Birkebeiner for Boosters

Hello Friends and Family,

I hope this note finds you well. I will be skiing The American Birkebeiner in Hayward, Wisconsin on February 25th, 2023.

Skiing the Birkebeiner is a lifelong personal goal but I am using this opportunity to raise funds for the Winnacunnet High School Nordic Ski Team Boosters. I have helped coach this team since its inception in 2017. In the team’s short history, we have introduced dozens of athletes to a lifelong sport that embraces the best of New England’s winters with a healthy lifestyle. We compete with the top division 1 teams in New Hampshire and have recent graduates now competing collegiately.

The goal of Winnacunnet High Nordic Boosters is to move beyond funding for a banquet and hot chocolate and make Nordic skiing accessible to more students. This will be done by expanding the booster’s loaner equipment inventory (skis, boots, and poles are expensive), sponsoring early-season training camps, and supporting grassroots efforts where existing athletes and coaches can introduce the sport to middle school students.

I hope you consider donating. I will match every dollar raised to $2,500.

For those uninitiated about cross-country skiing, the watershed moment in American cross-country skiing occurred in 2018 when Jesse Diggins and Kikkan Randall brought home the gold for the U.S. in the relay.

https://youtu.be/9lZaXMXGdzk Certainly inspirational. For those who may still question the sport, Jim Gaffigan puts it in more humorous terms: https://youtu.be/sixK9NONZ98

The Birkebeiner is a 50KM cross-country ski race that has its origins in Norway as a way to celebrate the journey of The Birkebeiner Warriors (who wore birch bark leggings) to save the infant Prince Haakon-the future king of Norway-from invading armies in the Norwegian civil war of 1206. The American Birkebeiner is North America’s largest cross-country ski race and the third largest in the world. It is the Boston Marathon for cross-country skiers.

Thank you for your support!

Richard Luff

Regardless of the dream, the outcome pales in comparison to the process.

In essence, sports become a way of life and the lessons of

sports a way of living.