Twin Cities local XC racing scene losses and gains...

It looks like the local racing scene will be thinned a bit this year as St Paul
loses 3 races this year and the West side loses one. The New Years Day race at
Phalen and the Lalapalooza race (held for te last 20? years) at Como where
discontinued along with the Ski Games at Battle creek. The XC ski race at
Murphy Hanrahan was also scuttled. In some ways this may be good news as the
racing scene here seems to have to any races supported by too few racers.
Although, the St Paul races were always some of the better attended. I wonder
where racers will go these weekends. In a sport that requires some comparison
to others to get a sense of how you do I would rather have 1 race with 150
participants than 3 with 50 or so. Perhaps these cancellations will bolster the
numbers at some other local races and make them stronger in the long run. I
assume the Baker Shaker 10k skate may benefit from this development, along with
races in Red Wing and St Cloud. But it all remains to be seen...

I was wondering why the Ski Game were scuttled? After a significant effort to
create a major XC ski event? I also wonder if plans to make Battlecreek Park a
major XC ski area will be effected by this loss? I also wonder how the loss of
the race at Como will effect the grooming there (which has had some
inconsistent grooming the past few years)

On a positive note, The Twin Cities Loppet in Minneapolis, which will be
finishing on the streets of Uptown this year seems to be gaining steam and
looks destined to become one of the major XC ski events in the country. Was
this a factor in the Ski Games decision?..to try and throw support to this new
event that has the backing of the Mayor and city resources?

Also the addition of Elm Creek 2.5K of snow making on real XC ski trails (and
not just a downhill area side project) will be extending the season and perhaps
ther racing season by as much as 6 weeks....Nice to know that the 5k time trial
series at Elm Creek will not have to rely on the real stuff...This will also
guarantee the high schools have a decent course to compete on despite what
mother nature decides...It would be great to see some December weekend races
pop up at Elm Creek. This seems like a no brainer. Perhaps another try at a
Winter Triathlon there in late March?

and so it goes...

Stephen Bullard

The main thing is not having to drive far. Local races make for more racers, I
suspect. Too bad about losing those local races.

When XC was big in Michigan we had multiple races every weekend. Sure it made us
wonder about who was fastest but a few major events answered that. It was fun to
gossip all the while: who's avoiding who.

--

Jeff Potter
****
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