Andrew Underwood

In the spirit of keeping blogs up to date, here’s this hour’s update

I’m entering this year’s Birkebeiner, a 55k classic cross country ski race. My Dad will be entering again in the new special wooden ski category. I haven’t raced for a few years so, also I’ve never gone that far at once before. I have two pairs of skis up here in Edmonton and am just waiting for the snow to fall.

Mostly I’m seeing this as a race to live, as I must make it to the end alive. Freezing Canadian temperatures, wild moose, and crazed cow bell wielding spectators are all hardships I’ll have to face to keep from expiring before I reach the 55km line. Imagine pressing on through bitter wind as you pass frosted corpses of your fellow racers. Then realizing their frozen, stone like faces probably don’t look too different from your own. Your only sense of dimension comes from the “swoosh, swoosh” sound the front of your ski tips make as you break trail through the white out blizzard. Yes, if I can keep from being one of hundreds to perish along the course every year, I’ll not complain.