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Years ago a small band of women in the Hayward area formed what became the Ski and Tea training group. Since then it has grown to include hundreds of women who support each other year-round and in various ways. First and foremost, it creates a community. Every Friday they gather in groups from a few to fifty to ski, run, bike, listen to a speaker, or just workout according the day's plan.

In this episode (the first of two parts) we speak to Connie Meek, Sue Scheer, Alyson Chapman, and Nancy Bauer. They explain the purpose of the group, their own personal Birkie experiences and how meaningful the Ski and Tea group has been in their lives.

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Welcome to the Birch Legacies podcast. We are sharing stories celebrating the motivation, the perserverence, and the lifestyle choices necessary to reach the status of Birchlegger - that is, skiers who have completed 20 or more Birkies, Korteloppets, or a combination of both. We would love to hear from Birchleggers young and old (that's you!) who have a story to tell about what keeps them coming back year after year.

If you would like to appear on the podcast, please send Jon Peterson an email at jtpeterson425@gmail.com or you can fill out this form

Learn more about the Birchleggings Club and become a member

Birkie Website

Buy the new book, "American Birkebeiner: The Nations Greatest Ski Marathon" by Jerome Poling

Available at the ...

Send a text

Nancy Bauer has built a life around skiing. Through their family ski adventures, a cabin near OO, high school, college, club, World Cup and even Olympic competition, the Bauer family has done it all. After 25 Birkies and 10 Korte's, Nancy continues to mentor, coach, volunteer and grow the sport through her tireless dedication and love for skiing. Nothing gets her more excited than to help someone see the joy of being outdoors doing any kind of exercise. She especially loves to support other women of all ages and to build a sisterhood they can rely on.

Look for her in her funny costumes, repurposed Birkie bib outfits or just cheering you on. She is one of the real legends of our sport!

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Welcome to the Birch Legacies podcast. We are sharing stories celebrating the motivation, the perserverence, and the lifestyle choices necessary to reach the status of Birchlegger - that is, skiers who have completed 20 or more Birkies, Korteloppets, or a combination of both. We would love to hear from Birchleggers young and old (that's you!) who have a story to tell about what keeps them coming back year after year.

If you would like to appear on the podcast, please send Jon Peterson an email at jtpeterson425@gmail.com or you can fill out this form

Learn more about the Birchleggings Club and become a member

Birkie Website

Buy the new book, "American Birkebeiner: The Nations Greatest Ski Marathon" by Jerome Poling

Available at the ...

Send us Fan Mail

Jim Coors had a question. How does Birkie performance change with age? As a Birchlegger (36 birkies) Jim was in a unique position to find the answer. He is an agronomy professor with a lifetime of experience analyzing large data sets. Jim took the last 25 years of publicly available Birkie results, crunched the data, and found answers to his question and even answered a few more.

Jim and I talk about his personal Birkie history and then dig into the results he found from his research. The data is linked here so you can dig in after you listen or even follow along as we look into the magical effect skiing has on our long-time performance.

The poem we talked about in the episode: 'A Solitary Ski Track'

_______________________________________________

Welcome to the Birch Legacies podcast. We are sharing stories celebrating the motivation, the perserverence, and the lifestyle choices necessary to reach the status of Birchlegger - that is, skiers who have completed 20 or more Birkies, Korteloppets, or a combination of both. We would love to hear from Birchleggers young and old (that's you!) who have a story to tell about what keeps them coming back year after year.

If you would like to appear on the podcast, please send Jon Peterson an email at jtpeterson425@gmail.com or you can fill out this form

Learn more about the Birchleggings Club and become a member

Birkie Website

Buy the new book, "American Birkebeiner: The Nations Greatest Ski Marathon" by Jerome Poling

Available at the ...