The NENSA New England Marathon Series has something for everyone, welcoming skiers of all levels to test their endurance, or just make the most of a winter’s day on courses all over New England. The first in the series this year was the White Mountain Classic 30 km classic race in Jackson, New Hampshire. A week later was the well-attended Craftsbury Marathon at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center in Craftsbury, Vermont; which was another classic race made up of two or four 12.5 km loops for the 25 or 50 km classes.

In February, the John Roderick Marathon was held during the same weekend as the Black Mountain 100th anniversary celebration. The John Roderick skate race consisted of 9 laps around a 5.3K course for the 50 km race. The next marathon in the series was a month later because the Lake Placid Loppet scheduled at the end of February was moved to the third weekend of March after the unseasonably warm temperatures and low snow. The 22nd annual Rangeley Lake Loppet on the first weekend of March had low temperatures but great skiing and fun prizes.

Slated for the first two weekends in March, both the Trapp Marathon and Bretton Woods Marathon ended up being cancelled due to low snow. It turned out that the rescheduled Lake Placid Loppet was worth the wait since the weather and conditions were both fantastic for the Lake Placid Marathon in and the Sugarloaf Marathon at the Sugarloaf Outdoor Center that ended up being held on the same day.

With continued support from Swix and L.L.Bean, NENSA is awarding the New England Marathon Series Challenger Award this year. Racers will need to have completed a minimum of four New England Marathon Series races to be counted for the Marathon Challenger Award. Age classes M1-M6 must have raced full marathons, and M7+ had the option to ski the ½ or full marathon with the exception of the White Mountain Classic where everyone skis the 30 km.

The 2017 Marathon Challenge Award winners are Daniel Baumert, Brett Deyling, James Doucett, Robert Faltus, Jud Hartmann, David Herr, Bruce Katz, Clinton Krueger, Peter Mamrol, Michael Melnikov, Steve Messier, John Sakalowsky, Tom Smith, and Todd Taska. Congratulations to these 14 skiers on their determination, grit and dedication to the challenge! Each skier will receive a Swix Marathon Challenger hat.