About 100 runners take off from the start/finish line at Rainy River Community College during last year’s 10-kilometer Freeze Yer Gizzard Blizzard Run. The air temperature was 9 below zero at the start of the race.
What might be considered mild temperatures for some, is downright cold to others.
This weekend’s Freeze Yer Gizzard Blizzard Run will test opinions.
The 35th annual race is set for today and as of Thursday, temperatures were expected to hover right around 30 degrees.
International Falls Chamber of Commerce President Faye Whitbeck said while it’s hard to predict how many runners will lace up their shoes and face mid-January weather, warmer temps tend to attract more locals.
“It’s a hard gig to estimate,” she said of the race. “Historically, warmer weather usually brings out more locals, which is a bit contradictory as well as amusing.”
After several weeks of Borderland’s below zero temperatures, those who live in the Icebox of the Nation year-round, might think 30 degrees feels tropical. However, to others, running in temperatures below freezing might be hard to comprehend.
Last year, about 230 people – 52 from International Falls – ran the race with temperatures dipping to around 11 degrees below zero.
“Sometimes the weather has a residual effect on the race from year to year,” Whitbeck said. “The previous year’s weather may influence the current year’s turnout.”
Two and three years ago, Whitbeck said “fairly cold” weather sparked more than 300 runners — record participation. She said it could be 2010’s warmer temperatures exposed more people to the event and played a role in the consecutive years’ high participation numbers.
And the race is an easy headline-maker.
Last year, because of the all-time low temperatures that set in most of December and into January, the whole state and especially the Icebox of the Nation were taking top slots on national news coverage.
“That can linger persistently in the minds of non-residents,” Whitbeck said of out-of-towners considering whether to run in the event. “That said, the 2015 registrations already total the sum participation last year, so it seems a long-range forecast of really mild weather is undoubtedly important.”
Whitbeck said whenever weather is a topic, what is happening on the northern Minnesota border is likely relevant — even if it’s warmer-than-usual during the winter months. Still, it’s almost certain the race can expect some kind of national attention.
“An event labeled the Freeze Yer Gizzard Blizzard Run was hardly meant to go unnoticed,” Whitbeck said of the kick start to the race’s fame. In 1955, the March edition of Collier’s magazine ran a story entitled “The Coldest Town in America,” which got translated as the “Icebox of the Nation” in successive national weather reports.
“The marriage of those two monikers is irresistible to media,” Whitbeck said. “I’ll be doing a live interview Saturday morning with The Weather Channel... Like it, or not, that’s why we’re on the map and the label sparks human interest.”
St. Thomas School student Colin Kostiuk works alongside his classmates to create a snow sculpture at Smokey Bear Park Thursday. The snow sculptures mark the traditional kickoff to Icebox Days.
Above: Four-year-old Jude Shinners grabbed his plastic shovels and “helped” his brother’s class make a peace sign out of snow Thursday.
Right: Olivia Thostenson flings a chunk of snow through the air to gain better access to the snow bank.
Colin Kostiuk, left, and Patrick Shinners shovel snow at Smokey Bear Park.
Koochiching County Commissioner Rob Ecklund volunteers his time to help St. Thomas students create a peace sign out of a snow bank.
Icebox Days events kicked off Thursday as St. Thomas School students grabbed their shovels and shaped a snow bank in Smokey Bear Park. The traditional snow sculptures, created by area fourth-grade students, make their appearance during Icebox Days, and depending on the amount of snowfall, can be visible throughout the winter months. Although Thursday’s wind was chilly, actual temperatures cooperated with having youngsters outside. In previous years, the event has been canceled if it is too cold.
About 100 runners take off from the start/finish line at Rainy River Community College during last year’s 10-kilometer Freeze Yer Gizzard Blizzard Run. The air temperature was 9 below zero at the start of the race.
Borderland will get another chance to shine this winter with the Minnesota United Snowmobile Association’s 2015 Winter Rendezvous.
The event, hosted by the International Voyageur Snowmobile Club, will take place Feb. 12-15, and is expected to draw up to 300 riders, said Eric Johnson, IVSC steering committee co-chair.
“It’ll be a great chance to showcase our beautiful trails and miles and miles of lake trail in Voyageurs National Park and everything International Falls has to offer as a snowmobile winter destination,” Johnson said.
His co-chair, Mike Heibel, said hosting the event has future benefits.
“The No. 1 thing is we get our area on the radar of state legislators and the state association,” he said. “When they ride up here they take a little ownership of the issues we have. When they see and experience the area, it’s easier to stick up for it.”
The event was awarded to IVSC at the 2014 event held at Shooting Star Casino, where members of the IVSC board pitched a proposal for a Rendezvous that will encompass a larger region than just International Falls and Rainy Lake.
Johnson said three counties and many towns, townships and communities are involved. He said guided rides will include destinations to the east, west and south of International Falls.
While local riders are encouraged to register for the Rendezvous, which will be headquartered at the AmericInn, volunteers are needed from every part of the region.
“When you look at the region as a whole, as far as winter sports and snowmobiling, we are greater together,” Johnson said. “The more the merrier.”
While IVSC is the host club, all snowmobile clubs from Crane Lake, Orr, Kabetogama, Ash River, Northome and Baudette are working together on the event, Johnson said.
The IVSC last hosted the event in the 1990s, he said. The IVSC Board wanted to host the event this year to coincide with the 40th anniversary of Voyageurs National Park.
“We though this would be a great year to host the Rendezvous now, with the wonderful relationship between the snowmobiling community and the National Park Service,” he said. “In the past it was a little rockier.”
Heibel said many riders may find unique experiences in the trail rides planned for the event.
“A lot of areas don’t have the multiple types of rides like we do,” Heibel said. “We have lake riding, groomed land trails, off-trail riding — there are endless opportunities there. There are many logging roads and some rivers we know are pretty safe to ride.”
Volunteers are needed to help with the many guided tours planned for across the region, the co-chairs said.
“And the guides will be able to tell people about all the experiences we have here,” Heibel said.
At least three people, and four would be better, are needed for each of the guided tours on the the six or seven different routes that will be offered, Heibel said. Guides who can offer an entire day to lead sleds on the Big Falls-Birchdale loop are needed as well.
Heibel said he hoped to have volunteers at the many shelters along trails manning bonfires throughout the Rendezvous.
Other opportunities to volunteer that don’t require a sled involve helping at the AmericInn.
Registration for the event is though IVSC and is separate from lodging reservations. Lodging options can be found on the registration form and at www.rainylake.org.
Johnson also encouraged local businesses to provide items for gift bags that will be presented to all who register and to offer door prizes.
“It’s a great way to advertise the services and what we have to offer in the region,” Johnson said.
The itinerary for the weekend is still being finalized, but Thursday is expected to include registration and a casual reception.
Friday will offer a VIP ride and lunch at the Kabetogama Community Center and is intended for invited dignitaries and officials. Friday night will be a dinner and reception at Lenard’s.
Saturday will feature many guided tours and a ride for state legislators with an evening banquet and awards ceremony. Speakers are expected to include VNP Superintendent Mike Ward and Craig Halla, Minnesota property manager for Molpus Timberlands Management, who is expected to discuss the importance of Sustainable Forest Incentive Act program in keeping property own to public use, Johnson said.
Tim “Chopper” McBride
The North Koochiching Area Sanitary District may seek mediation because a portion of the modernization of its treatment facility in International Falls has not been completed by the general contractor in the set time.
A letter to District Judge Kurt J. Marben regarding board appointments to the district’s board by district attorney Joe Boyle also said the district has notified the general contractor, Gridor Construction Inc., it is assessing liquidated damages of about $500,000 due to the lack of substantial completion as of Dec. 27, 2013.
“The project is about to receive an application from the contractor which will determine a final completion date and what is the appropriate payments pursuant to the contract to complete the project,” Boyle wrote in the Dec. 31, 2014 letter.
Tim “Chopper” McBride, executive director of the district, said the contract included a clause in which the contractor agrees to a specific amount of damages per day if the job is not completed on the agreed upon date.
“If it’s not done, every day $2,000 a day is applied to the penalty and sometimes it goes over one year, and when that happens it’s not the fault of the district, the staff, the city or county,” he said. “The district, as an autonomous unit of government, is responsible for proceeding and attempting to come to agreement with the contractor.”
McBride said the treatment facility is operating and “working well, past expectations for phosphorus and mercury removal.
“But we do have issues lingering. The plant isn’t completely finished and we are in discussions and conversations and the board may at some time elect to go hopefully with mediation that will rectify the situation.”
Greg Theisen, owner of Gridor Construction Inc., confirmed “we have ongoing negotiations,” but declined further comment. Gridor is based in Buffalo.
McBride said the issue is a “matter of disagreements. To get into what the contractor says and our counter claims is for mediation. The contractor definitely has excuses and we feel those excuses are not warranted, but we still want to come up with some agreement with them.”
What’s left to finish is a lot of aesthetics, McBride said.
“We hope to be finished this summer, and hope to come up with mediated solutions with liquidated damages and have a the project finished,” he said.
McBride said a couple high school classes toured the renovated facility this week.
“It’s beautiful in there,” he said. “When we’re done, and summer comes, and mowing begins, come take pictures because it’s quite amazing.”
