Dartmouth Carnival 2019

Fun weekend in New Hampshire for the Dartmouth Carnival.  Warm weather last week made things a little touch-and-go, but the race volunteers did a ton of shoveling and got the course in great shape.  Friday morning was warm with occasional rain showers, but the skiing was nice and fast.  We dumped a ton of fluoros into the skis and sent the women off for the 10k skate.  Renae led the way in 14th place - one of her best skate finishes ever.  The sun came out for the men's 15k - didn't hurt the early starters much, but as the race wore on the snow got slushy.  Things slowed way down, and it became a brutal battle of attrition - the difference between people's first and third laps was striking.  I'm proud to say that our skiers did a great job of holding technique together for the whole race - although they slowed down like everyone else, their skiing stayed solid.  Strangely, we didn't get paid back with great results - they were solid, but not quite what I'd expected given how well they skied.  That's always a bit frustrating, but some days are like that - just a reminder of how competitive the league is.  Elliot led the way in 15th, with Christian close behind in 18th - his best skate finish of the season.

Things got nice and cold overnight and we had some great klister skiing for the 3x5k classic relay.  The 2.5k loop had only one big climb and a lot of rolling stuff, so we were looking for speed and just enough kick to get through a few tough spots - with volunteer assistant coach John Eldredge helping out, we got the skis dialed in nicely.  Gabby got our first team off to a great start, tagging off at the front of the chase pack in 5th.  The Midd team got past Lily, but she pulled away from the rest and handed off a solid lead to Renae, who widened the lead and brought us home in an outstanding 6th place finish, behind the top 2 teams from UVM and Dartmouth as well as Midd's first team - great showing!  Our second team ran into a few bumps with four falls, but they kept fighting and kept themselves right in the mix - judging by their place in the pack I never would have known that they'd had all those falls.  Perrin, originally slated to be our wax tech, was also able to race thanks to a kind invitation from one of Dartmouth's teams that was one skier short - she crushed it and moved them up several places on the final leg.  The men followed up with an equally strong showing - Sean and Noah E were absolute heroes on the first leg, putting us right in the thick of it, and Christian and Cirque both kept us there for the second leg.  Elliot got the tag in 7th with two Williams skiers right next to him - he was able to pull away, catch Colby, and come close to Midd and Laval to finish in 6th - another kilometer and he might have had them.  He skied the fastest third leg of the day.  Meanwhile, Luca showed some serious grit by battling with the Dartmouth and UNH first teams - they ultimately got away from him, but it was pretty cool for him to be scrapping with those guys.  Our second team finished ahead of everyone's second team except UVM and Williams, and beat several first teams as well.  A great effort by the whole team - it's so rare to have everyone skiing well on the same day, so this was pretty special.  Sometimes relays bring out the best in everyone - I'm glad that's how it worked out for us.  After the race was the usual Carni Crush shenanigans - I kept my distance as usual, but from the noise and the smiles, I'm pretty sure everyone had a great time.

Back in Maine there was more racing action.  Noah G and Orion took 1-2 in the John Roderick Memorial 15k in Rumford.  Rachel Z joined them and took 2nd for women.  This was the frosting on the cake of a great day for the whole team!

We were incredibly fortunate to be hosted by Perrin's family last weekend - the women stayed with them and the men stayed with family friends/relatives, the Bandler/Holcombe family.  Both houses were amazing and the hospitality was fantastic.  The Millikens hosted dinner both nights, including a bunch of Bowdoin ski parents on Friday night.  It was so nice to have this big group together - a real family feel.  The whole weekend just felt really special and fun, and our hosts were a huge part of this.  Thanks so much to the Millikens, the Bandler/Holcombes, and all of the Bowdoin Nordic parents who do so much.  And thanks especially to John Eldredge, who continues to be a huge help and a real good luck charm on classic days.  Great weekend - can't wait for more at Middlebury!