American Birkebeiner

March 3, 2006

Birkie 2006 took place on February 25 in good weather conditions. The temperature was -19°C in the morning but reached -8°C in the early afternoon because of a splendid sunshine. A few cm of new snow made the race tougher than usual. You were not likely to make your PB but thanks to the hard bottom of the track the glide remained average. Birkie is a special WL race in the sense that a classic race and a FT race take place simultaneously with separate classifications. Classic skiers enjoyed a good track on both sides. We wish to send flowers to the Birkie organizers for the excellent start arrangement: 12 start waves for 5000 skiers which guarantees the absence of bottlenecks. Arrangements at the finish were modified: a shorter walk to the clothing bag recovery area and an interesting innovation, a warm tent for changing clothing.The Birkie course measures only 51 km but is quite challenging because of the many hills.The winner's time was 2.08.57. 4233 skiers finished the race.

Some results:

 

This page was last revised on September 16, 2007