Think of all the training, planning and logistics required to get you to the starting line of the American Birkebeiner just once. Now think of doing all that for the 30th time. That’s exactly what 67-year-old Joan McNaughton has planned for 37th annual American Birkebeiner on February 27.

McNaughton skied her first Birkie classic style in 1977. She missed the first four and three others for reasons related to skiing. She missed the 2002 Birkie to volunteer at the Winter Olympics cross-country ski venue in Salt Lake City, Utah. And the year she had surgery, she skied the Kortelopet.

But from the many times she has skied the Birkie, McNaughton has many memories. She recalls the fearsome Valhalla hill, which is no longer part of the course, and one year arriving at the starting area with just seconds to spare.

“It was a good thing we were plenty early the first year, since the race started eight minutes early with a false start,” she said. “Once we were in the mass start area putting on our skis and heard someone yell, ‘Turn your skis!’ In the nick of time, we were pointed the right direction.”

McNaughton worked her way up to Wave 2 and landed on the Birch Scroll cover in 1991. She could be seen in the background behind her longtime friend Becky Anderson. The cover photo prompted a flurry of inquiries for the Birkie office asking “Who are those women in Wave 2?”

The course has offered different challenges over the years, she said. “1984 was my fastest classic race,” she recalled. “It started in Duffy’s Field. There was ice on the whole course. The tracks were cement. But you went for it! We used klister with a little bit of blue over it. People cheered for each other every time we made it down a hill upright.”

McNaughton claims to have had no serious mishaps skiing the Birkie. She lost a hat, bent a pole and had her skis and poles stolen at the finish line, but the latter were recovered.

She withstood many route and grooming changes, too. “The first time the Telemark Hills cut off to the right, I could see three people off into the woods who didn’t make the turn, so I sat down. Before PistenBullies, there wasn’t any way to chop up ice on the course.”

As a classic skier, she remembers passing skaters who were still figuring out how to wax in those early days of the new technique. “Some people carried kick wax with them when they skate skied. But, of course, no wax would stay on,” she said. McNaughton skated the course for the first time in 1987.

“The worse the conditions are, the better I do,” she said, including the year there was a minus 40-degree windchill.

Aging helps, too. In fact, the best thing about turning 65 for McNaughton was getting automatically placed in Wave 3. “The trail is so much better” for skiers in the first few waves, she said. “None of the snow is scraped away.”

McNaughton has also done the Chequamegon 40 mountain bike race also held on the Birkie Trail. At that event there is an advantage to hanging at the back of the pack. “The sand pits are packed down harder for the later bikers,” she said. “The Birkie is the opposite. The farther back you are, the more scraped away the snow.”

McNaughton has finished in the top three in her age group at the Birkie every year with one or two exceptions. Now her race strategy is “to start slow and get slower.” If you can’t get faster, just get older, she recommended.

She has other suggestions, too. Get rid of the early Powerline section and move the time of the Birchleggings Club meeting so she can sleep in before the race.

Look for McNaughton on the trail in her Birchleggings gold and purple bib going for No. 30 on race day.

The Birchleggings Club

by Cherie Morgan

Every year more and more people line up at the start of the American Birkebeiner wearing a purple bib. This special bib is assigned to those skiers who are skiing their 20th or more Birkie. Skiers reaching this milestone obtain membership in the Birchleggings Club.

Birchleggings was created in 1992 when John Kotar, one of the Birkie founders, sent the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation a letter asking for approval of a special club recognizing those skiers completing 20 or more Birkebeiner races, not necessarily in consecutive order. Since that time, several hundred skiers have obtained this status. Every year more skiers add a Birkie completion to their record, hoping to someday wear the unique purple bib assigned to Birchleggings skiers.

Several years ago another milestone was achieved when some of the founders completed their 30th Birkie. Those skiers skiing their 30th or more Birkie now wear a gold bib with purple piping to acknowledge their achievement.

Registration statistics, as of late October 2009, indicate that 589 Birchleggings skiers are registered for the 2010 Birkie and 118 of those skiers plan to complete their 30th or more Birkie. Eight of those 118 skiers are women. In 2009, 657 skiers wore Birchleggings race bibs with 110 skiers, including six women, completing their 30th or more Birkie.

In addition to the special bib, skiers completing their 20th Birkie also receive a personalized award from the Birchleggings Club recognizing their status. The American Birkebeiner awards a special pin to those skiers completing their 20th and 30th Birkies. On Sunday morning following the race, club members get together at a special breakfast to reminisce and distribute awards and recognition items. The Birchleggings Club also maintains a website and has a presence on Facebook and Twitter. Skiers interested in learning more about the Birchleggings Club or becoming members can visit www.birkie.com or www.birchleggingsclub.com.

Cherie Morgan is the media coordinator for the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation.

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