2007 Craftsbury Marathon

The Craftsbury Marathon is the big one. NWVT had a great turn-out for this race as 12 club members participated in the event. This years Marathon field was very strong and deep with over 600 people braving the conditions to Race and Tour.

Cold is the word for describing this year’s conditions. On the drive over we saw temps range from 0 to -16! Yes negative 16 was the temp at registration. The course was the familiar point to point route starting at Highland lodge in Greensboro and traversing through the scenic Northeast to Craftsbury Nordic Center and then to the Grand finish that loops around the historic Craftsbury Common. The diverse course incorporates all types of terrain with long steep climbs at the start and finish to picturesque flat sections with panoramic mountain views to technical sections that twist over rocks and between trees. The snow was also variable with cover very thin in places. There were icy sections as well mid-winter conditions giving way to almost bare ground. Many of the corners and hills had been scraped down to ice early in the race. Overall the course was in good shape with fast, hard tracks and all the athletes were happy that the host had put in so much work to pull the race off.

Once again NWVT racers were greeted by NWVT volunteers at the starting corral. Seth Maciejowski and Allaire Diamond greeted racers with smiles as they poured into the start area. They also had the duty of skiing sweep on the 25k course after all the racers and tourers had made their way to the finish. A special thanks to these guys for volunteering and helping to make the race possible and enjoyable for everyone.

The first wave had 5 NWVT athletes competing in the 50k race. Lary Martell got off to a great start and lead things out for the club, Dhyan Nirmegh followed close behind, and Perry Bland, Scott Magnan and Damian Bolduc followed in a pack a little further back. As the race unfolded NWVT team work prevailed once again. Scott pulled away and caught a talented group Lary was skiing with and worked together keeping each other in sight most of the race. Damian and Perry pulled a great group of skiers up to join Nirmegh and they skied a majority of the race trading leads and keeping each other motivated by taking advantage of their own strengths, making the others always work hard and keeping the group honest as they made their way to the finish. On a hill after the 35k mark NWVT member Mike Cain was out on his annual tour to watch the race and support the club. It was also around this point that the race really began to break up as the large packs became smaller with skiers pulling away and others falling back. For the most part NWVT kept it together with Scott and Lary pushing on, and Perry and Damian staying within sight of each other. Scott was the clubs first finisher in 30th place, Lary was second in 34th then Perry came in 45th with Damian close behind at 50th, Nirmegh finished things up in 80th place.

The second wave had 3 NWVT athletes. This was the first Craftsbury Marathon for any of them, and their results were very positive, hopefully indicating more marathons in the future. Ilke Van Genechten found herself skiing with the leaders of the race early on. Thinking that she may have started a little too fast, she skied her own race as the race winner pulled away. She used overtaking first wave skiers as motivation and took 9th overall woman and 3rd in her division! Jessica Bolduc opted for the 25k race. She used first wavers as targets and strong technique to hold off a pair of Vermont ’s top junior skiers. She finished the difficult half marathon as the 4th woman and first in her division. Club new-comer Maria Cimonetti entered her first ski race in a long time. This accomplished tri-athlete was a former nordic skier who chose the Craftsbury Marathon to test the waters again. She had a solid finish in the 50k, taking 3rd in her age group.

Tyler Magnan was NWVT’s sole third wave skier. Tyler took it out pretty hard leading the 3rd wave by 5 minutes by the 20k mark. He offered support with a quick cheer as he passed NWVT’s 2nd wave skiers and blew through the field. He had the extra challenge of having to pass skiers from the previous waves, containing a lot of slow traffic from the first wave. He went on to finish 4th overall in the 25k behind first wave skiers who had the benefit of open tracks.

It was a very exciting day for everyone. I hope everyone is pleased with their accomplishment, and contribution to the club. Be it a little cheering, volunteering, or team work, every little bit helped make it a great day for NWVT. It is great to see big results from a little club.