For several years, Janicki has sent employee teams to Ski to Sea, which is an annual multisport relay race from Mount Baker to Bellingham Bay on Memorial Day weekend. The events include downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, running, road biking, cyclocross, canoeing and kayaking. Ski to Sea sold out early this year, with over 500 teams registered! Janicki put together three teams for 2024. Employees were divided up into two fun teams, whose levels of training for their legs varied greatly, and one competitive team, for those training to be the very best of their respective events.
WINVAR
Our first fun team did not place due to time chip issues but put up a top-ten performance in the tenacity department. Although a few Ski to Sea veterans were on the team, all eight WINVAR warriors made their first-ever attempt at their specific leg! Jack did the cross-country ski leg, Jessie took on the downhill ski leg, Clarie Denise did the running event, and team captain Paul peddled the road bike leg. Jeff rocked the cyclocross event, Colby and Ryan paddled the canoe leg, and Eamon wrapped up the race with the kayak event.
Tool Tech Titans
The second fun team also did not place due to early releases but had a great time. The cross-country ski leg was run by Erik, and Tony ran the downhill ski/snowboard event. Karen completed the run within an hour, and Danielle successfully peddled the long 42-mile road bike leg. Ian and Fletcher conquered the canoe leg relatively uneventfully, until Fletcher discovered his phone had been calling 911 accidentally several times while in a waterproof bag. Team captain Cody surfed through 2 miles of 8-inch-deep mud with his cyclocross bike and patched up a flat tire to make it to the last leg. Finally, the team’s kayaker, Calvin, paddled to the finish line with a speedy time of 52 minutes and 33 seconds. This put him in 48th place overall for kayakers!
Composite Commandos
Our competitive team started off on the wrong foot when Justin injured himself just five minutes into the cross-country ski leg. Amazingly, he was able to power through and finish, but the other legs had some ground to make up. Kevin passed 70 racers in the downhill ski leg and team captain Sam passed another 114 in the downhill run. Casey passed an incredible 153 road bike racers to pull the Janicki team into the 99th position overall. His effort was rewarded with the 30th fastest road bike of the day! Nicholas and Lars canoed the 18 miles at a speedy 9:05 minutes per mile. Will peddled the cyclocross event at an average of 12.2 miles per hour, and Nic braved the cold Bellingham Bay in the kayak to finish the race in 9 hours and 18 minutes! The Composite Commandos ended up in 13th place for the Corporate Division and 174th overall.
After braving the wind, rain, and cold throughout the day, the teams celebrated a job well done at the finish line in Fairhaven. A big shout out to all of our wonderful Janicki athletes and volunteers for making this another fun, successful Ski to Sea!
Interested in learning about other employee events? Check out our Fun Events page.
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