September 5, 2008 – Design the Saab Salomon Factory Team’s Uniform and win some great prizes! The winning design will be used in Saab Salomon Factory Team custom uniform and/or t-shirt. Here’s a list of the prizes and the contest rules.

Prizes:
1st place: Saab Salomon Factory Team t-shirt with winning design, Salomon X Wing running shoes, Salomon Ski Bag
2nd place: Salomon X wings running shoes and Salomon Ski Bag
3rd place: Salomon X wings running shoes

Contest Rules:
1. Download PDF File here.
2. Email submissions only, in PDF or JPEG format.
3. All submissions need to be into Reid@podiumwear.com by September 5th.
4. All uniforms must only include yellow, black, blue and red as the color scheme, logos will be placed by Podiumwear Mt. Borah.
5. All Submissions become the property of the Saab Salomon Factory Team

Australian Kangaroo Hoppet

report by Evelyn Dong

There’s a phenomenon in the Midwest known as ‘Birkie Fever’, symptoms of which include all-consuming thoughts of said race, inability to speak of subjects not pertaining to said race, as well as inability to perform normal life functions other than training on said race course. While the epidemic usually becomes widespread at the beginning of January, and builds strength towards the end of February. Certain people suffer from this condition year-round.

The Australian equivalent of this is known as ‘Hoppet Fever’. Upon arrival in Falls Creek, a full two weeks before the day of the Kangaroo Hoppet, I was greeted with ‘Aaah, so you’re here to do the hoppet?’ The outer trails at Falls Creek are known mainly as the ‘first hoppet loop’ and the ‘second hoppet loop’, although I’m pretty sure their official names are printed on trail maps.

The day of the Hoppet itself lived up to all hype. While on paper the numbers seem relatively low (1,100 for all three races: 42 km Hoppet, 21 km Birkebeiner, and 7 km Joey), the start area energy was not. The three races had their own starts, separated by a few minutes, but all waves within the races started at the same time, only separated by a few feet. My inability to understand anything said with the Aussie accent, especially into a microphone in 50 km winds with a helicopter hovering overhead, compounded my hectic start experience.

Anyhow, I got off the start line fairly well but was unable to tell where any of the other female competitors were. The bobbing legions of spandex ahead of me turned out to be all male which put me in the position of being hunted, although I didn’t know that until I finished the first loop, came through the stadium and got a confirmation from Finn Marsland, Australian Team Coach. Apparently, there was a pretty hefty head wind during that first section but I shamelessly ducked behind mobs of guys and refused to lead. Although, my excuse is always being 5’1″. How much use would I be as a wind block anyway?

The first section of the race runs between the lakeshore and the bottom of the alpine runs so it was pretty sweet to have snowboarders lining that section of the trail, cheering. Not to say that the rest of the course lacked spectators, though. Fans were out in full force, mainly around the numerous aid stations and the start/finish line. Aussies aren’t stingy with their cheering, even if you’re from a different country and they have no idea who you are.

The second half of the race ended up with 7 km of lonely headwind for me, at which point I was looking forward very much to the downhill finish.
One of the most frequent questions I am asked about racing marathons regards how much I eat during a race. For this race, I had one gel and about 20 oz. of strong energy drink. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t enough because my arms felt about twice as heavy during those last few kilometers, although I did manage to squirt half of the very liquid and sticky energy gel across my face (strawberry in flavor and color) before I got any in my mouth. So subtract that to 1/2 gel. In retrospect, I probably should have eaten more but one thing I have learned about racing in other countries, or any place different than I’m used to, is that taking feeds from aid stations sometimes means a surprise (such as bouillon or bubbly rivella). So I usually just stick to what I’ve brought.

I’d highly recommend the Hoppet to anyone looking for a marathon to put in their race schedule – fun, scenic, moderately hard course. Although, I have to admit that the crowning experience of my trip down under was chasing a herd of kangaroos down in Mt. Beauty. How many Northern Hemispere-ites can say they have done that?