the difficulty: the first half of the race course for freshly groomed that morning, but Rollercoaster was groomed the day before so had fresh unpacked snow covering it - leaders in the race had to break trail. Snow and air were both high humidity.

Team NordicSkiRacr Ricardo Lung used Start Grip Tape - easy to apply, and worked great...but totally icing in the new snow on Rollercoaster.

Start Oslo Violet worked great...until you stepped out of the track. I was going to put Rex Hydrex over it to prevent icing but I had a choice: use the bathroom in the few minutes before my start or race with a full bladder. I chose the former, and used by Zero skis which were working fairly well. In fact, they worked great, and I was able to climb the vast majority of the hills without resorting to herringboning.

Toko Yellow seemed to be working, as were any number of other waxes, skin skis, and zeros.

Then there was Ethan Kennedy (Cross Country Ski Headquarters), who skipped the whole kick-wax conundrum: "I doublepoled on my skate skis. My fitness feels good, and I was able to hammer a 10k after two back-to-back classic marathons. Fast snow and fast skis! I used my classic poles."

That was quite a feat for a 10km course that featured 560 feet of climbing, some of it quite steep.

The race was interval start in groups of 4 racers. Seniors started first, then juniors.

Tom Lawrence, Gwenn Stevenson, and Blair Zordell wore Mike Seaman Memorial bike jerseys for the race.

Results

Hanson Hills / Cross Country Ski Shop's Jorden Wakeley finished first in 32:45.3. Denny Paull (Grand Rapids Nordic Ski Team) was second in 33:29.7, with our doublepoler Ethan Kennedy taking third in 33:49.3.

Mariah Frye Colie took a break from running the Cross Country Ski Headquarters to show she's a force to be reckoned with, winning in 44:33.4.  Forbush Corner's Ann Wagar (Hanson Hills / Cross Country Ski Shop) used her home-course advantage to take second in 45:47.4. Wendy Anderson (Cross Country Ski Headquarters) rounded out the top three in 45:50.5.

The junior results will be forthcoming: some of the juniors accidently did the full 10k rather than the 5k, and Forbush Corner is working with the coaches to determine a fair way to score the skiers. The results will be posted when they are available.

The race generated $855 for the Michael Seaman scholarship fund, then topped off by an anonymous donor to an even $1,000!