IBU Cup Trials

Well I’m not going to beat around the bush or anything here. I really surprised myself this past week at IBU Cup trials in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.  But first let me tell you how team trials work in the US.

To make an international team here in the US you have to go to a set of trial races. These races usually consist of 3 or 4 races. At IBU trials there were 4. In the results, each racer gets a percentage based on the average time of the top 3. (Ex: Time1+Time2+Time3/3=X … time1/X= 102% … Time 2/X=100% … Time3/X= 98% ECT.) Then at the end of all the races your worst percentage is dropped and the average of your best races are put into a result list ranking you against all the other athletes at the trials. Some races, like Jr. World trials, you need to have over 98% at the end of the trials to qualify for Jr. Worlds. For IBU trials the criteria stated Sean Doherty (long-time friend) was pre-qualified, the top qualifier off points would be selected and one more off discretion would be selected. AND! One more could be selected on discretion. (If you have any more questions about the trial system just leave a message and I’ll do a better job explaining it)

Coming into the races I wasn’t really expecting to be in the mix. My races in Canmore were ok but not on the level to make the IBU cup (shooting 50% over 3 races and skiing decently) my goal was to get in some good races before Jr. World trials (At the same venue in MN a few days after Christmas). Also I was pretty upset with my 50% shooting in Canmore so I decided it was time to ramp up the dry fire (shooting training done without bullets, usually in your room.)

RACE 1: 10K Sprint. Prone, Standing

I don’t remember much from this race (it could be because I was in what top athletes call “The Zone” or it was 5 days ago and just don’t remember much). I will remember this race for a while though because this was the best I had ever shot in a race! 0-1 (misses, 0 prone, 1 standing). This race was a huge confidence boost for me because for most of my biathlon career I’ve been able to ski fast but had trouble on the range so this summer I put in a lot of time trying to become a more complete biathlete. This race told me the hard work is paying off. I ended up placing 5^th with a 96% and was feeling great.

Race 2: 10K Sprint. P-S

Sunday’s race was very foggy/ rainy. When you looked down the sights all you saw was a grey fuzz, then as you moved over the target you saw a darker grey fuzz. I knew shooting was going to be tough so the better shooters will probably have the better result. I had some trouble prone but recovered in the standing and finished shooting 3-1. Missing 4 was the average on the day so I was able to finish 5^th again with a 94%.

Race 3: 15K Mass Start. P-P-S-S

The mass start is by far my favorite event. Everybody starts at the same time so it’s easy to tell what place you’re in, but at the same time everybody comes into the range together so it’s easy to lose focus and shoot poorly. On the first loop there was a little bit of carnage but for the most part went smoothly. After the first shooting, I got off the mat with one miss and saw Sean also getting up. At this point we were the first two to leave the range. After a quick loop around the penalty loop we headed back out on course with Casey Smith (teammate) who shot clean but shot a little slower. On that loop, Sean and Casey pulled away from me a little bit but I was still within 10 seconds of them. In the next shooting stage I did the exact same thing, one miss. I’m not sure how Casey shot but Sean had 1 also so after a quick loop I was back out on course in 2^nd. On that loop Casey caught up to me and we came into the range together for standing. At this point Sean was way ahead, Casey shot clean and I had two penalties. Coming into the last shooting stage, I saw both Sean and Casey leave the range clean and I knew Wynn Roberts and Patrick Johnson were close behind me. With my 2 misses Wynn was able to pull ahead of me but I knew I was still ahead of Pat (a really fast skier, new to biathlon) so I knew I had to fight hard to not let him catch me. I was able to hold him off and finish 4^th with 95%. Shooting 1-1-2-2.

Race 4: 10K Sprint P-S

Going into this race I knew I was in a pretty good spot. USBA has the option to take 4 men to the IBU cup and right now I was sitting in 4^th. So today needed to be a final “look at what I got” race. I started 30 seconds ahead of Wynn so I knew if I could stay ahead of him, today would be a good race. The first lap felt really good. I felt I was taking the transitions correctly and I just felt plain fast. On the first shooting I came in and did what I had been doing all week and ended up cleaning, Again! I was right where I wanted to be. On my standing shooting I ended up missing 2 but I knew the race was on. Wynn shot 1-1 and was right on my heals as I left the penalty loop. After pushing as hard as I could on the last loop I was able to hold off Wynn and knew today was going to be a good one. I finished 4^th again, this time with 97%!

Now all I can do is wait. I did my part, I showed up and had the best races I could. What I am most excited about is all the hard work I put in this summer on the range is finally paying off. In these last 4 races I felt so comfortable and in control on the range, it feels like a whole different race.

Right now I am in Minneapolis with the Ellingson family for the holidays. Then I’ll be heading back up to Grand Rapids on the 25^th or 26^th of December for Jr. World trials. Friend me on Facebook and follow me on Instagram @brhalligan4 and Twitter @bhbiathlon. Happy Holidays everybody!

O Canada!

Canmore, Alberta is by far my favorite place I’ve been to. Form the ski trails that are more like ski highways, to the incredibly huge Rocky Mountains that set the most beautiful backdrop one could imagine, I always use Canmore as motivation on those cold and rainy days rollerskiing in the summer. Come to think of it I probably should have made a mid-trip blog post because we were there for 3 weeks and there is a lot of stuff that happened so I’ll try to condense it down to a reasonable blog post. 

The town and the mountains in the background 

The view from the range 

The "Three Sisters" Faith, Hope and Charity 

Hoodoos (weird conglomerate structures) with mountains in the background 

Tall Hoodoo with the Three Sisters 

The trip out to Calgary was pretty uneventful. No flight delays or cancellations and all luggage made it across the border (backpack, duffle bag, ski bag, rifle case). Upon arrival to Canmore, Casey Smith picked us (Welly Ramsey took the shuttle from the airport with me) up and brought us to the Rocky Mountain Ski Lodge. And this brings us to our first story from the trip:

At about 2 AM I wake up to somebody clapping. I look around and see the light on, but welly isn’t in his bed (we were in the loft and Casey was in a room downstairs) I then hear clapping again and hear welly yell “Dude, wake up!” so I crawl out of bed and pear over the railing to see Welly bending over a person laying on the ground. My first reaction is Casey got up to get a snack, fell, hit his head and is now passed out on the ground. Upon further inspection however, I realize I’ve never seen this person before in my life. Welly then yells “Dude, wake up! You’re in the wrong room!” That’s when I realize this guy is some drunk guy who somehow got into our room. After we woke him up and kicked him out we took a second to reflect on the hilarity of the situation. How he got in was our fault, we accidentally left the key in the door so this poor guy was probably saw the key and was just happy to get out of the cold. We saw him the next day walking to his car but I don’t think he even remembered what happened the night before.

Drunk Guy with Welly trying to wake him up. 

The skiing was awesome! When I first arrived there was aboot a 2k man made loop but they were working hard to get more trails pushed out for the upcoming races. By the time of the first race weekend there was close to 8 or 9K. The course its self is pretty hilly but the mountains make it better.

beautiful views all around

Casey doing what ever that is... 

Under the bridge

The first scheduled races of the trip were actually cancelled due to the cold. The legal race temperature is -20*C but the range was close to -25*C so that race was cancelled pretty quickly. But Sunday’s race was trying hard to happen. The temperature when we first got to the venue was about -23*C. so the race organizers decided to delay it an hour in hopes that the sun would warm things up. At the second jury meeting the temperature was actually -20*C at the range but -22*C on the trails. So they decided to cancel it. It’s too bad they can’t predict the future because about 30 mins later the temp got up to -17*C. but its ok because once the temp gets bellow -15*C everything just feels one temperature: COLD!

On the Monday after the canceled races we decided to head up to Lake Louise to ski on an access road that gets groomed in the winter. The skiing wasn’t that good, in fact, it was really bad. But the view was worth the hour and half ski through slow, not very packed snow. On the ski we got to see the Mountain that hosted the Alpine World Cup race that weekend. The trail ended with an “Avalanche Warning! Turn Back!” sign. Didn’t see any avalanches but apparently they happen. (I didn’t know what to say for that part but I hope that’s good haha) after the ski we visited the Lake Louise Hotel. This hotel was a 7 story building tucked in to a little valley between two huge mountain faces. The hotel its self reminded me of a classic 1920’s New York hotel. The lobby was a very big common room where everybody would come to socialize. It had a grand staircase and huge chandelier. Next to the hotel was the Lake Louise. This lake is the picturesque lake you see in calendars, post cards, and nature shots. If I ever win the lottery I will be back to this hotel with my friends and family.

Skiing on the road with Sean Doherty

Trail ends with a beautiful view

Those trails you see are the World Cup Alpine trails. Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin were doing some training runs that day

Banff has a beautiful downtown 

Hotel in the mountains

Grand staircase 

Lake Louise 

Next weekend was much warmer (almost above freezing) so the first races of the season were under way. In the first sprint on Thursday I shot 2-3 (misses) 50% is less than what I would have like to hit but for the first race of the season I’ll take it. On Saturday for the second sprint race I shot another 50%, 4-1. Right after the race I realized I didn’t look at the wind flags while shooting prone so that was the lesson for the day. Standing felt solid. Then for the last race, the mass start, everybody starts at the same time and the first to finish wins. The shooting for the day went 3-1-4-2. Another 50%. My skis were pretty fast so right off the start I moved up to the front (unintentionally) came into the range and had 3 misses. My coach, Seth came out on course and informed me all the misses were close, just to calm down and take good shots. So I did and only had 1 miss and was able to move up to 3^rd or 4^th place. I started getting wrapped up in the race and began to lose shooting focus. That’s where the 4 misses came from. Despite the 50% shooting over the three races I was pretty happy with how the weekend went. I re-learned some valuable lessons you can only learn from racing. And that was the goal of the races. Remember how to race, on the course and on the range. Racing on the range is tricky because you’re not really racing in the “go fast” sense but racing in the “if I do this right I will be a head of those who do it wrong” sense. I was also pretty pleased with my skiing this past weekend. I felt my ski speed was competitive with everybody else in the field. Photos shamelessly stolen from friend Jake Ellingson: (more race photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/105337266@N06/sets/72157649249305869/ )

Start of mass start 

Entering the range during mass start

Right now I am sitting in the Chicago-O’Hare airport on my way to Grand Rapids, Minnesota for IBU Cup Trials. The IBU Cup is like the World Cup minor leagues so qualifying would be a real treat, but will be really tough.

Thanks for reading, I know it was a long post but I hope you were somewhat entertained to see what I was up to. Friend me on Facebook, Follow me on Instagram: @Brhalligan4 and twitter: @bhbiathlon

P.S, in case you missed it here is the MWSC highlight video from Canmore: