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| Book Across The Bay | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ASHLAND WI - Book Across The Bay (BATB) an annual Nordic Ski and Snowshoe event
took place Saturday evening. This year’s thirty three hundred
participants make this event the second largest such event in America.
But size is not what makes this ski race so special. |
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Pictured on left: Kierstyn Fibert Kiertyn, a student at Washburn Junior High School sang the Star Spangled Banner. |
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What makes this marathon so special? This race is played on a fantastic stage, a stage where the floor is three feet of frozen ice covering the world’s largest freshwater lake. The lighting is provided by the stars in the sky and the 1,000 lit luminaries marking the route across Chequamegon Bay. The cast consists of 3,300 skiers and snowshoers gathering from half of the nation’s states. |
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The event now in its fourteenth year began as an idea by a small group of Ashland and Washburn residents determined to make the best of our long, long winters. In its inaugural year 100 people preregistered for the event, 350 participants showed up for the race. To its organizers that was a great success. Since then the event has taken on a life of its own. No one ever dreamed that the race would grow this big. |
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Ashland’s Hotel Chequamegon serves as the starting point for this exciting event, which concludes ten kilometers across the bay at Washburn’s Thompson Park. |
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Prior to the race start there is an Expo held in the large tent behind the hotel. The Expo features food, entertainment, exhibitions, and educational displays this is also where participants register for the race.
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| After the race, there was a party featuring food and live music with Fido and the Love Dogs which took place at Thompson Park in a heated tent | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The top ski finishers in age-group categories received prizes. Organizers Lawrence Wyland and Julia Trodgorski and the hundreds of volunteers have everything to do with the success of this event. Race participants love this race. They feel welcomed by the organizers and volunteer workers, and enjoy the fantastic end of the race celebration which included a warm welcoming bonfire, heated tent, live entertainment and a fireworks display. Unique, well planned, well organized, well executed, how could it be anything but the great success that it is?
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PHOTO GALLERY |
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Click Photo To View Larger Image |
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Top ski finishers in age-group categories received prizes. |
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The Top Ten Nordic Skiers:1 Watt, Andre Duluth, MN 00:25:32.1 2 Swank, Adam Duluth, MN 00:25:32.3 3 Johanik, Scott Washburn, WI 00:25:35.5 4 Anikin, Nikolai Duluth, MN 00:25:45.2 5 Rulseh, Jonathon Duluth, MN 00:26:30.5 6 Nelson, Grant Duluth, MN 00:26:33.7 7 Olson, Paul Andover, MN 00:26:36.1 8 Bye, Anthony Chippewa Falls, WI 00:26:36.5 9 Morgan, Jake Duluth, MN, MN 00:26:38.4 10 Behrends, Wyatt Hastings, MN 00:26:42.8 |
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The Top Ten Snow Shoe Racers were: |
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