I’m anxiously waiting for the Madison lakes to melt so I can get my boat in the water for that first run of the year. The weather hit near 50 here today, which will work some wonder on that sheet of ice covering Lake Monona.

The format is a 55 mile barefoot endurance race. Driver meeting is scheduled for 6:30a, boat launch at 6:45a and the race kicks off at 7:30a. Awards are schedule to go from 11a-noon followed by a cookout and then an afternoon of water skiing, barefooting, and what sounds like an impromptu figure-8 tournament.

Check out the team’s website or 2010 Alabama River Barefoot Challenge flyer for more details.

The preparations are well underway, and the weatherman is predicting incredible weather for this weekend. (Mid-eighties on Saturday, and upper-sixties for the race on Sunday morning)

Monona Bay is free of weeds this year, and MasterCraft Boats will be pulling the event. We are getting confirmations and early registrations from quite a few footers so it looks like it is going to be bigger and better than ever.

Here is a link to most of the info you will need (this includes the Registration form, maps to the location, and misc information):

• Clean Lakes Festival Barefoot Challenge

Here is the agenda:

I will be setting up the course on Friday afternoon. We may have time for a few practice runs if time permits. As there are no weeds to cut the course through, I anticipate that the course setup will go fairly smoothly, so we should have a little time Friday afternoon for some warmup runs.

FRIDAY NIGHT

Meet and Greet at Chasers 7:00 PM. Chasers will be having food and drink specials for the competitors.

• Chasers Bar Madison – Google Maps

SATURDAY MORNING

We will open Registration at 8AM. The official start is 10 AM, but we would like to get started earlier. Registration will close at 9:30 AM. As we are anticipating more participants this year, please print out the registration form from the website and have a check PAYABLE TO : Redline or cash. Day of Race Registration will be $50 Pre-Registration is $45. If you participate in both the Figure 8 and the Race, the fee will stay at $55

**You will also need to be a member of USA WaterSki. We will have forms available, but it would be much easier if you do it online ahead of time.

They no longer offer a $10 Temporary Membership, but they have added a Grass Roots Active Membership for $35 that will work for all of the Figure 8 events (provided they are sanctioned as Grass Root Events, which most are. Please print out your membership card and have that available at registration. The Membership is good for 1 year from the date of registration. (THIS IS MANDATORY FOR INSURANCE PURPOSES – NO ONE WILL BE ALLOWED TO SKI WITHOUT PROOF OF USA WATERSKI MEMBERSHIP)

Here is the link to USA Waterski:

• Join USA Water Ski

The Figure 8 on Saturday morning will start no later than 10 AM. I’d love to be started at 9:30. We hope to be finished by 5:00PM. At that time, everyone is invited to go over to the Clean Lakes Festival at Olin Park, which is about 1 mile away. There will be a beer tent and food available, as well as live music, and other events.

SATURDAY NIGHT

Rumor has it, there will also be a couple of private parties near Lake Waubesa, the sight of the Sunday Morning Barefoot Race. Details to be announced on Saturday.

SUNDAY MORNING

We will meet at the Beach House, McFarland, WI at 6:30 AM for a 7:00 AM race Boats will be provided, but if anyone has a boat that we can use, please let me know. Depending on how many people can get up that early, we are expecting a good turnout for the race, so we may need an extra boat or two. I’m still waiting on confirmation of getting a boat from the Mad-City Ski Team.

After the race, we will meet back at the Beach House for breakfast. They have awesome walleye and eggs, or omelets with homemade hollandaise sauce.

TIDBITS:

• Lodging: There are a number of hotels in the area. Several of the local participants have offered up places to stay as well, so call Bob Mahnke or Paul Stokes on Friday if you need lodging.
• Clean Lakes Cleanup: If anyone is going to be around on Friday afternoon or Saturday Morning, we are going to organize a cleanup of the floating debris along the shore. We want guys in barefoot suits or Clean Lakes T-shirts cleaning up the area. We are going to take a few pictures to show that barefooters like Clean Lakes as well! I’ll have a few rakes and garbage bags on hand.
• T-shirts: Be sure and buy the inaugural Clean Lakes Barefoot Challenge T-shirt. They are $20, and proceeds will go to the prize money as well as the Figure 8 Barefoot Series. This T-shirt is sure to be a collectors item. Make sure you support our sponsors as well.

Contacts:

• Bob Mahnke – (608) 695-6673 mobile
• Paul Stokes - (608) 333-6584 mobile

Best Dam Barefoot Race Highlight Video

After lots of wind in 2007, a little less wind in 2008, then way too much wind in 2009, so much that they delayed the race by a day only to run it in 40 degree temperatures, the weather gods finally smiled on the race as weather was near perfect in Beaver Dam, WI. At race time, the temperature was near 60 degrees, is was partly sunny and just enough breeze to let you know that there was wind. The lake behind Dawn & Woody’s Moonlight Bar was nearly glass.

waiting for the horn to sound

Shortly after 11am, the boats idled out to the starting line and about 11:10am, the horn sounded and the 5 boats took off with their barefooters in tow.  In two falls that likely impacted the final results, Aaron Schoezl, a past Footstock Figure-8 Champion, fell on his deep water start. One other footer also quickly fell, but their identity was a mystery to those of us on shore (update – per Mike Miller in a comment below, it was Mark Mahan that fell.)

and they’re off

And with that, the boats disappeared behind the point as they raced northeast towards the far end of the lake. After about 8 minutes, we heard from one of the spotter boats that the first wave of footers were passing them. About 15 minutes into the race, we heard from the turn-a-round boat that four boats were already on their way back towards the finish.

As the race timer ticked towards the 27 minute mark, we could hear the roar of some of the boat motors as they raced back towards the finish line. As the timer crossed 27 minutes, the first boat, Team Mahnke, appeared past the point and raced across the finish line with a time of 27:12.

As the winners fished their final footer out of the water and cracked open their first celebratory beers, another boat, Team Mahan, made it’s appearance around the point, turning towards the finish line, when their footer fell. They quickly turned the boat around and put the handle back in the footer’s hands as another boat, Barefoot Central’s Team, appeared from behind the point. Team Mahan with their footer on the end of the rope, quickly took off towards the line, finishing with a time of 28:13 and they were followed quickly by Barefoot Central with a time of 28:24. The fourth boat, Hotfooters, finished 49 seconds later with a time of 29:13.

Team Manke enjoying their celebratory beers

After a 22 mile race, the top four teams were separated by a mere 2:01.

Back to the falls from the beginning of the race… Aaron Schoezl’s team, took 3rd behind the Mahan Team by 11 seconds. If Aaron or Mark don’t fall, they both likely contending for first. The initial pickup probably cost them about 45 seconds, maybe  a little more, maybe a little less. Those falls put them about a minute behind the eventual winners.

Update: One last note… Team Mahnke was also hampered by an 8-cylinder engine running on what they thought was 6, so they didn’t have nearly the speed that they are use to. It was fine for the initial start, but after that, they just couldn’t get the same speed. Even with the handicap, they were still able to win the race.

Here the the final standings after the race:

1. Team Manke – 27:12 (Bob Mahnke, Luke Bruchner, Chad Mietz, Paul Stokes, Mark Donahue)
2. Team Mahan – 28:13 (Mark Mahan, Rob Christenson, Chris McWaters, John Debelak, Mike Miller)
3. Barefoot Central – 28:24 (Chris Van Zealand, Aaron Schoezl, Scoot Reed, Lucas Twelemeyer, Jamie Kumlien)
4. Hotfooters – 29:13 (Mike Peterson, Gary Slawny, Dan Weinberger, Marci Holtz, Dave Strobel)
5. Team Hughes – 44:22 (Tommy Schmidt, Andy W., Shane Hughes, Chad Behl, Tyler Sweeney)

recapping their races to each other

Last year the weather didn’t cooperate on Saturday (just a tad bit windy) and on Sunday when the ran the rice, although it was very sunny, the actually temperature was way cold (we’re talking 30′s). Hopefully, the weather cooperates a bit more this year.

More details on registration and cost will be coming soon.

Start training now for the 22 miles of fun pain torture racing excitement.  Get your team’s together now!

If you know the results, drop me a note at wedge [at] talesfromthefoot.com or just drop a comment on this post.

Update 10/20 @ 955 pm CDT – Based on the comments below, there were two divisions…

• Inboard Division – 50 Miles – Won by Team Rum Runners -  Don Simon, Todd Fipps, Doug Roufinauf, and Mark
• Ski Pros – 100 Miles – Won by Team Top Gun