My first ski race of the season was Saturday, January 29th at Phalen Golf course in Saint Paul. It was the revival, after many years off, of the King Boreas 15K event. Things went about as well as could be expected for a guy who needs to lose a few pounds... I started out with Bill Stuber and John Wyland. Bill was right in front of me during the early going until a couple of skiers got in-between us. Stubes looked very smooth as he gradually pulled away from me. I kept up my pace and found some other guys to ski with. After a while, the top women, who started one minute later, started to pass us. I never got into a good rhythm though and wound up passing skiers, who then passed me back and then I'd pass them back again. Amy Cichanowski caught up to me and stayed behind me for a kilometer. Then, she passed me and I figured her pace was pretty good so I decided to follow her. I finally got into a comfortable groove and passed some more guys. We passed one more guy with a couple of hundred yards to go. He passed me back on the inside finishing corner but I out-sprinted him to the line to grab 68th place. Stuber got me by about a 1:30 and I got Wyland by 1:50. Lori Belz, Tina Olson, Nora Bengel and John O'Connell all did the race too. Afterwards, we all went to Bill and Kim Stubers house for food and beer. Others there were Tom and Jan Bengel, Jerry Engen, Bob Woodruff, Pete Thurmes, Joe Stuber and a few more.
