Due to new policies in MN, limiting gatherings and concerns for high rates of Covid, the Midwest Region Biathlon race scheduled to be held at MT Itasca on December 5th and 6th has been postponed. Bill Meyer and VladCervenka will be monitoring the situation closely and rescheduling the race when it is considered safe to do so.
Please pass this information on to the clubs and biathletes you work with.
Stay safe and healthy!
https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/coronavirus/sportsguide.pdf
Good Morning,
The other shoe has dropped! Primarily because people did not follow the earlier guidelines, COVID rates and deaths have spiked in MN and even more in surrounding States. So a new order was issued by the Governor yesterday that strongly affects how we function as MN Biathlon.
The two keys in the above guideline from the MN Dept of Health are:
– Household units only
– Cross Country skiing is encouraged, but only alone or with members of your household.
The immediate effect of this order means we will cancel any organized practices until further notice. That said, lets see what we can do!
Our ranges and trail systems remain open. You and your household can utilize them at any time. We will also watch for opportunities to do things like having a course marked that you can time yourself even including shooting and a penalty loop. The major key in whatever we do is to stay masked up and keep your distances from other households who may be using the facility at the same time. Don’t share shooting mats and spread out on the range as much as you can.
So with the above in mind—the informal practice Saturday at Mt Itasca is cancelled. You are welcome to go up and get in a ton of skiing—the trails are coming out as nice as normal under Vlad’s direction and grooming [pushing] has started and could be done already on about 1.5 km of trail, the firing line and the arena. I will be up there around 10:00 on Saturday, but will not be coaching/zeroing. I do plan to pick up the ammo folks ordered and get it sent on the way back to you. I will also put up paper on say 5 shooting points for zeroing use, and open 5 metal targets for shooting metal or combos. I suggest to those still coming not to all arrive at 10:00. The course will be open all day. I do need Jeff, Marcus/Tara, and hopefully someone from Duluth for ammo distribution.
Rules for using the trails/range:
– Pay $6 per person per day at the kiosk on the parking side of the HQ building
-Do not use the buildings for lunch/ changing etc–
-Go in and get a mat on the range side of the HQ building—that is now yours until you return it. Move it from a zero point to a metal point when you are done zeroing
-You will need to scope yourself or have a household member do it for you. You can’t walk down if others are shooting!!
-When you are done, clean up after yourself and take your trash with you.
For those who have talked to me about trying out the sport, you are welcome to come up and ski, but I will not be offering rifle instruction or shooting at this time.
For those who did order ammo, please let me know if you plan to come up sometime on Saturday—if so I will leave your ammo at the venue. Otherwise I will send it home with someone from your area or bring it back to Nisswa. For all those who ordered—please send me a check for the appropriate number of cans—at $42.50 per each- made out to me personally.
So lets be super careful, and see how the new world shakes out!! Hopefully the COVID rates will respond to this extra effort and drop quickly. The more careful we are, obviously, the sooner we can get back to normal life! If only we had all listened the first time around!!
Bill Meyer, Coach
MNBiathlon
One of our newest members, Ryan, found these two on line. With our newfound time again for most, it is worthwhile reading through the Coach’s doc especially for those in Coaching positions!! Actually Art Stegen in NY, Marc Sheppard in West Yellowstone, and I collaborated on this about 10-15 yrs ago. There is a newer Coach’s document out by USBA, but this covers the basics like taking a shot and rifle fitting in more detail. Also note, since this was written, I have found a 4 week training cycle with an easier 2nd week works better than stepping up the load 3 weeks in a row then recovery. Kind of a mini recovery week in #2 and a bigger one in #4. The principles of load and recovery then supercompensation are still valid!! You won’t improve your fitness without that supercompensation!! The youtube clip is interesting also!!
Bill Meyer, Coach
MNBiathlon
I found a coaches handbook online from the USBA that I’ve been reading through, attached below. I’ve been enjoying learning about the technical aspects of the sport and it’s been helpful to mentally prepare myself for firing posture, sequence and cadence.
Best wishes, Ryan
I also found a great video explaining how biathlon came to be. https://youtu.be/14NTlDvmzyc
Enjoy, forward as appropriate.
https://photo.wrocket.org/2020/november_elk_river_biathlon/
-Brian Wray
| Elk River Rollerski Biathlon | |||||||||||||
| 11.4km | |||||||||||||
| Overall / Class | Name | Cat | Club | Start | Finish | Overall | Back | P | P | S | S | Total | Notes |
| 1 / 1 | Alex Vanias | SM | WI | 1:20 | 43:29 | 42m 9s 0ms | 0m 0s 0ms | 3 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 13 | |
| 2 / 1 | Drew Sampson | YM | TC | 1:40 | 48:57 | 47m 17s | 5m 8s 0ms | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 13 | |
| 3 / 1 | Matthew Broderson | U17M | TC | 1:00 | 48:49 | 47m 49s 0ms | 5m 40s 0ms | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 12 | |
| 4 / 2 | Edison Byrum | YM | Indiana | 2:00 | 52:37 | 50m 37s 0ms | 8m 28s 0ms | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 10 | |
| 5 / 1 | Gregg Pattison | MM | WI | 2:40 | 54:01 | 51m 21s | 9m 12s 0ms | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 9 | |
| 6 / 2 | Noah Besemann | U17M | TC | 2:20 | 57:41 | 55m 21s | 13m 12s 0ms | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 14 | |
| 7 / 2 | Keith Krantz | MM | TC | 3:00 | 1:04:13 | 1h 1m 13s 0ms | 0h 19m 4s 0ms | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | |
| 9.3km | |||||||||||||
| Overall / Class | Name | Cat | Club | Start | Finish | Overall | Back | P | P | S | S | Total | Notes |
| 1 / 1 | Cheresa Bouley | JW | TC | 3:20 | 40:43 | 37m 23s 0ms | 0m 0s 0ms | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 | |
| 2 / 1 | Saylor Landrum | U17W | TC | 4:00 | 44:38 | 40m 38s | 3m 15s 0ms | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 7 | |
| 3 / 2 | Audry Lahammer | U17W | Bluff | 4:20 | 46:37 | 42m 17s 0ms | 4m 54s 0ms | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 13 | |
| 4 / 1 | Kaisa Bosek | YW | Wolfpack | 3:40 | 48:22 | 44m 42s 0ms | 7m 19s 0ms | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 | |
| 5 / 3 | Evelyn Hudrlik | U17W | TC | 4:40 | 49:33 | 44m 53s 0ms | 7m 30s 0ms | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 11 | |
| 6 / 4 | Lauren Huber | U17W | Wolfpack | 5:00 | 54:00 | 49m 0s 0ms | 11m 37s 0ms | 5 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 16 | |
| 7 / 5 | Emma Reineke | YW | Wolfpack | 5:20 | 57:17 | 51m 57s 0ms | 14m 34s 0ms | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 13 | |
| 8 / 1 | Emily Broderson | MW | TC | 5:40 | 1:02:44 | 57m 4s 0ms | 19m 41s 0ms | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 10 | |
| 7.1km | |||||||||||||
| Overall / Class | Name | Cat | Club | Start | Finish | Overall | Back | P | P | S | S | Total | Notes |
| 1 / 1 | Jack Cashman | U15M | Bluff | 6:00 | 42:55 | 36m 55s 0ms | 0m 0s 0ms | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 11 | |
| 2 / 1 | Carson Peterson | U17M | TC | 7:00 | 47:51 | 40m 51s 0ms | 3m 56s 0ms | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 12 | |
| 3 / 1 | Linnea Ousdigian | U15W | TC | 6:20 | 52:40 | 46m 20s 0ms | 9m 25s 0ms | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 17 | Credited 5m for rifle issues |
| 4 / 2 | Selah Binsfeld | U15W | TC | 6:40 | 57:31 | 50m 51s | 13m 56s 0ms | 5 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 16 | |
Good Morning Everyone-
First, both the daycamp and the race have capped numbers [20 and 25 respectively] and we are at or very close to the caps. If you want to go onto a waiting list, please get in touch with me.
As I checked the COVID statistics this morning, MN appears to be experiencing a big spike in both new positive cases and related deaths. We will need to watch this closely for the next two weeks.
Meanwhile, whether you are planning on coming to ER or not, but especially if you are, PLEASE be very careful over the next two weeks, wear your mask when indoors and social distance where possible. And wash wash wash. Keep your hands away from your face. Try really hard not to become a statistic!!!
You should also get your annual flu shot as soon as possible.
If we all take these precautions now, and no one comes to the end of the month events feeling under the weather, I think we can be pretty much assured we aren’t bringing the virus to the gatherings.
AT THE EVENTS, MASKS WILL BE REQUIRED UNLESS YOU ARE ON THE FIRING LINE OR SKIING. SOCIAL DISTANCE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. We will have extra rifle racks down at the firing line on Saturday and during zero on Sunday. All spectators, coaches, and officials should be masked at all times. Please spread out!
If these rules bother you, please stay home. No one should end up regretting they came sick and passed it on, or on the other hand, be concerned because someone else is trying to be macho!!!
Now, this morning we woke up to this:
It is too early to predict the weather two weeks out, but watch your email after next weekend. We may need to modify our plans. While roller skiing with a skim of snow on the ground is futile, running, hill bounding, and shooting all work fine.
In any case, be careful, be safe, and keep an eye on your email for updates!!
The best season of the year is on its way!!
Bill Meyer, Coach
MNBiathlon