Noquemanon Ski Marathon
The Noquemenon Ski Marathon has one of the coolest prizes for the winner of the 50km Classic point to point race from Ishpeming to Marquette: a giant Moen Cow Bell.
The race is known to be epic with a course that crosses private land and is only open to skiers on race day. Snow, wind and cold can make the net downhill 50km race an over 2.5 hour event for even the top racers. The scenery is magical and it is one of my favorite races.
The race starts on the FIS homologated 5km competition loop at Al Qual before climbing to the high point and then dropping down to the shores of Lake Superior and the Superior dome. In warmer temperatures I would consider double poling the course, but my strength isn’t what it once was and the ‘speed cost’ of kickwax in cold new snow are minimal. I opted for a pair of Rotofella Move bindings which allow you to move the position of your bindings while you are skiing. I skied at the balance point for the first half of the race, then switched to -3 for the second half of the race. I have done this in a few races, including the Seeley Hills Classic and the Birkie and I’ve found it to work well.
Team Birkie coaches Caitlin and Leo before the start of the race.
The Rottefella MOVE system allowed me switch between different amounts of grip and glide throughout the race — all while never taking off my skis.
One of the largest climbs is right out of the start and I went out fast with the goal of breaking up the group. Our skis were great and a group of 4 Team Birkie athletes lapped through the stadium at 3km with a small gap and we soon became a group of 3. Christian and I separated on one of the climbs to the high point and I prepared for a two man race to the finish.
Team Birkie Crew posing with the Noquemanon sign.
Near the top of the course at one of the feed stations I heard the volunteers ringing their cowbells and noticed that we were being caught. Christian and I immediately began to work together with the hopes of distancing ourselves from third place. We traded 30-60 second pulls at the front breaking through the fresh snow. Skiing in each others tracks was certainly an advantage and it made dropping each other difficult. I honestly thought Leo or Andrew would catch us at any moment so I tried to keep pushing the pace. On Friday night, Caitlin and I skied the final 7km of the course and I knew there were two climbs I could use to try and get away. I made a strong push and was happy to get a short break and ski in for the win and the giant cowbell.
I think our daughter Heidi is going to have a lot of fun with this cowbell… sorry neighbors!
You know your coaches love skiing when they take their weekend off to join you at a ski race and compete themselves. They have been working very hard and haven’t had a day off since Christmas. Caitlin has been wanting to get a new phone so that we have better videos for technique and photos for this blog. She was happy to win the big bell and $1000 to upgrade her phone.
Everyone had a great time in the UP of Michigan. A huge thank you to the community for supporting this awesome event. I can’t wait to come back next year.
