Bieg Piastów 2011

by Piotr Szkarlat, photos by Jaroslaw Jaskowiak

April 11, 2011

It was the 3rd year of Bieg Piastów in the Worldloppet Series. The event is growing,  gets more colorful and better organized though there is still a lot of room for improvements. It also offers more races every year so every skier may pick the distance and style that he likes the best.
This year Bieg Piastów organized four races over the weekend:  50km (main race) and 26 km classic on Saturday; 50km and 30km skating on Sunday plus 10km classic on Friday that had the character of a family race. It must be appreciated that organizers try to satisfy skiers of different capabilities offering so many races.
The weather was good during the week preceding races and also stayed sunny on Saturday and Sunday. Snow conditions were quite difficult before races as skiing trails remained ungroomed for the long time. Sunshine and positive temperatures during the day, cold nights and big number of skiers made them very icy and even dangerous at places. They were thoroughly groomed only before races  and prepared according to good Worldloppet standards.
The course was very interesting (organized in different sequence than it was the last year), winding with many climbs and downhills. Small starting waves and no major uphills over few kilometers after the start prevented bottlenecks. It is also worth to mention that the uphill start and the first timing gate being positioned a few hundred meters from the start line made skiers less hectic after the start which certainly helps to avoid collisions so common in such races.
The dark side of the main race was certainly a technical break that stopped a group  skiers from later waves in the main race after 30km and made them waiting for almost 40 minutes. It was caused by the interference of the main race and 26km event. Although it was announced on the web site before the race, very few could read it and skiers considered it being against the spirit of rivalry. The organizers will have to figure out a different solution in future.
The entry fee for Bieg Piastów is the lowest in the Worldloppet series.  Skiers certainly appreciate it but perhaps it would be worthwhile to consider the increase that would enable organizers to provide more variety of drinks and food during the race plus technical assistance (waxing and pole service)specially during the classic race. The positioning of food stations should also be changed (one of them was on the downhill thus was of little help to competitors).
Despite those critical comments we appreciate that Bieg Piastów is progressing in terms of organization. Beautiful, interesting course and variety of races it offers will certainly attract more skiers every year.
Some results of IAWLS members

50km Classic:

50 km free:

This page was last revised on September 22, 2011