Birkie middle of the pack award
named after Silent Sports founder
by Joel Patenaude  A few years after launching Silent Sports
in July 1984, Greg Marr skied his first Birkebeiner. He fell in love with the race and his infatuation has remained evident in the magazine since.
Marr approached the Birkie as he did all the other athletic pursuits he and his readers enjoyed: from a self-professed "middle-of-the-pack" perspective. Like so many Birkie skiers, he struggled to complete the race in about four hours.
Now Marr's name will be synonymous with that point in the Birkie field of racers where as many people finish ahead as behind. Just moments before the starting gun fired for the '04 Birkie on February 21, it was announced that the Subaru Factory Team Middle of the Pack Award would be renamed for Greg Marr. The idea was first proposed exactly a month after Marr died on Dec. 19, 2003, while skiing in Iola. Joel Fisher, Marr's college roommate at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and best man at his wedding, made the initial proposal to rename the award after his good friend. He wrote to the board of directors of the race. "I didn't hear about it again until it was announced at the Birkie," he said. "I was surprised and happy to hear it right before the race started."
In his proposal, Fisher wrote, "Everyone who knew Greg was familiar with his total commitment to the silent sports and especially to one of his favorite yearly events: the American Birkebeiner. One of Greg's most important contributions to the silent sports was developing a voice that
spoke to people of all athletic abilities and encouraging all who had the desire to participate."
Fisher said Marr identified himself as a middle-of-the-pack athlete "and that was the appeal of the magazine."
Shellie Millford, director of race operations for the Birkie, agreed. "Greg was on the scale of (Birkie founder) Tony Wise. He was a forward-thinking person who obviously had a passion and wanted to spread it around."
Millford said she knew Marr primarily through reading Silent Sports . She said he was an enthusiastic supporter of the event and a constructive critic. She said his magazine developed into a significant forum for pre- and post-race discussion between participants. Millford noted Marr's inclusion of a "report card" which graded various aspects of the Birkie and Korte annually from 1992 to 1998. "It was sometimes
difficult for us to read, but it was honest and pretty accurate," she said.
In addition to having the award named after him, Marr's widow, Martha Fullmer, served as honorary starter for the '04 Birkie. On the platform at the starting line, race officials presented her with the bib Greg would have worn for that day's race. Fullmer's brother, Greg Groeschel, agreed to carry Greg's bib as he skied.the Birkie. The two men were
together skiing the trails near Iola, Wisconsin, when Marr had his fatal heart attack.
Speaking into a microphone, Fullmer addressed the Birkie racers just prior to the start of their race.
"It means a great deal to me to be able to continue Greg's support of the silent sports community," she said. "There is no doubt Greg is here with us today. He'll be skiing with each and every one of you, encouraging
you to do your best -- at whatever skill level that is. But more importantly, to take the time to revel in the whole experience: the skiers around you, this wonderful, plentiful snow, each kilometer marker you pass by, the folks at the refreshment stations, the quiet, the crowds, the ladies on that really big hill."
Fullmer concluded by quoting Henry Miller: "The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware -- joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware."
The first expenditure from the Greg Marr Memorial Fund, overseen by Fullmer, enabled two students on high school nordic ski teams in Wisconsin to compete in the Korteloppet. Another individual donated money in Marr's name to the Wisconsin Nordic Network so two more young people could enter the race, according to the Philip Nelson, president of the organization. They said this furthered the former editor's on-going efforts to get young people excited about the sport.
Fullmer said she and Phil Johnsrud of the Iola Winter Sports Club have discussed other possible uses of the memorial fund money, including the establishment of athletic scholarships, a monument along the Iola trails and donation to charities "near and dear to Greg's heart."
Contributions may still be made to the Greg Marr Memorial Fund and sent to 505 Smith St., Waupaca, WI 54981.
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