Underachievers unite: Go ski team "In Fifth Place"!!!

From L-R: Kevin Killourie, Donny Chase III, Samantha Warren (that's me and no, I did not ride a horse to the mountain despite my wide stance), Peter Eiermann, Meghan Simone (and no, Meg is not trying to catch snowflakes on her tongue), Dave Eiermann, Kyle Warren (the truffle ketchup to my french fries).

I started skiing before I could really walk and was so passionate about it, that I attended a ski academy so I could pursue it competitively. Sadly, I sucked (especially in contrast to my school's many Olympians) and the daily frustration caused by that led me to take a rather lengthy hiatus from being on snow. Whereas as I used to ski nearly every single day that Sugarloaf was open, in the eight or so years following my graduation, I could count the number of days I skied each year on a single hand. All that has changed this year, thanks to a variety of factors, including a husband and several good friends who are obsessed with skiing and determined to make it as fun for me as it for them. (Of course the irony is that we now live two plus hours from Maine's best mountains, though for the past eight years, we've lived in their shadows.)

One such friend is Meg Simone, a talented (and oh so fun!) New Hampshire wedding videographer who I worked with at Lani and Steve's wedding this past summer at the York Harbor Inn. Knowing we were skiing more, Meg invited Kyle and me to join her ski race team that participated in the Wednesday evening Racing With the Moon league at Shawnee Peak. Though it's a bit of a push to get out the door and to the mountain with all of our gear every Wednesday night, we are so grateful we said YES!!! Our five teammates - the Jackson/North Conway contingent of Meg, her boyfriend Dave, Donnie and Kevin and then our fellow Portland rep, Pete - are the most fun, down-to-earth, hilarious ski racing buddies Kyle and I could ask for and they've all helped to reignite my love for skiing (stay tuned for a future post on our recent 750 mile Maine ski adventure- yes, I said 750).

The team used to be sponsored by Badger Realty, and their moniker reflected that. But seeing as they've finished in fifth place every year since they joined the league, we all decided to just embrace it!!! Don't hate. Now we're named "In Fifth Place." And what's more- we've actually finished in fifth place in -I think- every race this season and are currently- no surprise- ranked fifth overall with two races to go. It was funny because after one race earlier in the season, the results showed that'd we were in fourth and we were actually a bit bummed about it. But when we looked more closely, we realized that they'd listed someone as a scorer for our team who actually isn't one of the In Fifth Place A-teamers (everyone wants a piece). Back in fifth! Crisis averted!

Note to self: Sometimes it really helps to specifically define your goals!

I think there are about 15 or so teams (some of which have some super speedy Master's racers on there), so fifth place is nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, everyone is abuzz about our consistency (they call us a concept team and underachievers everywhere are cheering us on), and the fact that we all dine family style- the seven of us crowded around a little round table- following every race. We're so consistent that we can't just chock it up to chance anymore. We can't reveal how we do it, but let's just say it involves some Cera F, a bottle of glue, several pitchers of beer and a slide rule. I kid.

Personally, after not being in gates for a decade (and not suspecting I ever would again), I am pretty pleased about my own performance. I've place third in four of the eight races and Meg and I usually flipflop between third and fourth (the women who get first and second are way faster than us and most of the men actually, and far too talented to top). I must admit, it's nice to have a little athletic confidence boost each week the day after our dodgeball team gets embarrassed.

Go team In Fifth Place!!!

Here is a slice of our shenanigans -video of course by Meg (I am the one in the helmet and blue jacket who is always screaming - don't worry, I won't do this at your wedding- and Kyle is in the green fleece):
Racing with the Moon - Shawnee Peak from Meg Simone on Vimeo.