6th AUG - The FFOG's - Fast Fat Old Guys or Fit Fast Old Girls as they prefer to be called managed to assemble 13 seniors members for the Challenge this year. TeamBERG today comprised: newbie Ella Darveniza, Pricey, Nick Reader, Julie Zwarteveen, Gregie Hutton, Dave Keith, Michael Horton, Judy Lenne, Steve Brady, Drew Blomfield, Paul Manka, Merran and Brucey Wallis. There were a number of late scratchings from the Berg line-up due to runny noses or just plain softness but our core group of FFOGs nonetheless fronted up to the start at Rossi 1 by 1pm to take on the 35 Silver Brumby stalwarts for yet a
nother face-off.On this occasion the weather and snow condition were just ideal - plenty of snow and brilliant sunshine to boot. Due to a lack of match fitness amongst the FFOGs, what with their runny noses and all, there were surprisingly few hangovers, and coupled with the clear fresh conditions up the mountain, we didn't look all that bad - at least a little better than on some occasions in the past. We even managed to arrive on time for the start, most of us before the SB team had even gathered, also an infrequent situation from our mob.
Two of our original Junior TeamBERGers Ben Reader 13yrs and Harry Price 14yrs were on hand to forerun the event, having come down with their dads Nick and myself to take up the Rising Star Award benefits of a training session with the Thredbo Ski Race Club over the weekend. This of course instigated a betting frenzy amongst the other dads in the FFOGs, $100s on the tote AGAINST the two old national ski team dads being able to shut the young'ins out which produced a wry smile on the boys faces as they entered the starting huts just ahead.There were plenty of oohs and ahhs as the 50 odd adult racers watched as the two boys tore up the course, obviously benefiting from elevated hype from the crowds behind them. With no stuff-ups from the boys, the pressure was on. I looked at the awkwardly flat start and decided I was in big trouble, not to mention Nick who was starting just a few behind me.
After what I thought was a respectable run down the race track with a 21.87secs, I turned to see a smug smile on my little bloke's face as he had finally vanquished his old man on his home turf for the first time with his 21.31secs! I secretly knew that bringing him down for senior's race week was not a good idea; I had managed to avoid a showdown effectively for the past two years but the day had finally come. Well, with the scene now resembling an Animal Kingdom TV episode from the 70's with the old dominant males being displaced by the young.
It w
as left up to Nick to stamp his dominance on young Ben if he could, despite the fact that these first two runs of the Challenge were based upon getting the least differential in time between them, so it was ordinarily not required to go all out. BUT - the pressure was on, and his long-held reputation was being challenged nonetheless! On this occasion, young Ben would have to await his right of passage, with Nick rising to the moment, playing way above his weight in his first run of 23.14secs to stave off the inevitable for another day.The rest of TeamBERG got on with the job and completed the two runs for the Berg v S/Brumby Challenge in fine form, no mess-ups and things looked all hunky dory for a shot at retaining the trophy for another year.
With the Challenge now out of the way, this left the 3rd run for all the guns to set a "fastest time" against each other for the individual scratch event.
In the girls, Judy showed her true colours by conquering the field as the fastest female racer with a 23.88 secs ahead of Daniela Powell from S/Brumby on 24.11secs and our newbie Ella making a top 5 placing at 5th with 25.59secs, a very popular result amongst the FFOGs.
Within the mens dept., this is where traditionally Brucie peaks too early so all eyes were on him, now becoming accustomed to his newly aquired "JONO RACE SKIS" he had scored at Jono's Olympic auction late 2009.
Brucie squashed all his critics with a blinder of a 3rd run and 20.97secs, albeit not very tidy. I had decided that my next "racing runs" would be in tomorrow's Thredbo Interclubs as I had developed a seering pain in the right knee trying to out-shoot young Harry, so it was left for our remaining FFOGs to try and out do the likes of Damien Powell and SS off the stick. Almost but not quite, Brucie has just fallen short of Damien's usual gauntlet who ran a 20.90secs, 7 hundreds in arrears but a commendable effort and a show of promise for the following day.
Overall, Berg best splits from Ella, Julie, Steve, Bruce and Drew placed second in the Challenge with a splits aggregate of only 0.61secs against Silver Brumby's aggregate of a fantastic 0.17secs. NB - S/B field 35 runners to our 13 so they have an advantage over us.
The presentation was again in the private dining room of Bernti's where both clubs mingled, ate and drank whilst Bob, SS and I presented the winners of the Challenge and also the Berghutte Club Trophies - the Joe Manka Memorial to our best male and female challenger and the Berg Cup fro the fastest male and female skier from Berg in the 3rd run. This year, Jen Wilson of Berg fame was our hostess at Bernti's where she has taken up the role of manager since moving on from Berg after 10 years. It was very comfy with Jen at the helm.
Our winners of the Joe Manka Memorial Trophy in 2010 were Ella and Steve. Ella managed to ski her first two runs 26.97/27.02 split of 0.05secs and Steve with 25.41/25.52 split of 0.11secs.
Our winners of the Berg Cup for 2010 were Judy and Bruce of course, who together make the FFOG look somewhat respectable haha.
Well done TeamBERG FFOGs.
Pricey
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