With Diehl or no Diehl H.U.R.T rolls in Kingston

Ever a student of history, team director Aaron sent the majority of his army of skiers into the suburban jungle of Kingston this past weekend in a way that was modeled after the British failed attempt to separate the colonies in 1777 . The precise organization, timing, carpooling and transportation of gear was eerily similar to the way the British troops hauled their canons over the foothills of the Adirondacks those many years ago. Aaron, however was hoping to avoid the pitfalls that befell those redcoats at Saratoga and Fort Stanwix....

So he had his team wear green instead. Failure averted.


While most nordic skiers either found their way to West Yellowstone or Beitostoelen, Norway this past weekend, Aaron decided that a good early season test for his band of skiers was to race against a hearty and enthusiastic mob of middle school girls and some local talented junior boys. Aaron said after the race "I wanted to simulate some of the race conditions that my guys will see throughout the season. The agility, body awareness and mental focus needed to negotiate through these types of crowds is something that can't be simulated in a workout. Not to mention the crowd noise! The high pitched screaming and cheering is something we need to get accustomed to."

He followed that statement shortly there after by saying..."Besides, I am not 100% sure they have been training hard enough to race against competition that is stiffer than what they saw today....It may have been good that they go into the season with a little bit of winners confidence."

He was visibly pleased with the effort he saw from Martin Donnelly-Heg who finished 1st in the classic and 2nd in the skate. "I think the girls put it best when they said "he's a beast" and "he's hot". He gave the MVP for the day to Jim South who planned a short vacation around the rollerski races to show his true dedication to the team and the team director. Aaron said "Everyone should model there behavior after Jim...do what I say, when I say it and be willing to go anywhere to ski for HURT!" The only big disappointment was that rollerski speed-ster Doug Diehl has been sidelined with a early season injury. Aaron assures he'll be back soon.

Other strong performances were put down by Chris Yarsevich, Tim Huneck, Justin Tetlow, Dave Kvam, Andy Farry, Sean (Hurt-for-a-day) Halligan, Chris and Will Freilinghaus, Brian Halligan and Carol Fischer (thanks to Carol for filling the women's requirement and earning Team HURT the championship.)

Aaron was asked about the individual performances and he credits Justin Tetlow with the performance of the day with a monster 5K classic race (3rd place on undoped wheels) that finished in a dramatic sprint with Bob Underwood. In fact Aaron credits Tetlow with doing just enough to impress Underwood and convince him to throw his family support behind Team HURT for the 2009-10 season.

When asked about Kvam's performance he said "If that guy gets one more 7th place finish he and I are going to win in Vegas and buy the team a ski tunnel."

Special Thanks to Greg Malia for hosting an awesome event with great prizes, donations, sponsors and amazing lunch buffet. I would be willing to bet that the Chili in West Yellowstone was not as good as that found in Kingston.

Enjoy the following episode of HURT television which was shot with the help from a group from the Kingston girls nordic team. Its a truly unique perspective into the world of ski racing.