The 2018 Bogburn was perhaps the most diverse citizen’s race we have hosted in New England this year – from fish scales to Olympians. The Woodstock Inn Nordic Center and the Haydock family paired their efforts to make the event happen despite unseasonably warm February temperatures. Racers from Lollipop to Master’s 9 were greeted to a variety of natural, transformed snow that Woodstock has meticulously groomed and conserved this winter. With temperatures hovering in the mid 30’s, and both soft and firm tracks, finding the correct klister added a little excitement to the day — although evolving traditional technique led many in the field, from BKL to master, to forgo grip wax and double pole the entire course due to a significant amount of flat and gradual terrain. Oh the times they are a changing…
You can read more about the race from our Master’s guest writer, Damien Bolduc, here.
There has been a fantastic display of competition and camaraderie this winter in the Zak Cup Series – and we currently have 104 men and 42 women vying for Age Group titles. These numbers only represent current NENSA masters members, and we have many more skiers who we hope join the action for 2019. We are working hard to improve the citizen racing scene for all racers and we always welcome feedback ([email protected]). Many of our Zak skiers are looking forward to their award mugs and we have a few tricks up our sleeve for end of the year awards, including lodging at the Trapp Family Lodge for our Overall male and female winners and leaders bibs for our four Age Group winners (ties broken by overall).
Speaking of leaders bibs – NENSA and our wonderful sponsors, LL Bean, Nokian Tires and Swix are happy to recognize our top M1-6 and M7+ skiers in each gender with these snazzy bibs (model M8, Leigh Mallory, NWVE). 
Moving into the Flying Moose Classic on March 10th the following skiers will have the yellow jerseys:
Eli Enman – Male M1-6 leader
Rob Bradlee – Male M7+ leader
Sarah Pribram – Female M1-6 leader
Carrie Nourjian – Female M7+ leader
You can find complete Age Group and now Overall Zak rankings on our website.
It’s hard to believe there are only three more Zak Cup events left this season – so make the most of it and sign up for one or all of them! You can access the link to registrations by clicking the name of the events below. We will be updating the rankings shortly after each race to keep folks up to date on Zak Cup standings.
Mar. 10 – Flying Moose Classic
22km, mass start
Bethel, ME
Mar. 11 – Mansfield Nordic Skiathlon
3x2km Classic & 3x2km Skate, mass start
Craftsbury Outdoor Center, VT
Mar. 24 – Craftsbury Spring Fling
30km for M1-M6; 15km for M7+ Skate, mass start
Our Citizens Programming will wrap up with the second annual New England Club Relay Championships held in Craftsbury in conjunction with Super Tour Finals. This event will be the determining factor of Club Cup scoring for 2018. Currently NWVE has a solid lead on the CSU for the second year in a row – but what will unfold in the next races…
March 25 – New England Club Relay Championships
2 x 5km Classic, 2 x 5 km Skate Relay – Craftsbury, VT
Congrats to all our racers and a special thanks go out to Nick Mahood (and his staff at Woodstock) and Bob Haydock (founder of the Bogburn) – for all of their energy to make cross country skiing thrive in New England.
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