Author Archive | Kort Longenbach

MNC at the Birkie!

By Kort Longenbach on 24 February, 2019 in Masters Blog

2019 Birkie Recap

(by Chase Rosenberg)

A solid snowpack and a guarantee of a warm day had Birkie anticipation peaked by the start of the weekend in Hayward. Wearing the MNC tights for the first time was great, as a bunch of folks recognized them came up before and during the race to share their connections to the club and its members. Shortly after Kikkan Randall’s opening address to the crowd, the birch-legged Birkenbeiner themselves kicked off the race in traditional dress, complete with a real baby Prince Hakkon that was skied by his brown-robe clad mother ahead into the birch forest. A couple of inches of new overnight snow on top of the groomed trail made for a sloppy surface, especially for later waves who contended with the mashed potatoes left behind by the legions of forward skiers. Running into friends on the trail never fails to inject energy, and just after the classic and skate courses converged, MNC’s Mike Bazywewicz skated up behind me, having attacked well up into the Wave 1 skate field (his goal for the race) and shared a smile. Sammy Leo and Chelsea Cary were also representing MNC out there. The afternoon in Hayward ends on Main St., where you stand post race with food and drink in hand and cheer for the trail-worn finishers as they come on unsteady legs down the slope of the International Bridge and onto the final 400 meter stretch of flag-lined course, music and cowbells blaring, bratwurst ubiquitous, and Northern Midwest culture in full bloom.

Race/Wax Report – White Mtn Marathon

By Kort Longenbach on 28 January, 2019 in Masters Blog, Uncategorized

Four MNC skiers competed in the event which was shortened from 30 km to about 24 km due to areas of the course that were flooded out during the heavy rains earlier in the week.

Snow conditions were generally frozen granular with no significant powder to effect waxing decisions. The course generally setup quite hard with some sections getting “sugary” after getting skied in. The final downhill was …well quite fast and somewhat challenging but fine.

Overnight temps were in the single digits and at 7AM on race day it was still around 5 F but warmed to near 20F during the race.

Liam and I experimented with kick wax the afternoon before the race although temps were near 30F so no decisions could be made other than a klister binder would be needed.

We tried using the TOKO recommendation of green klister ironed in, cooled, then ironing TOKO green hard wax on one ski and straight klister on another ski. While both worked the klister hardwax combo was better. On race morning we again tried this combo along with Oslo Blue and Vhauti violet klister. Generally we liked the TOKO mix the best but it was still not quite good enough. We then added some blue (swix k30) klister over the TOKO combo and it felt very good. We found that as long as a stiff, klister type ski was being used a fairly liberal amount of K30 over the initial TOKO mix offered good kick and and glide.

I also tried a Rode Super Weiss cover over the klister but found it really didn’t improve (or hurt) the kick and glide. The snow was extremely abrasive but our kick held fine for the entire race and there was still enough left for a cool down ski.

We used this on skis for me, Liam. Karen and Sean. While I’m sure other combos would have worked we had limited time to test and were generally pleased with the grip.

In terms of the race – Liam had an epic battle with Tyler Mangan and Neal Graves and eventually finished 11th over all and 3rd in his class. Kris Freeman crushed everyone easily. Sean Scanlon snapped a pole about 400 M into the race and was able to circle back to his car for another pole and spent the rest of the race chasing down skiers. Karen was all smiles and had a solid race finishing 3rd in the Women’s M5 division. I struggled in the beginning a bit (not enough of a warm-up) but eventually recovered and settled into a comfortable pace finishing 28th and 3rd M6. NWVE won the mens club championship again and the Stowe Nordic women easily won the women’s division.

Link to photos from Jamie Doucett from CSU:

https://jamiedoucett.smugmug.com/Ski-Photos/Jackson-Freeman-Frost-30-km/

MNC Masters Racing 18-19

By Kort Longenbach on 11 December, 2018 in Masters Blog, Uncategorized

One of the goals of our Masters program is to promote and develop a broad based and vibrant MNC Masters racing community. So whether you are looking to race for the first time or an experienced racer looking for other like minded skiers, MNC plans to offers several options to engage in racing for all abilities.

Masters Racing Group – Join this group to find out the latest information on upcoming races and to meet up with other MNC racers. Each week our Masters Racing lead Karen Alence will send out a list of upcoming races and it is a great way to get first hand information on events, arrange car pools, share wax support info etc.. A quick list of upcoming events can be found here with more details for each event on our MNC calendar. To join the list, please email Karen at kalence@comcast.net.

Custom Training Plans – Plans are available for those athletes looking to focus on improving ski fitness and to meet specific race goals. So if you have a specific goal and want some structure to your training, these plans are for you. Plans cost $25. To register, sign up here

Craftsbury Marathon Preview – On January 19th join our Coaches for our second Mini-camp of the season. This Classic Only session on the intended Marathon loop is a great way to familiarize yourself with the course and learn helpful techniques for race day success.

Masters Focus Race Support – Each season the club encourages all Masters to try at least one of the events below. To help, MNC Coaches will be on hand to provide classic wax supplies and testing in order to get you ready on race day. Support for all three events costs $35. To register, sign up here.

Craftsbury Marathon Doubleheader*
Feb 2 – 50k & 33k Classic / Feb 3 – 33k & 16k Skate.
This classic New England event with a new addition this year of second day skate races.

Mansfield Nordic Club Skiathlon*
Feb 10 – 6k Classic/6k Freestyle Skiathlon.
Skiers switch from classic to freestyle skis mid-race.

MNC New England Relay Championships*
Mar 10 – 4 person x 5K relay race.
Teams of four skiers (2 FS & 2 CL) pair up for this fun end of season event and great for all levels of skiers.
Build your own team or MNC will build one for you.

*Zak & Club Cup points scoring applies.

NENSA Club Cup & Zak Cup Racing. At designated races throughout the season, Masters skiers can earn points for their club or individually in these season long competitions. Winning clubs and skiers are recognized by NENSA, so when registering please designate Mansfield Nordic Club to support our club.

Club Cup points are given to all NENSA members competing in a sanctioned Club Cup event with 10pts for first, 9 for second, and so on. However, after 10th place every skier for a club still gains 1 point, so the more competitors a club has in a race, the more points they will get!

Zak Cup points are determined by the top 15 finishers within each age group in a sanctioned Zak Cup events (see listing here). Racers also need to have completed a minimum number of races within each season for these points to count: participation is rewarded! NENSA Membership at the time of the race is required for Zak Cup Scoring.

To read more details on how the Zak and Club Cups work, check out the NENSA pages by clicking HERE.

BONUS: Masters Training Starts this week!

By Kort Longenbach on 26 November, 2018 in Masters Blog

With snow on the ground we are kicking things off early this season with training at the range starting Nov 27th and a Mini-Camp at Craftsbury on Dec. 1. If you have already signed up you will receive an email with your preliminary Winter training groups and you can find all the key information you need for the upcoming season at the following links:

Masters Training Schedule

Latest Range Conditions

Winter Training FAQ

If you haven’t registered it isn’t too late, but do so before Dec. 1 to avoid rate increases.

Tell us your story…

By Kort Longenbach on 12 November, 2018 in BKL Race Blog, Junior Blog, Masters Blog, Uncategorized

Our MNC Board is looking for your help to develop and expand our sponsorship base. Toward that end, our goal is to create a 2-3 minute video that captures what is special about our club.

To that end, we are asking our members to share their experiences and stories. What does MNC and Nordic skiing mean to you?

So please give us your thoughts, your photos, your videos at the email below. Also, if you have video skills and want to help create this clip, please let us know.

mystory@mansfieldnordic.org