Syracuse.com - Biathlon: Double your pleasure...and your pain

[HuntingNY-News]

I tried one for the first time Saturday at the Osceola Tug Hill Cross Country Ski Center in Oseola. It was a fund-raiser hosted by the Syracuse Biathlon Club.

It was my first biathlon. I didn't know what to expect. Rita Jardin photo The biathlon last Saturday at the Osceola Tug Hill Cross Country Ski Center was billed as a fund-raiser.

For me, it was an eye-opener. It was my first try at the Olympic sport, which combines cross country skiing and target shooting.

Nearly everyone skate-skied, a style of cross country skiing that’s similar to ice skating. With each movement, the skis came off the ground.

I shuffled along with a traditional cross country skiing style, trying to smile whenever someone passed or lapped me. I was way back in the pack of nearly 30 competitors. Afterward, I was tired, stiff and humbled.

The event was organized by the Syracuse Biathlon Club to raise money for Ann Jardin, of Mexico, a former biathlete with the club who’s competing nationally and internationally in trap shooting. The Paul Smith’s College student has set her sights on making the U.S. Olympic trap shooting team for the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.

Jardin couldn’t come because she was at college studying for mid-term exams. Her parents, Rita and Ron Jardin, were there, though, helping out.

“I got a really nice email from Ann this week thanking us for supporting her Olympic dream,” said Kurt Donath, the club’s president, noting the event raised more than $500.

The course’s overall distance was 6 kilometers, which is short for a biathlon course. Normally, the distances are 10 kilometers for the men; 7.5 kilometers for the women, Donath said.

The targets, which were 50 meters away, were about 6 inches in diameter. Rita Jardin photo

We did five loops of 1.2 kilometers, stopping to shoot four times at a shooting station with shooting mats. We took five shots each time at targets that were 50 meters away.

The experienced competitors carried their 22 caliber, target shooting rifles on their backs while they skied. The event’s format had them taking two rounds of shots in a prone position, and two standing up.

The novices, like myself, didn’t ski with a rifle. We were handed a firearm and a five-shot clip each time after we arrived at the shooting station. We took all of our shots in the prone position.

A biathlon is all about time. In a regular competition, competitors who miss a shot have to ski a penalty loop to the side of about more than 100 yards for every miss. This race featured no penalty loops – just an extra minute tacked on to each competitor’s total time.

The top finishers in the main event were Brian Halligan (27.43) and Shawn Cheshire (34:00). An additional 3.6-kilometer race was held for the top eight finishers. The top two male and female finishers were awarded home-made pies.

So, how’d I shoot? Thank goodness we didn’t have to do penalty loops.

I had trouble controlling my breath and heart rate. The small targets were jumping all over the place as I tried to sight them in.

Ok, I hit a dismal two of 20 targets. With my poor time and poor shooting, I finished dead last. Total time: 1:19:50.

Like I said, I was humbled.

Would I do it again? You betcha. It was a blast.

For more on the Syracuse Biathlon Club, see the club's website.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog