Director’s Report 1/15/19
Greetings from the 2019 Noquemanon Ski Marathon! Mother Nature has blessed with the right snow and temperatures and our course will be incredibly solid. This year we get to introduce the new Mead Hills bypass in the 24K that we have been working on for a couple of years. It definitely will provide a different challenge than previous 24K course by offering a much greater variation of terrain, along with a much better transition into the full marathon course. Additionally, we have finished a number of other projects over the last couple of years, and from the looks of it they have really paid off. Many of our problematic areas of the past with drainage or transitions now look to be working well and have contributed to a very solid base. Also, because of the early snow and volume of it, we were able to work on a number of areas rather early this year that historically we have to wait on until closer to the race. What this means for you is that the Dead River Basin, Deer Lake, and Granite Point are all looking incredible with some of the best snow we have seen in years. We will still be keeping the start at Al Quaal Recreation Area in Ishpeming that was showcased in 2018 and we are also going to continue to use a section of trail in Forestville which shows off a little more of the trail variation we have in our area.
Regarding the finish line – this year we were on the fence about trying to run the race back to the NMU Superior Dome or to finish in the Log Yard again as we did in 2018. In the end we decided to let mother nature dictate the final decision for us. While we were blessed with plentiful snow across the course, we have not been quite as lucky with plentiful snow in Marquette’s city limits. Because we want to make sure that you all have the best race course we can provide, we will be finishing in the Log Yard again this year. We have made a number of exciting changes however to assist with the atmosphere and setup at the finish line. We have added a larger tent with heat in the case of very cold weather. We will have a greater amount of parking for spectators. We will be running buses consistently for both spectators and competitors. We also will have some great vendors donating their services, but the biggest addition is the configuration of the finish. We worked with the land owner and made some large improvements, and I am happy to tell you that the finish will now be a large stadium style finish with the last 300+ meters over 30 ft wide in front of spectators. This should make for some great spectating!
With just under two weeks to go our executive committee and volunteers are in full Noque mode. We can’t wait to celebrate the 21st running of the Noquemanon Ski Marathon and putting on a great race and entire weekend of winter events. Thank you all for your support, and we look forward to seeing all of our ski family!
Respectfully,
Jason Rolling
Director