MASTERS CHALLENGE
2009-2010 MASTERS CHALLENGE STANDINGS
DEADLINE EXTENDED FOR TEAM COMPETITION
The deadline for putting together your master's challenge three person team has been extended due to the fact that the master's challenge director has finally gotten through the holidays and is still feeling the holiday spirit. We only have six teams right now, so you if get your act together, you may have a chance to win something. The new deadline for your three person team is January 17th. We're sort of keeping the competition criteria mysterious...rumors have it there may be awards for the most points, best team name, oldest accumulative age...the list may go on (or it may not). Heck, I may even take bribes to create awards for teams. Anyhow, don't be shy- talk to your friends, form a three person team and root for each other over the season.
Enjoy the snow and ski healthy- Andy Pasternak
New for 2009/10 – Masters Challenge to replace the Masters Team
Change. We heard that word used lots during last year’s presidential election and we’re using it now for the Far West Masters skiers. After much discussion, we felt like it was time to break away from the Masters team race series. Instead, we replaced it with a different point series that will hopefully create more racing fun for 2009/2010 and make your Far West racing membership worthwhile.
For the 2009/2010 season, we hope you welcome the new and improved Masters Challenge. This is still the race series to see how you stack up competitively against your age group peers. The rules will be similar: Age groups will be divided every 5 years, racers need to compete in 5 of the master’s challenge races and the scoring rules will be identical to last year (5 for 1st place, 4 for 2nd, etc, total score is based on your BEST five races). In addition to masters age categories, senior age skiers will have their own age group (20-29). Skiers must compete in one classic race to be eligible for awardsand must have a racing membership. In the case of any ties, your score in your 6th best race will be used as a tie breaker (if it’s still tied, we’ll move to the 7th race, 8th race, etc). One BIG difference is that the Masters Challenge will recognize the top THREE skiers in each age category with awards with a special award for first place in your age category. We’re hoping having 3 spots up for awards will help spur on competition and participation throughout the year.
In addition to the changes in the individual awards, we’re also going to try another new twist, the Masters Challenge Team Competition. Prior to the first set of races, you put together a three-person team and give yourself a team name. Each skier on the team needs to be in a different age/sex group. Over the season, the team score will be the cumulative score of each of the three team members. Unlike the individual competition, you can earn points with every race (no restriction to top 5 races). We’ll put together the cumulative scores and there will be some fun awards for the teams at the end of the year. You can participate in both the individual point series and the team point series.
As this is the first year I’ll be organizing the Masters Challenge, please let me know if you have any thoughts or feedback. It’s YOUR race series and we want to make your racing membership as rewarding as possible. For more information, contact Andy Pasternak.
INDIVIDUAL RULES:
- Skiers must participate in at least 5 of the 10 races
- Skiers must have a Far West Nordic Racing Membership
- One of the races must be a classic race to be eligible for awards.
- Age groups will be divided every 5 years and will include a senior age group
- Racers will receive 5 points for 1st place in their age group, 4 for 2nd place, 3 for 3rd, 2 for 4th and 1 point for 5th place
- WAVE START RULES: Per the recommendation of the Far West Nordic Competition Committee, women who choose to race in the OPEN (Men's) wave of races with wave starts by gender will score points only in the OPEN (Men's) division. For a woman to score points against other women in a Wave Start race, she MUST START in the WOMEN’S Wave.
- Cumulative score will be the best 5 races for each individual skier
- In the case of a tie, the results from a sixth race will be used as a tie breaker. If one of the racers has only done 5 races, the racer with 6 races will be ranked higher. If there is still a tie, we will use the score from the 7th race/8th race and so on
- Awards will be given to the top three racers in each age group
TEAM RULES:
- Each Team is composed of three skiers. Teams need to be formed by January 1st.
- All team members must have a Far West Nordic Racing Membership
- All three skiers must be in different age or sex categories. For example your team members could be M35-39, W35-39, and W60-64
- Scoring will be the same as the individual competition. The total team points will consist of any points from any race that the skiers participate in ( no best 5 races)
- There will be no minimum number of races to be eligible for the team competition
- In the case of a tie, the total number of points/total number of races done by the team will be used as a tie breaker.
| 2009-2010 Masters Challenge Qualifying Races |
| R1 | December 20, 2009 | Sierra Nordic Duathlon | Auburn Ski Club |
| R2 | December 27, 2009 | Snowshoe Thompson 10K Classic | Auburn Ski Club |
| R3 | January 3, 2010 | Paco's Fun Race 10K Freestyle | Auburn Ski Club |
| R4 | January 18, 2010 | Sierra Skogsloppet | Tahoe Donner XC |
| R5 | January 24, 2010 | Tahoe Rim Race 30K (Classic and Skate) | Tahoe XC to Northstar |
| R6 | January 31, 2010 | Alpenglow 20K Freestyle | Tahoe XC |
| R7 | February 7, 2010 | Allan Bard Memorial Classic | Tamarack Lodge XC |
| R8 | February 15, 2010 | President's Cup 15K Freestyle | Tahoe Donner XC |
| R9 | March 28, 2010 | Gold Rush (M1-M6, W1-W4) Silver Rush (M7-8, W5-8) Bronze Rush (M9-10, W9-10) |
Royal Gorge XC |
| R10 | April 4, 2010 | Mammoth Marathon 42K (M1-8, W1-8) 21K (M9-10, W9-10) | Tamarack Lodge XC |
| 5-year age classes |
|
|---|---|
| Seniors | 20-29 |
| Master M/W 1 | 30-34 |
| Master M/W 2 | 35-39 |
| Master M/W 3 | 40-44 |
| Master M/W 4 | 45-49 |
| Master M/W 5 | 50-54 |
| Master M/W 6 | 55-59 |
| Master M/W 7 | 60-64 |
| Master M/W 8 | 65-69 |
| Master M/W 9 | 70-74 |
| Master M/W 10 | 75+ |