The 2007 Great Nordeen 36K race?Ǭ†was held in Bend Oregon Jan 20th.?Ǭ†?Ǭ† This race starts?Ǭ†at the base of Mt. Bachelor’s alpine area and winds through the forest on snowmobile and access trails that are not usually groomed for?Ǭ†skate skiing.

Patrick Weaver and Suzanne King?Ǭ†were the overall winners.?Ǭ† Idaho Nordic’s John King was 3rd overall.?Ǭ† He and Bend’s Colin Mahood kept Weaver in sight until the bitter end.?Ǭ† Boise’s Matt Grover finished 7th overall and 2nd in his age group.?Ǭ†?Ǭ† IN skate punk Daryl Hegerle also held Matt in sight and finished 8th overall, with?Ǭ† first place in age group.?Ǭ†?Ǭ† IN’s Dale Reynolds had a strong showing too.?Ǭ†

The future of the quality race is uncertain as they were hoping for 500 racers, about 250 participated.?Ǭ†?Ǭ† We’ll wait and see if it pops up on the race schedule next year.?Ǭ† I would love to see the race continue- even in a different format.?Ǭ† Bend is a great place to ski and will host the 2007 Masters Nationals?Ǭ†in March.?Ǭ†