Canadian Birkiebeiner Race Report

Since last year's Birkie wasn't enough pain and suffering, I decided to give it another go this year, except this time around I was smart and did the 55 km race without the 12 lb pack. Warm temperatures in Edmonton meant that tracks were extremely fast, so waxing was a challenge: for the first time in something like 15 years I used klister on my skis.

Overall, the "race" went extremely well (I put race in quotes, because the race winner was done in less than half the time it took me), in the sense that I could actually speak complete, coherent sentences at the finish line, instead of the half-dazed mumblings I churned out last year. I chopped 40 minutes off my time, but that was still less time than my friend took off of his time, so I was the one stuck drinking Bud Light Lime that evening. Curses...