History made over Championship Weekend

It has been a week since the NYSSRA Championship weekend and it has taken that long to recover from the nail-biting, suspense filled race weekend that saw HURT nordic squeak out a team points title for the sixth straight year.  In years past, HURT has been able to lean heavy on huge team turnout and and a massive points lead heading into the final relay and distance championship.  This year they had no such luxury on either account.  Most of the junior field and HURT laydz were off to sunny Cali for a week of Junior National racing and vitamin D replenishment and the race team in Lake Placid was truly skeleton.

Facing the massive Peru Nordic contingent on both Saturday and Sunday was a lot like the Battle of Rorke's Drift depicted in the epic 1964 movie "Zulu".  And while HURT's official organizational position is considerably less-colonial than the British Empire's, the battle on snow was equally lopsided at the onset....and very nearly as bloody.

Picture from my obscure movie reference

Appearing leaderless (both Directresses were not in Lake Placid) HURT looked to its once ruthless Dictator, Aaron Huneck to shoulder the burden and lead the team to victory.  It was reminiscent of Napoleon returning from Elba after his exile.  Aaron and DPK skied into a 3rd place finish in the men's relay and a he followed it up with big podium finish in the Sunday classic race behind Douglas and Wellford.  Perhaps the biggest effort of the day came from Emma Huneck who dusted off her race boards to join with her mom to score some all important women's relay points.  In year's to come, 2015 will be remembered as the "year of the Huneck."

Visual approximation of A. Huneck pre-race. 

On a weekend where every point mattered on Sunday there was some great skiing by Chris Y, DPK, Bob and Heidi, Tim, Adam and Cameron and despite being outnumbered 2-1 by Peru the lead going into the race after a season of racing was just enough to grab the win....by 2 points.

HURT train rolls out at the start of Sunday's race

Huneck battles with Douglas early on. 

So...HURT nation....celebrate now, for we once again reign champs....but "Winter is coming"....and so is Peru.

Sorry, No historical reference here.....just looking forward to the next season of "Game of Thrones"....I mean "NYSSRA racing".

Hurt rides podium wave into Championships

Last weekend's Lake Placid Loppet and Tourathon saw some awesome racing conditions and some great race performances by Hurt nation. Overall podium spots were grabbed by Bob "still got it" Underwood in the 25 k classic and Dave "baby, what baby?" PK in the 25k skate.  Aaron "first 50" Huneck skied to a strong 2nd place in the Tourathon as well.  Check the full results to see all the great times posted by the big green.

Peak form seems to be found by many skiers.... just in time for the season closes in three days up at vanho.  NYSSRA champs is here and it is going to be a battle for the team title.  You've seen the hype from the talking heads and word is out the Peru is hungry for a comeback win....and have the ranks to be a real threat.  The Directresses are counting on you to sign up today and stem the black tide.

Underwood looking forward to his waffles

Pete Pedrotty storms his way to a solid finish in the 25k skate

Junior crew plus PK hanging around after Loppet-ting

PK's maple dance after 3rd overall in the 25K skate

Age group winner S. Duclos prefers pancakes. weirdo. 

They certainly help her ski well, though. 

Beware the sleeping giant

This past weekend featured some big races and big results and an even bigger swing of momentum heading into the remaining weeks of the NYSSRA club season.  The big NY to-do was the annual Empire State Games Tournado weekend in lake placid.  This event had something for everyone...2.5k skate, 18k classic, 7.5k skate and even a sprint final on the new nordic terrain park.  It was highlighted by some of the best winter snow (ever?) (no hyperbole?) and great attendance across the board.

In the 2.5k skate HURT struggled to get things going.  Four team members (Tim, DPK, Eric and Jill) found there way to the newly revamped Dewey mountain trails and were met by other clubs in force.  Results didn't come easy and the Tournado weekend started out with a lack-luster showing.

Reinforcements arrived on Saturday and a mass start classic race was just what the doctor ordered. HURT master-trio of Bob, Chris and DPK took hold of the race early and the three battled Peru super stud Jan Wellford into a sprint battle after an hour of hard, smart tactical skiing.  Age, wisdom and beauty won the day as Bob-im really 25-underwood out lunged Yarsevich for the top spot. All HURT skiers made it into the top 20 grabbing numbers 1, 2, 4, 13, 14, 15 and 19. with podium finishes by Bob, Chris and Heidi.

Sunday brought an even greater force to town as the hurt juniors took the field to get one last tune-up before their sectional races on Wednesday. In doing so, hurt amassed some major points.  Once again they managed to put 3 in the top 4 only this time it was Aaron and Owen doing the heavy lifting.  DP-perpetuallyleftoutofthedance-K was once again one spot off the podium left scratching is head about the mighty Wellford.

However the team grabbed a whole bunch of spots and a whole bunch of points to wrap up a great weekend of racing.  Most impressive was the dominance of the hurt lady's led by Amy, Elli, Sarah, Heidi and Bernadette who broke well into the men's field to earn big points.

Despite the big effort the winner on the weekend was Hurt's nemesis from the north, Peru Nordic Masters.  The have tightened up the clubs points race in a big way and look to create a do-or-die situation come NYSSRA champs in March.  It will be close. Very close. Despite Peru boasting some top state talent, this weekend showed that when you poke a sleeping giant you might just risk waking it up.  Only 4 racers Friday turned quickly into a massive juggernaut by Sunday....

Other clubs should be on notice.....HURT won't let the championship banner go without a tussle.

Register now for NYSSRA champs and get the free-shirt.  You only have until the 15th to get the deal and then you can't get it. Limited special edition extra-awesome trek-wick training tee.  Don't miss out.

A special shout-out to all other hurt racers who competed else where around the nation...Will and Austin in Craftsbury, Seth in Wisconsin, all the masters in Canada....and anyone else I missed! Great job everyone!

Young talent is all around in HURT country

Fierce skiers behind those smiles

No...Aaron's head was not photoshoped onto a Hefty garbage bag :)

There he is! HUUUUUNNNNNEEEECCCKKKK!!

Patrick skiing strong this season!

Bob "Classic every day please" Underwood

Race Focus

Race grimace "I really have to do this terrain park?" 

Chris finishing off a great weekend

HURTATHON UPDATE! LOCATION CHANGE

Sunday's HURTathon (1/18/15) had been moved to the Queensbury School Trails. Park behind the Elementary school, 1/4 mile West of Exit 19 of the Northway. Race starts at 9am, registration 7:45-8:45.

Sunday January 18th HURTathon at Crandall Park

Crandall Park has great conditions right now, just in time for a full weekend of racing.  Come out both days to race the Glens Falls Freestyle on Saturday and the HURTathon Classic race on Sunday. 


Register for the Glens Falls Freestyle here!
https://www.skireg.com/glens-falls-freestyle

Register for the HURTathon here!
https://www.skireg.com/hurt-athon

Certainly MEGA

The HRT newsroom filed this report:

This past Saturday HURT-nation held their 6 hour MEGA-Relay event at Garnet Hill Ski Lodge. Despite the single digit temps, cold wind and slow snow more than 50 racers came out to pack the 4K relay loop looking to tally laps for their respective teams.  It was the largest Mega-Relay to date and the pot-luck table was stacked with tasty chili, soups, dips, snacks, drinks and energy-packed food.

The relay teams were filled with skiers from U14 all the way up to M9 and great time was had by all* (editors note...skiers surveyed were only those sufficiently thawed).  In the hotly contested "Mixed Relay" event the HURT powerhouse team of Bob Underwood, Heidi Underwood and Tim Huneck took advantage of superior ski speed, veteran strategy, age bonuses and good-looks to grab the top spot and most importantly....Sunday's breakfast.

In the Men's relay the powerhouse-quartet from Peru Nordic stole the honors, beer, pretzels and pie. But the might of the HURT Laydz could not be outdone! (and you should have seen their socks!)  Full results and total lap counts can be found here: http://nyssranordic.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mega-relay.pdf

visual approximation of the Peru Nordic powerhouse quartet.

We, at the HRT newsroom would like to be able to show our readership all the dynamic video, action stills, racer profiles and in-depth interviews from the day of racing.  However, we are sad to report that our camera was nabbed during our camera-persons 3rd bowl of taco soup and the memory was erased and filled with following selfies from this HURT band of misfits.  Little did they know that not only would they implicate themselves but their actions would be posted all over internet.  Looks like we won't be seeing "President Duclos" or "Senator Putman" anytime soon...people might start asking questions...

The Ups and Downs of December

December is always a tough month for nordic skiers in New York.  It has been a long, wet, cold fall and everyone is ready for real winter snow.  Everyone is excited about racking up early days in snowy tracks, packing the rollerskis away for a while, and lining up for first period races.  This December was especially full of ups and downs and as HURT nation gets ready to enter 2015...here's the recap

1) Snow, Snow, SNOW....slush

This November/December started out with some of the best early season snow in recent memory...maybe ever (no hyperbole there, folks).  It was seriously awesome!  Many nordies were out skiing for their own version of West Yellowstone ski festival here in the East during Thanksgiving and early K's were enjoyed across our area.  The NYSEF season opener was on some of the best VanHo conditions in recent memory...maybe ever (no hyperbole there, folks). It was seriously awesome and felt like skiing in Finland (not that I have been...but the pictures looked the same).

Now we've hit December 20's....and it looks like late March with a heavy dose of mud and rain.  #blurg

2) Low numbers...high numbers.

It is important to have poor short term memory as a ski racer....one weekend you may pull off great results and one week later fall flat and miss expectations.  This is the nature of the game.  HURT was out for the NYSEF season opener as Owen, Aaron, DPK, Chris, Pete and Eric H put up solid results and scored big points against rival clubs.  For the HURT high school skiers things started off great as well as many of them packed the top 5 and podium positions.  The Rikert Eastern Cups wrote a slightly different story. It was awesome to see HURT alums ski so well over the course of both days and current team members (despite the poor finishes #blurg) found new goals to set.  Those races serve as a reminder that more work can always be done and new goals can be set...but it can be done!

Chris Y storms up the Ladies 5K at the NYSEF opener

Amy fights her way through a tough Eastern Cup at Rikert

MWSC and HURT Alum, Austin H skis his way to a 16th place overall Eastern Cup finish

DPK and Aaron H sprint their way to a 10th-11th respectively at the NYSEF opener. All about the boot slide!

DPK leads the HURT contingent at the opener

HURT alum, Will F skis to a strong finish for St. Lawrence.  

3) More to come...

The season has just begun and a lot of great events are on the horizon.  You may see mud and gray today, but the best of winter is coming.  The Directress(es) and everyone here at the HURT newsroom want to wish everyone (all 3 of you...) who reads this blog a very happy and festive holiday season and we hope you are looking forward to seeing big results from everyone and hearing the news of new HURT skiers ready to join the ranks....some big signings are in the works.  All the best wishes to you and you family from HURT-nation!