The North American Vasa is in their final preparation week for the 46th annual Vasa Festival of Races that are scheduled for Feb. 12-13 at Timber Ridge Resort.
“We are excited to host over 500 competitors this weekend,” said Gussie Peterson, Vasa Board President. “After a year of planning and a one-year hiatus, our 46th Vasa is All Systems Go!”
According to North American Vasa, the efforts of over 200 volunteers and 40 sponsors will be on display over the weekend.
Competitor ages range from 5-80, and will come from all over the state, neighboring states and Canada.
Both the TART and NMMBA groomers have been working on the cross country ski trails. The fatbike venues and conditions are expected to be some of the best of the winter to date.
Saturday’s events include: the Ted Okerstrom 15K and George Kuhn half marathon 27K freestyle races beginning at 9 a.m. Additionally, the Short’s Grand Fat 35K and Short’s NFat 17K fatbike races will begin at 12:10 p.m.
The kids jr. Vasa will offer three age group ski races beginning at noon and the Adaptive Ski Race will start at 12:30 p.m.
Sunday will begin with two classic ski races, a 6K event for high school racers at 9:00 a.m., and the Lombard Loppet Classic 15K race for adults starting at 9:30 a.m.
Furthermore, an untimed Fun Tour 6K will begin at 10 a.m., and the Vasasaurus Stomp 6K snowshoe race will begin at 10:30 a.m.
Several new multi-event competitions will include the Michigan Cup Challenge, and awards will be given to the top three men and women with the best combined times for the 27K freestyle and the 15K classic.
A similar combination will be the Collegiate Challenge, which is staged for all current college students. It includes the 15K freestyle and the 15K classic races.
North American Vasa says they expect club skiers from Notre Dame, the University of Michigan, along with several other individual skiers for other colleges.
However, according to Race Director Janice Davidson, they had to make a number of modifications to their traditional stadium layout due to coronavirus precautions, but they will still be offering hot soup and other snacks at the Timber Ridge banquet hall.
Registration for all events can be found . Cutoff for registration is 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 9.
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