Lake Placid Loppet

By: Dana

A blue bird day and 18 degrees with fresh snow covering all 50k of the trails made for a beautiful Lake Placid Loppet during the first weekend of our Spring Break!  Sorry for the late post for those who like to follow us consistently!  Tim '21, Dana '18, and Eliza '21 from the SLUSki squad all made it out and raced!  Lucy '20 joined in volunteering and cheering, and previous ski team member, Anna Izzo '18 also competed. Eliza did the 25K classic race, which started at 9:30am.  Unfortunately, Tim and I (Dana) didn't catch her after our races, but she looked pretty focused when she came through the stadium! Tim and I started our 50K skate race at 10:30.  All races started with a mass start out of the stadium, self-seeded.

The race course was a 25K loop, which meant we did everything!  We skied East Mountain, Porter, Ladies 5K, and the biathlon side two times! If you can't imagine doing Porter once, than just think about doing it twice!  It's one of the most challenging Loppet courses out there, I'd say.

During my race, I didn't think, "oh man, another hill..", it got to the point where I'd just ski up them and I wasn't even aware of what I was doing. It didn't hit me until the last 10K or so, and that's when I was moaning, "oh man my legs. I can't feel them!" Neither Tim or I carried a water-bottle belt. I had my father in the stadium with a gatorade feed, which I got 4x when I came through there. I also had 2 honey packets and a goo attached to my uniform, which I took when I needed them, around every 10K or so. I also had shot blocks in my shirt, which got stuck, and I couldn't get them out, so yes, I carried them 50K without eating any..oh well. It was nice to know if I bonked real hard, I could get something to eat. I can't speak for what Tim and Eliza did, but I know they didn't have any issues and raced hard!

None the less, we all had so much fun.  Tim placed 5th overall and first in his age group with a time of 02:39:48. Dana got 18th overall and first in her age group with a time of 03:03:18. Eliza was 31st overall, second in her age group with a time of 01:54:30! 

For anyone looking to do a loppet marathon, I'd recommend the LP one. You'll be very proud of what you accomplished!

Here are the RESULTS.

Dana's First 50K

Tim and Dana after the race, both did the 50K Skate!