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Noquemanon hits full stride Saturday

MARQUETTE – One of the biggest recreational events in Marquette County is set to take place on Saturday – the Noquemanon Ski Marathon.

The 50-kilometer races begin at the starting line of the 50K Classic Touring event at 8:10 a.m. near the Al Quaal Recreation Area in Ishpeming. This group is for racers who want to ski at a casual pace.

The first wave of competitive racers begins at 9 a.m. with Elite Class I. This class is for the top 30 racers from last year and for those who finished 25 percent back of the winner.

Each ensuing wave will leave in 10-minute intervals. First prize is $1,000 for both men and women with second place being $500 and third $250.

Tad Elliott of Colorado and Natalia Naryshkina of Verona, Wisconsin, won the race last year.

Other marathon events include the 50K Relay, which begins at 9:10 a.m. Two teams from Marquette won the event in 2015 with Tyler Jenema and Dan Dehlin on the men’s side and MacKenzi Kuhl and Lindsey Dehlin on the women’s. Tom Wagner and Jeannie Wagner, also from Marquette, won the mixed relay.

Another is the 50K Freestyle, which starts at 9:55 a.m. and that group includes the top 50 men and top 15 women from last year’s race. The next waves will also occur every 10 minutes. Robert Douglas of Honeoye Falls, New York, and Vicki Asmus of Marquette were last year’s champions.

For those who don’t want to go the full 50K, there’s also the Half Marathon that starts at 11:45 a.m. off of County Road 510 at Plum Creek.

The first wave is the 24K Classic with the next waves occurring every 10 minutes. It was won by Marquette’s Benjamin Wright and Hancock’s Joan Rundman last year. The 24K Freestyle starts at 12:30 p.m. with the last starting at 1 p.m. Last year’s champs were Marquette’s Logan Zueger and Traverse City’s Erica Ohearn.

In between all of these races are the 12K Classic and 12K Freestyle beginning at the Forestville Trailhead in Marquette Township.

The Classic begins at 9:50 a.m. for men and 9:55 for women, won by Marquette’s Lance Rambo and Molly Stewart of Notre Dame, Indiana, in 2015.

The Freestyle starts at 10:10 a.m. for men and 10:15 for women. In 2015, it was won by Clay Darling of Traverse City and Sarah Goble of Harbor Springs.

The final events on Saturday are the 15-mile snowshoe race, which starts at 1:10 p.m. off of County Road 510 between Marquette and Negaunee, the 3K Adaptive Ski at 3 p.m. and 500-meter Adaptive Ski at 3:15 p.m.

When all the races are done, there will be an awards ceremony at the Superior Dome, which is also the finish line.

There will also be three races on Sunday that are deemed the “Wild Side of the Noque.”

The first is the 10K Animoosh Skijor, which is for skiers who want to race by being pulled by one or two dogs. The race begins at 9 a.m. at the Forestville Trailhead and teams are sent out in 30-second intervals.

The other two races are the 20K Snow Bike that begins with a mass start at 10 a.m. and the 10K Snowshoe at 10:10. Awards will be handed out at noon, or when the official results are available.

Ryan Stieg can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 246. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.

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