Elm Creek Relays / Time Trial

To no one's surprise, the regulars of the annual Elm Creek relay/individual time trial series did not consider tonight's weather or snow condition was too tough for them to race.  Or maybe they were just too tired from the early season and/or the new Elm Creek season opening race the night before.  It looked like that some regulars were still doing the cool downs from the Wed. night race.  The weather (clear, 19F and no wind), snow condition (fast yet controlable), and high school-less, training group-less, made the opening race series a near perfect.  Two racers claimed both titles, which made the timer's job much easier.  Both ski racers are strong cyclists, which attracted several hardcore bikers from the Loon State Cyclists to join the series next time.  Melinda Silbernick (16:27--8:11/8:16 split) skied almost too relaxed and even had time to offer a couple of tips on one hill until she heard the timer was hollering at her on the top of the hill.  Rich Spielberg recorded 17:50 (a 8:57/8:53 split) while recovering from his knee injury.  Both skiers had a great start for the season.

Here are tonight's race results:

1. Melinda Silbernick     16:26 
2. Rich Spielberg         17:50 
3. Timer                  10:10 (one loop of 2.5K lit trail)

Note: Due to scheduling conflicts, the race dates/time are as follows:

For Dec., Thursday nights, at 7pm, and registration starts at 6:30 and closes at 6:50 or so.
For Jan. and Feb, Wednesday nights, at 7:45pm, and registration starts at 7:15 and closes at 7:35pm or so.  Please check www.skinnyski.com for the most recent race information.