5th Annual
Marquette, Michigan
January 25, 2003
55K Freestyle Marathon
Overall Gender Group Place Time Pace/Km
Place Place
39 34 Eric Piscopo M50-54 4 /46 2:53:13 3:08
114 104 Larry Tomie M45-49 24/79 3:16:56 3:34
173 156 Mario Festival M45-49 42/79 3:37:35 3:57
319 279 Alan Sloan M70-74 1 / 2 5:04:21 5:32
Finishers: 334, 45 females, 289 males
55K Classic Marathon
Overall Gender Group Place Time Pace/Km
Place Place
68 6 Marg Meincke F45-49 1 / 4 4:06:45 4:29
Finishers: 126, 14 females, 112 males
25K Snowshoe Race
Overall Gender Age Time Pace/Km
Place Place
6 5 Tom Piippo 46 2:40:06 6:24
Finishers: 11, 4 females, 7 males
Press release issued January 28, 2003
Marquette MI – One thousand children and adults enjoyed the festivities of the 5th annual Subaru Noquemanon Ski Marathon, Ski Hall of Fame Half Marathon, and Torch Light Trek held on January 23-26. Skiers from four countries and twelve states joined the locals on a 55K and 25K journey into Marquette from Ishpeming on a day featuring temperatures in the teens and a light snowfall. Over 200 skiers were also recognized on Saturday for skiing in all five Noquemanons to date.
With Midwest snow conditions lackluster again this year, the crowd at the Superior Dome after the race was enthusiastic that the 55K trail could be used this year. “In Duluth we have no snow, so it’s nice to come over to the Upper Peninsula for the snow conditions and the race camaraderie,” stated Ben Fornear, a five-time Noque skier.
Roger Chernik, a first time Noque skier from Racine raved about the course. “There was never a dull moment. Snaking through the twisting trails, bopping over … bridges, jaunting through a pine plantation, tight turns above a drop off, skiing along a hillside, down hill to a river, and then skiing under a bridge….I felt like a 12 year old playing hookey from school.”
“We’re very pleased with the results of our fifth Noquemanon,” commented Bob Mahaney, race founder and committee member. “Thanks to our volunteers, we were able to use the entire 55K course. Although there were a few rough spots out there, conditions over 95% of the course were excellent. Skiers were pleased with the conditions and were grateful to be on snow, given the situation in the Midwest this winter. We received lots of compliments again about the scenic course, as well as race organization, the Dome facilities, and the festive atmosphere surrounding the event.”
The competition remained top notch this year as members of the Subaru Factory Team, Team Rossignol, and Team Atomic fought for places on the podium. The Subaru Factory Team took home top honors for the second straight year in the Men’s and Women’s 55 K classic events as St. Pauls’s Chad Giese, 2002’s third place finisher, blew away the men’s field with an impressive time of 2:45.34. Marquette’s Matt Weier of Team Atomic came in second at 2:48:54, while Mike Myers of Kalispell, MT, skiing for Team Rossignol and winner of the first three Noques, placed third with a time of 2:57:28.
In the Women’s 55K Classic Race, Abigail Larson, of Marquette and the Subaru Factory Team, held onto a strong lead and finished in 3:09:49. Second place went to Kelly Skillicorn with a 3:26:53 time. Joan Rundman, winner of the 2001 53K classic, skied into third place in 3:32:24.
In the 55K Freestyle races, Marquette’s Cory Wubbels followed up his first place finish at the Pepsi Challenge with another first place in a time of 2:23:53. He was followed five minutes later by Adam Swank of Milwaukee with a 2:28:53 time, while third place went to Duluth’s Brian May, winner of last year’s Noque Freestyle, in 2:31:45.
Spectators were treated to an exciting finish in the women’s 55K freestyle race. JoAnn Hanowski of Team Rossignol edged teammate Vicki Asmus and Diane Trembley to claim first place with a time of 2:50:33.6. Asmus crossed the finish line in 2:50:39.4 followed by Trembley in 2:50:39.9.
In the Half Marathon races, the young skiers (24 and under) took top honors. In the men’s classic division, Cameron Ross of Traverse City glided over the finish line in 1:17:33. In the women’s 25K classic race, Marquette resident Maria Stewart won with a time of 1:21:59. In the half marathon freestyle division, Andy Liebner of Marquette cruised into first place in 1:03:32. In the women’s 25K freestyle it was the Coulter sister show with Anna Coulter and Julia Coulter of Traverse City coming in one and two. Anna’s time was 1:16:28 just a ski tip ahead of Julia who finished in 1:16:29.
Snowshoers also competed in the inaugural 25 K snowshoe event with Justin Vasseau taking the top prize in the men’s division in 2:05:04 and Michelle Paul winning the female division in 2:14:52. The Subaru Noquemanon is a member of the prestigious American Ski Marathon Series.