The Grapefruit Cup Race Series
The Grapefruit Cup Race Series is an organized, yet fun and relaxed weekly points race series open to SNSC members of all ages and abilities. The series typically runs on Tuesday evenings from mid December until the end of February (as snow conditions allow). Races are held at Holiday Park Golf Course, the Gordie Howe Sports Complex, and Wildwood Golf Course on trails maintained by volunteers of the Saskatoon Nordic Ski Club.
Saskatoon Nordic Ski Club
For more information about the Saskatoon Nordic Ski Club (SNSC) or for membership information please check with their site at: saskatoonnordicski.ca
For more information about the Saskatoon Nordic Ski Club (SNSC) or for membership information please check with their site at: saskatoonnordicski.ca
The Grapefruit Cup
The Grapefruit Cup race series began in 1982, and was originally called. "The Grapefruit". The opening page of the original logbook was titled:
The Grapefruit Cup race series began in 1982, and was originally called. "The Grapefruit". The opening page of the original logbook was titled:
The Grapefruit
For Excellence In Nordic
Time Trialing
For Excellence In Nordic
Time Trialing
The "Grapefruit" Cup
The original intent of the Grapefruit Cup Race Series was to award the top male and female Saskatoon Nordic Ski Club members who consistently performed near the top of the field.
The time trials were always in mixed format, so female and male competitors raced each other, and points were awarded based on finish position. A world cup scoring format was used whereby the top skier got a specific amount of points for being first, second place got another set amount of points, and so on down to 20th place where everyone after received one point. At the end of the season, and all points were counted, the top male and female would have their names added to the Grapefruit trophy and, "be displayed in a Saskatoon Nordic Ski Club clubhouse for all to see". The series was meant to be open to all club members, fun in nature, and with half the races being serious time trials, and the other half being, "novel or innovative".
Today we still hold true to the roots of excellence in Nordic time trialing but with a few mods. We have replaced the world cup scoring with a percentage of winner, points system. This was done to enable participants to gauge improvement against the overall winners, or even their "friendly" rivals. Its always nice to see if you've gone from being at say 68% of the speedies, up to 78% of those same speedies.
We have also moved away from strictly time trialing to a mix of individual and mass start events with the inclusion of, Sprints, Relays, a Skiathlon, and of course everyone's favourite, the Australian Pursuit.
The original "Cup" (as pictured above), is still in use and is updated at the end of each race season. It is currently on display at Eb's Source For Adventure for all to see and admire.
The time trials were always in mixed format, so female and male competitors raced each other, and points were awarded based on finish position. A world cup scoring format was used whereby the top skier got a specific amount of points for being first, second place got another set amount of points, and so on down to 20th place where everyone after received one point. At the end of the season, and all points were counted, the top male and female would have their names added to the Grapefruit trophy and, "be displayed in a Saskatoon Nordic Ski Club clubhouse for all to see". The series was meant to be open to all club members, fun in nature, and with half the races being serious time trials, and the other half being, "novel or innovative".
Today we still hold true to the roots of excellence in Nordic time trialing but with a few mods. We have replaced the world cup scoring with a percentage of winner, points system. This was done to enable participants to gauge improvement against the overall winners, or even their "friendly" rivals. Its always nice to see if you've gone from being at say 68% of the speedies, up to 78% of those same speedies.
We have also moved away from strictly time trialing to a mix of individual and mass start events with the inclusion of, Sprints, Relays, a Skiathlon, and of course everyone's favourite, the Australian Pursuit.
The original "Cup" (as pictured above), is still in use and is updated at the end of each race season. It is currently on display at Eb's Source For Adventure for all to see and admire.
