Sunday morning, October 27th, dawned chilly and wet in New Gloucester, Maine as NENSA staffers set up an agility sprint course in the parking lot loop of Pineland Farms. The day marked the second annual running of the Maine Event, a cross-country cross (XCX) sprint on rollerskis preceded by a 5k trail run. The course of the XCX race was designed to use NENSA’s innovative rollerski ramps to test skiers’ rhythm, balance and coordination.
The day began with a learn to ski clinic, where skiers took advantage of expert instruction from NENSA’s Justin Beckwith and Colin Rodgers of GMVS. After the clinic, the 5k trail run went off at 11:00am, with 24 runners braving the rain for a fast and scenic cruise on the beautiful Campus Loop ski trail at Pineland Farms. Competitors ran through field and forest before looping their way back to the finish line. Rain was coming down hard at this point, and several runners came back with the signs of mishaps in the mud on their once white bibs.
Despite the weather there were smiles all around, and the runners dashed back to vans and tents for dry clothes and some down time before the XCX race began at 12:30pm. Bill Green’s Maine will feature this event on November 9th – stay tuned for more details.
The rollerski competition format was to include an individual qualifier round, followed by elimination rounds culminating in a final at the end of the day. But as the rain continued to beat down the decision was made to run a second round of qualification to determine final placement – allowing all competitors to compete again.
Cross-country cross is truly an exciting discipline, and it was amazing to watch our competitors expertly navigate turns and roll smoothly over bumps and rollers. The field included skiers from Bates, Bowdoin, and Colby colleges as well junior skiers from Gould Academy, several Maine high schools, and club programs in Vermont and New Hampshire.
The competition was exciting, and we are proud to have hosted such an energetic and intrepid group of competitors. NENSA continues to be an innovator in US rollerski programming, and we are excited to support New England programs with events like the Maine Event, and continue to push the envelope with cross-country cross.
Look for a full recap of the High Peaks Rollerski Series soon – unfortunately extreme weather forced a cancellation of the Trapp Invitational. Unbeknown to the Colby Mules who had a fantastic showing at The Maine Event this would be the final race of the High Peaks Rollerski Series – and their effort on this day cemented them a the victors of the Marty Hall College Cup! Coaches Tracey Cote and Jackson Bloch had this to say about the day, “We had such a great time at the Maine Event! Being able to participate in both the run and the agility race made for such a productive and fun day of training. We are super thankful to NENSA for continuing to bring this event to Maine. This format of agility racing has become an important test of our fall progress and one of our favorite events we do all season.”
Full results can be found at Bart Timing.
Final Series Ranking can be found here.
All photos courtesy of Flying Point Road – click here to see the entire album.