24 T

Think you can ski 208 miles in a day ? Then you'd win....

By ROGER SCHNEIDER
Associated Press Writer
CABLE, Wis. (AP) - Chris Ransom is so committed to the 24 Hours of
Telemark that two years ago he skied in it even though his broken right
arm was in a cast.
Matt Aro wants to be in the Jan. 7-8 cross-country ski race so much
that he volunteered to shovel snow onto the course to ensure it would
have enough of a base.
And Harry Spehar - fearing the event's demise a year ago - helped
organize the fifth annual relay race at Telemark Resort as he trained
for it.
That's the sort of dedication that will come together for the race next
weekend at this northwestern Wisconsin resort, which is known more as
the place where thousands of people take off each February in North
America's largest cross-country ski race, the American Birkebeiner.
Far fewer skiers - Spehar and about 200 others in teams of two, four
and six - will embark on the 5-kilometer pine-lined course of the 24
Hours of Telemark. The mind-numbing relay race starts at 10 a.m.
Saturday, continues into the cold dark night with skiers wearing
headlamps to guide them and ends at 10 a.m. Sunday.
Team members take turns on the course. When they're not skiing, they
rest if they can, eat and dry out inside the lodge. At the end of the
24 hours, the team with the most laps in each class wins.
''It is a unique event,'' said Dennis Kruse, a race organizer who lives
near Cable. ''The numbers aren't that great, but the people who do it
are addicted.''
That diagnosis certainly applies to Ransom and Aro, who are among the
10 or so ''solo freaks'' who enter each year.
As the term implies, they ski alone for the 24 hours in what has become
a classic matchup between two athletes who are friendly competitors,
also race in triathlons and are nearly 30 years apart.
Ransom, 54, of Lake Mills in southern Wisconsin, won the male solo
freak category the first three years of the race. Aro, 26, of Superior
in far northwestern Wisconsin, won the past two years, though he is
anything but boastful about the accomplishment.
''I was lucky enough to win,'' he said about his first 24-hour solo
freak title.
That year, Ransom, a corporate consultant specializing in leadership
and team development, came to the race with a broken arm. He skied
eight hours anyway ''just to be there.''
Said Aro: ''If he didn't have a broken arm, he would've won hands
down.''
The wood products scientist also attributed his second victory, in
2005, to luck even though he skied 335 kilometers - more than 200
miles. It was just 5 kilometers more than Ransom and he took the race
record from his rival in the process.
Now, Ransom wants it back.
''I have a whole new strategy, which I'm not going to share with you,
and I'm getting plenty of skiing in this year, too,'' said Ransom, who
then offered a few tidbits: He will ski six-hour blocks - instead of
his normal four hours - and then take 20-minute breaks at a trail-side
heated tent.
''My goal is to break my record and to break Matt's record,'' Ransom
said. ''And if the snow conditions are good, I think it can be done.''
Sleep is not in the strategy for either skier.
Aro will take three 30-minute breaks during the race, but he's less
rigid on when.
''I'm going to base it on how I feel,'' he said.
Aro and Ransom downplayed the competition and talked more about the
ethereal aspects of the race, including the feeling they get at
sunrise.
''There's something really special that comes with skiing into the dawn
- a euphoria,'' Ransom said.
''When the sun comes up, it's kind of like jubilation because you know
you're about done,'' Aro added.
The race also includes team and solo classes for 12, six and three
hours to attract skiers of all abilities, mostly from the Upper
Midwest.
''There are several teams that have been there every year. They
annually put it on the calendar and look forward to it every year,''
said Spehar, who skis on a six-person team called ''Chix & Hix on
Stix'' and helps with the race between turns on the trail.
The team names are part of the charm: ''Eat, Bowl, Relax,'' ''The
Bloody Lungs'' and ''Dumber Than Dirt'' are among those that show up
annually.
''It's as much a reunion as it is a race,'' Spehar said.
The 59-year-old Spehar, who lives in Madison and works as a brand
manager for Trek bicycles in nearby Waterloo, deserves credit for
keeping the race alive.
''We were going to let it go, but Harry said no,'' said Tom Schuler,
president of Team Sports Inc., which puts on the event and also manages
bicycling and triathlon teams. ''Harry's the guy who gets everything
done.''
That means lining up sponsors and making the 5-kilometer course as
ready as it can be, given the uncertainties of snow. In 2003, snow had
to be machine made and the course was shortened to about 3 kilometers,
making for an almost-dizzying 92 laps for Ransom's third win. Making
matters even more challenging, overnight lows were well below zero, one
of the hazards of holding a race in northern Wisconsin in January.
Aro, for one, can live without subzero temperatures as he trains 20 to
25 hours a week in preparation.
''I don't deal with the cold all that well,'' said Aro, who feels in
better shape than a year ago but knows all too well that luck plays a
role. ''I'm keeping my fingers crossed.''
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On the Net:
Team Sports Inc.: http://www.teamsportsinc.com/
24 Hours of Telemark: http://24hoursoftelemark.com/
AP-CS-12-30-05 1428EST