ATHENS – March in Wisconsin can deliver any sort of weather, but at least through next week, it remains a winter outdoor enthusiast’s dream. Complete snow coverage and steady temperatures mean great trail conditions for fat tire bikers and snowshoers. Conditions are expected to hold up for Ironbull’s Last Hurrah race at Athens’ Erbach Park March 6 even as the sun angle rises and intensifies.
The Last Hurrah features a fat tire bike race, snowshoe race and non-competitive snowshoe walk. Those new to snowshoeing are welcome to participate. Free Northern Lites snowshoes rentals are available.
“We organized the event last year after fortuitously ending up with Northern Lites’ demo snowshoe fleet as a way to celebrate the end of winter,” said race director Andrea Larson. Larson named the event the Last Hurrah since this is historically one of the last weekends of snow on central Wisconsin’s trails.
At the inaugural event, Ironbull included a fat tire bike race, making the Last Hurrah the first bike event at Erbach Park. Feedback was positive, with all racers and volunteers responding to the anonymous post-event survey saying they would recommend the event to others. The event brought in 55 percent of participants from outside of Marathon County, with 61 percent visiting Erbach Park for the first time.
“We hope we continue to bring new visitors to the Athens community in 2022,” Larson said. “The Village of Athens and Athens Area Trail Association have a beautiful trail system along Black Creek.”
For more race information, including a race course map and racer guide, go to https://www.ironbull.org/last-hurrah-details.
Source: Ironbull
