« North Vancouver man sets course record in the Iditaspori ski race “fer those that have the protean faculty to adaptabiliry, the novelty of change may even be a source of pleasure. But to those who are hardened tuto the ruts in whicl they were created, the reality of an altered environment can be unbearable.” — Jack London, Ta Build a Fire Andrew McCredie Editor andrew@nsnews.com SUFFICE to say, David Norona has the protean faculty to adaptability. And then some. The North Vancouver man spent Valentine’s Day with his one true lave — the great outdoors — and in the process set a new course record in the 100-mile Iditasport race in Alaska. Norona, 27, cross-country skied the undu- Isting course in 13 hours and 19 minutes. He was the first skier to cross the finish line and the seventh competitor to finish (six mountain bike riders finished ahead of him). The Iditasport is an Alaskan cousin to the world-renowned Iditarod sled-dog race and the less-known Iditasport Extreme (like the Iditasport bur 350 miles, and on a course fur- ther north). While his race unfolded without any real hitches, Norona did have to deal with some minor problems in the sub-zero temperatures that dipped to minus-28 C. “On the first part of the race my camel! back froze,” he said of his water container. “So I had to stop twice at checkpoints for food.” For five bucks, locals in a house by the checkpoint sold the competitors soup, chips and pop. Chips and pop? “That’s one thing I've learned from these long races — you don’t eat things like Power Bars and energy bars and Gatorade,” Norona said. “You look tor the most calories and fat for weight. The biggest mistake athletes make is they think they should avoid fat.” On the final leg to the finish line, Norona almost ran, literally, smack dab into trouble. “T take my skis off and start trudging up this hill; its in the middle of nowhere, and I get to the top and there’s 12 dogs staring me right in the face,” he recalled of the dusk encounter. “It’s the guy who’s won the Iditarod all these years. He's out training.” Considering the Olympian-like effort required to complete the Iditasport, you'd expect the first skier to cross the finish line to be cheered and congratulsted, bur when Norona glided across the finish 100 miles later, only one race official was on hand to witness the accomplishment. “They sce someone coming, and they wait until you're abour 50 feet trom the finish, and they run out of the house, mark your time down, then run back inside,” Norona said of the freezing finish-line scene. “I had five dollars lett, so the first thing | bought in the lodge was a cheeseburger, tries and a coke,” he said of his post-game meal. He then waited for his nwo friends, Whistler's Chloe Latimer and Bob Faulkner, to finish. YENTNA RIVER remote tent checkpoint Big Susitas River THE 100-mile Iditasport endurance race begins and ends at the Big Lake Lodge in central Alaska. BIG LAKE LODGE = An Alask NEWS photo Mike Wakefield DAVID Norona continued his ascent into the ranks of the world's tep endurance athletes with a record-setting time in the gruelling 100-mile Iditasport in Alaska. The lodge was a classic Alaskan-type place, including a sign above the bar that read: “We smoke here. If you don’t like it, hold your breath or get the hell out.” “So Pm sitting there with no money. Then these Australians offer to buy me a beer.” Six beers and seven hours later, Norona’s friends biked across the finish-line. And then the stories began to be told. “That’s what I love above these type of races: the stories,” Norona said. “If [ wanted to make the Nationals for 10K running, all f could do is run. My life would just be running and running and running. No stories.” The past two decades have given rise to an explosion in extreme sports. That growth has ignited another explosion — extreme-type egos. Spending time with many of these high-octane athletes ofien degenerates into a Me- Fest. Not so with Norona. Had Norona chose to concentrate ona single disci- pline — running, skiing or mountain biking — he would likely be one of Canada’s top athletes in the sport. But, as he says, it would be no fun, “There’s only one reason | do these kind of things — I just love being out there,” Norona said of his passion for the outdoors. ‘That passion will cake him soon to France for the World Triathlon Championships, where he'll compete in a winter triathlon (mountain biking, running and cross-country skiing). And in September, he'll join one of Canada’s premier Eco-Challenge teams in Morocco. “(The Eco-Challenge) is quite a different thing for me; I rend to like solo stuff,” Norona said. “If vou look at who wins it, thev’re not poster boy athletes by any stretch of the imagi- nation. But they are very, very fit; they can do a lot of things very very well, and they're focused.” An accomplished mountain bike rider in his own right, Norona chose to ski the Iditasport because of the technical requirements required for a ride. “You have co change the bike quite a bit,” he said. “For instance, you don’t wane suspen- sion because it wil! freeze, and you need special rims that open up the tire and you have to glue one side so it doesn’t move on the rim.” The course route follows a snowmobile track, and there are lots of hills and valleys along the way. Norona decided skiing was the way [oO go. “There were some hills you had to walk because you'd come down, hitting 40 K, and then hit a bunch of bumps, like moguls,” he said, adding that a few skiers actually snapped their skis during the race. Norona grew up in the Point Grey area, and following high school his parents sold their house: “There were only two places F could live: the North Shore or the Interior.” He moved to North Vancouver. Incredibly, Norona never took part in any organized sports in high school, choosing THE RACE Iditasport is an Alaskan Humen Powered Ultra-Race with four different divisions. Ski, Bike, Foot. and Snowshoe. The trail is snow covered and packed down for travel. and is marked tor both dav and night with brightly colored and retlective markers. The trail crosses wooded, rolling hills and frozen rivers and lakes. All disciplines compete head-to-head on the same course over the same distance. No drop bags are permitted. THE JRSE: The course begins at Big Lake Lodge, but bears south, quickly leaving the lake and joining the Iditarod Trail (see map). The course then heads west, to the Little Susitina River, where a remote tent checkpoint is placed. From here racers continue west to a checkpoint on Flat Hora Lake approx. Mile 30), then north crossing the Big Susitina River at Susitina Station. Racers then follow the historic Iditarod Trail to a checkpoint at Eaglesong Lodge on Trail Lake (approx. Mile 48). The course then veers nerth- east, intersecting the Yentna River, and turns south along the river towards Susitina Station. A new checkpoint has been established along the Yentna River, near Mile 55. At Susitina Station racers retrace the outbound course back through the Flat Horn Lake checkpoint (approx. Mile 70), then east to the Little Susitina checkpoint, and finally north to the finish line at Big Lake (Mile 100). THE GEAR Mandatory 15-pound (6.8 kg) gear minimum to include the following: © Sleeping bag rated to minimum -28C ® Insulated sleeping pad © Bivvy sack or tent @ Firestarter (matches, lighter, or equiv- alent) ® Stove and 8 ounces of fuel © Pot (minimum volume of } pint) to melt snow ® Insulated water container(s) with minimum volume of two quarts © Headlamp or flashlight © One-day minimum of food to be car- ried around the course and with the racer when leaving the last checkpoint. 7 Early registration: USS200 Late registration: USS300 Entry fee is non-refundable Evacuation Deposit: USS150 in American funds only. Deposit will be refunded if evacuation is not necessary. THE SWAG ¢ T-shirts to all entrants © Unique Iditasport Alaskan ulus to all finishers Ww © www@iditasport.com/ instead to spend his spare time skiing and bik- ing “for fun. Everything was for pure enjoy- ment.” After high school he starred doing duathlons (running, cycling). Then he tried in- line skating, and after winning the first race he entered, Rollerblade came calling with a spon- sorship deal. He continues to be sponsored by the sport gear manufacturer. Norona then entered the first 24-hour mountain bike race ever held in B.C. He won that too. More sponsors came calling, includ- ing outdoor equipment giant Oakley. Last year he was invited to compete in a three-day 160-km cross-country race in Greenland, and while there met and skied with some of the best skiers in the world, including the legendary Norwegian Vegard Ulvang: “1 was skiing with the best skier in the world, yet he wouldn't talk about skiing. He was just a really nice guy. And that’s why they do so well.” From that experience, he's started to approach racing a little differently. “F haven’e been as, you know, ‘I need to be to bed carly, I need to do this’,” he says. Rather he’s whole-heartedly adopted what he calls the “European Way.” In January he skied against the world’s best on the World Cup Loppet cir- cuit in Italy. “Here (North America), vou go to a race and hear people say ‘My skis weren’s fast,” ‘E didn’t feel well, ‘IT was up last night.” In Europe, vou never hear excuses. If vou didn’t have a good day, you didn’t have a good day. You don’t have to tell everybody why you got bear.” With his competitive fires burning like never before, David Norona doesn’t need excuses. Just pop, chips and a passion for the outdoors.