[Carpe Skiem] Gifts for Birkie-Korte Finishers, 2012 Birke Apparel, and More

October 12, 2011

Volume 9 - Issue 12

BIRKIE STORE

Featured Product

Be Ready for Cooler Weather!
Men's Quarter-Zip Fleece Jacket
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Birkie Quick Links
Birkie/Korte Registration
Skier Confirmation
News
Events
Trail
Results
Birkie Merchandise
About Us

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or forward this issue to them.

Mark your calendars for the 39th American Birkebeiner®
Feb. 23-25, 2012!

The 2012 events include the 50K Birkie Skate, 54K Birkie Classic sponsored by Becker Law, and 23K Kortelopet Skate and Classic races sponsored by Marshfield Clinic of Hayward.

Birkie 2012 also features shorter races, events and festivities for:

men, women, teens and kids
families
skijor enthusiasts
the super fit
the super enthusiastic
those vowing to get in shape
those wanting pure and simple recreation
those wanting to meet like-minded fitness buffs
those wanting challenge, excitement and fun
those wanting to support friends, family and skiers from around the world!

Find out more at http://www.birkie.com or call us at 715.634.5025. We're eager to hear from you!

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2012
BirkieTour
January 21, 2012

Come out, ski and enjoy the Birkie and Birkie Classic Trails and participate in the BirkieTour!

The tour is an untimed, non-competitive, "open-track" event open to skiers age 13 and older.

Birkie & Korte Tour Distances
Registration will be available this Spring!

Learn more visit
www.birkie.com

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2012
American Birkebeiner Trail Run, Relay & Trek
Sept. 22, 2012

The 2011 American Birkebeiner Trail Run includes you choice of:

26.2 mile Individual Marathon
26.2 mile Marathon Relay
13.1 mile Individual Half Marathon
13.1 mile Birkie Trail Trek
5K Fun Run/Wlak

Learn more visit www.birkie.com

or register today for the Birkie Trail Run, Relay or Trek.

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The Birkie®:
39 Years of Inspiring Skiers
to Live Fit, Healthy Lives!

February 23-25, 2012

In our house, winter is a journey whose destination is the BIRKIE!

"The Birkie has been a factor in my life since the first time I skied the trail in 1976. My philosophy is to do whatever we can do to foster participation in the overall event. I want more people on the snow and enjoying the weekend."

~ Ned Zuelsdorff, Executive Director, Cable, WI

For almost thirty years, it has been a blessing in my life! THANK YOU.

You guys run a world class event. It is the most fun you can have while torturing yourself.

See you at the start, race you the finish...hoping to have the time of my life along the way!
-Jim Reker

To me the day is close to a religious experience...you are excited but respectful, almost reverent to the course and the challenges of the day.
The people you are skiing with are all comrades on a mission to soak up the day and dig within to see what we all have down deep.

Better than Christmas. I will be skiing the Birkie every year I'm alive on Earth. It's that special."

THANK YOU to all the wonderful people who make this race possible!!!
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the volunteers!

Love skiing with over 8000 of my closest friends.

BIG THANK YOU to the Birkie staff and volunteers and the citizens of Hayward and Cable for making this wonderful event possible and a BIG THANK YOU to the fans for making the experience of skiing up Main Street second to none.

~Chris Jones

Thank you for giving us all something to focus on all winter long!

Birkie day is the gretest day of the year in my mind, ranking above Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, Packer Sundays, Badger Saturdays, opening day of fishing season and even ahead of opening day of gun deer season.

Birkie day is the ultimate Wisconsin experience.

The best organized 'signature' sports event I have ever been involved in. Excellent experience!!! Thanks to all the volunteers!!! They are wonderful!!!

Skier Praise for
2011 Birkie Events!

Love this event, love the organization, love all the people who are involved. Thanks! Keep up the good work.

Birkie is an A+ event and I hope to be back next year!

A million thank you's to all the outstanding volunteers is not enough. They are the reason the race continues.

This was my first Birkie and it was AWESOME!!! I will definitely be back next year and many years to come...I want my purple bib!!

Extremely well organized, volunteers and locals really make you feel welcome.

GREAT JOB everyone. Really impressive series of events for three days.

The Birkie was an epic race! I hope I can be back next year with more experience, more training,

and better technique.
(And hopefully warmer weather!)

Best organized event I have ever done. Volunteers are great people. Well done!

This was my first year and it will not be my last. It was a great challenge and I am all ready thinking about what I can do to improve
my time for next year!
Bravo and thank you very much!

I really enjoyed my first Korte. Thanks to all the volunteers and event staff!

Another great year of Birkie events. Thank you all so much for your efforts. See you next year.

I would like to thank all who made this race possible and to all the volunteers who gave their time and
braved the cold.

This was my first endurance race of any kind, and I had a blast! Everything was great.
Thanks for the memories!!

Fantastic event - Great people - great organization and lots of fun!

THE VOLUNTEERS ROCK!

Thanks for a wonderful family event!

I'm hooked on the Birkie now.
Many thanks!

Greetings from the Birkie®

Hi Skiers and Friends!

We've been enjoying fantastic fall weather in Birkie land. The colored leaves have fallen and cooler temperatures are forecasted over the next few days. A very successful Birkie Trail Run & Trek is behind us (you should have been there if you weren't!) and now we focus on the 2012 BirkieTour and Birkie events.

There is some trail work remaining, including construction of the new warming and storage building that just began at the Birkie Trail crossing at Mosquito Brook. We're also holding our final volunteer work morning this coming Saturday, October 15. Please contact me at ned@birkie.com if you can help out this weekend.

Many of you are aware that Birkie, Korte, and Prince Haakon skiers ski through a portion of the Cable Gun Club on race day. It is about 650 meters from the Start Line. This week a lead shot reclamation project was completed at the club that removed 17-30 gallon drums of lead shot from the area on and around the Trail. This has created another work area for us for needed re-vegetation.

We'll keep you informed of 2012 Birkie event highlights in the upcoming issues of the Carpe Skiem and in the Pre-race issue of the Birch Scroll that will be coming to you in early November, so stay in touch.

Stay Fit!

Ned Zuelsdorff

Executive Director

Event Registration

Sign Up for Birkie 2012 Events!

The next registration fee deadline is November 30. Save when you register on or before that date. Click on the following links to register online or to download a printable form to mail or fax.

Lots of great events to choose from!

Important - Wave Placement:

Wave placement for the Birkie and Kortelopet is based on a first received, first placed basis. Please note that waves 1 through 4 are filling fast. If your wave fills, you will be placed in the next available wave.

New: On the printed race registration form, you will now find the Emergency Contact Information on the back of the form as part of the WAIVER. Please be sure to complete this Waiver section before mailing or faxing the form.

Birkie® News

Olympic Medalist to Ski Birkie for MS Cure

Recognized as one of Norway's Top Ten Nordic skiers of all time, Vegard Ulvang will participate in this year's

American Birkebeiner as a "Research Ambassador" for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society-Wisconsin Chapter. What's more, you could win a chance to ski with the six-time Olympic medalist.

Plus, you can also win ... a trip to Norway and "Win With Your Pin" at the Birkie and Korte finish lines.

Get Complete Details online.

For additional questions, email media@birkie.com.

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NEW! Buff® for Every 2012 Birkie & Korte Finisher

We are pleased to announce that at the 2012 Birkie and Kortelopet, every finisher will receive a custom-designed Birkie or Korte Buff®. The Birkie Buff is blue, and the Korte Buff is red. Both say "2012 Finisher." One more reason to look forward to 2012!

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2012 Official Birkie T-Shirt is Ready!

You voted and now here it is, the official T-shirt of Birkie 2012, designed by Charlie Rietschel, winner of our third annual Birkie T-Shirt Design Contest. These short- T-shirtDesign2012-Sh-sleeve

and long-sleeve T-shirts are unisex sizes. They will be available soon at our online store and in the Birkie Store at our offices at the end of Main Street in downtown Hayward, WI.
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Warrior Contest:

Deadline for Entries - November 15th, 2011

The American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation is looking for two capable cross country skiers to dress as Birkebeiner warriors and ski the 54 kilometers from Cable to Hayward on traditional wooden skis for this year's Birkie on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2012. The ABSF is also looking for a skier to depict Inga, the mother of the baby Prince. Like the Warriors, Inga will wear traditional clothing and ski on wooden skis.

Ski the Birkie (or Korte) for Race Credit
On race day the two warriors ski the Birkie. If an "Inge" is skiing, she may opt to ski either the whole Birkie or cut off to the Korte. If you ski as a warrior or Inge, you will receive credit for completing the race.

Free Entry the Following Year
Each winner will also receive a free 2013 Birkie or Korte race entry.

Click Here for details on how to enter. All three winners will be announced on December 10, 2011. Application Deadline is November 15, 2011.

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Ski Strong Scholarship:

Deadline for Entries - December 1, 2011

Ski Strong Foundation The Ski Strong Foundation is created in memory of Dave Landgraf, a Birkebeiner Founder, whose life was greatly affected by the wonderful sport of cross country skiing. He skied every Birkie from 1973-2011.

Ski Strong Scholarship
The Ski Strong Foundation wishes to provide free entries for both the Kortelopet and Birkebeiner races. Any young people wishing to ski either race may apply. The requirements are you must be from the state of WI and be 20 years or younger on the day of the race.

Click Here for details and how to apply for the Ski Strong Scholarship. Application Deadline is December 1, 2011

Birkie Trail Friends

The Story Behind the Birkie 27K Marker

This monthly feature is where we highlight the sponsors behind all those K-marker plaques and how you can become a "Birkie Trail Friend" too.

Ski & Tea

... We sweat through lung-busting, leg-burning workouts every Friday of the year somewhere on the Birkie Trail for all seasons. Rain, snow blizzards, sub-zero cold, wind, mosquitoes or ticks do not stop our work outs. The first year we wanted to give back to the trail we love and use by raising $1,500 and becoming a Birkie Trail Friend. We chose the ...

Continue reading.

Annual Birkie Trail maintenance now exceeds $150,000 each year. The Birkie Trail Friends program helps significantly. Many Birkie and Korte kilometer markers have been sponsored, but more Ks are still available or up for renewal. Learn more at Birkie Trail Friends

ABSF

American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation

Next Board Meeting:

October 17 at 4:00 p.m., at the Sherman & Ruth Weiss Community Library on Highway 27/77 in Hayward. Questions, call 715-634-5025.

Become a ABSF Member

The American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation is a membership organization. There are membership levels for individuals, families, and businesses. To learn more about becoming a member.

Birkie® Fever

Birkie Fever - In the Heart of Dixie

By Chuck Hooker

It's a few minutes after 7 pm. The dashboard thermometer just fell below 100. With the heat and humidity, it's more like 112. Another sultry late August evening. I click into my roller skis, check my helmet, and head out onto the roads of the County Park to ski solo laps. I'm a southerner, born and living in the flat coastal plain of Charleston, SC. And I have Birkie Fever - way down South in the heart of Dixie.

Two years ago I took my girlfriend Janice to Blowing Rock, NC for a Valentine's weekend of ... Continue reading

Send us your Birkie Fever story. Whether you are a skier, spectator, or volunteer, we want to hear from you. Send to media@birkie.com.

Birkie® Training

Fitness in 5" Video

By Jay Tapper

Click Here for Jay's Latest Videos

Each of these "Birkie Bites" gives you a way to fine-tune critical strength, balance, and flexibility you need for ski season. They are designed to be small things you can do that make a big difference in your performance and enjoyment of all your activities. And, most of them can be done virtually anywhere and in under five minutes.

Listen to Jay live on WOJB 88.9 FM, Friday mornings at 10:45.

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Birkie Ski Training Plan - Sept/Oct

By Bill Pierce

Click Here for Bill's Training Plans
& Video

Whether you are already following Bill Pierce's Birkie Training Plans or want to see what he offers, the link above takes you to the latest installment. Bill's videos give live examples of what's in his training plans, from roller skiing to weight training. They feature and are produced by the elite skiers Bill works with year round. Two Birkie Training Plans are posted each month. One is for beginner to intermediate skiers; one for intermediate to advanced skiers.

Get More Updates

Follow Us on Facebook

Get more stories and updates--as they happen. Check out our training videos, stories, photos, and even post your own favorite Birkie photos, favorite training spots in your area, and more.

Check out today's post on the Official Birkie Facebook page.

Important Dates & Events

November 15         Warrior Contest Entry Deadline

   30        Next Registration Fee Deadline - All Events

December   1         Ski Strong Scholarship Application Deadline

January 21, 2012 BirkieTour

February 23-25    Birkie 2012

The Birkie®

SKI . RUN . LIVE!

The Birkie is a year-round lifestyle choice for thousands of outdoor fitness enthusiasts of all levels. From its signature ski race--the legendary American Birkebeiner--the Birkie has grown into an exciting array of fitness and recreational opportunities. The 88-kilometer Birkie Trail system attracts skiers, runners, bikers, trekkers, and hikers, from casual day-trippers to elite superstars. Located near Hayward and Cable, Wisconsin, the Birkie is now an outdoor sports mecca, a series of great races, a fitness destination, and a Lifestyle. Ski . Run . Live!