A long standing tension has existed in the Bolduc house. As talented as the Bolduc children were in athletics none has ever beaten their father, John in a competition. Whether it was Tania who blazed trails and laps on the track setting the endurance standard, or Demetre who killed John LeClair's penalties, or Damian who had the heart to go 48.00 in the 400m or Phil who would win high school invitationals and events in the meet of champions to Andre' who came in to skiing with strength and guts, none has ever beaten John Bolduc. It has been suspected that he is very selective of his events. Perhaps not competing against his children after they turn eight to maintain his record as unbeaten. The fact remains that no matter how good or strong we get; we have never beaten our father in a race or game. Today at Hazen's Notch John lined up in a race where all was equal to face the music. Today was Damian and Andre's chance to beat the unbeatable. Damian age 28 in his biological prime, and Andre' peaked for this week's State Championships, with family as witnesses, the race began. John was off early in the interval start. Andre' left 10 minutes later, and Damian two minutes thereafter. The race course had a long climb of about 4k to start, then a 3k loop, then back down the 4k. Andre' was able to over take John on this climb, Damian made up the ground as well. Finally after years of waiting for the chance the old man was going down. As Damian and Andre' cruised through the course leaving John in their snow contrails it looked grim. How could he make up the ten minutes they had taken out of him in the first half. Could John a patient thinker find a way. And then he got a break. Andre' blew through a blind turn, and continued on back to the lodge where he finished, going in the wrong direction on the wrong side of the road. Damian missed the same turn as well, and followed the tracks set by Andre', BFA Coach Scott Magnan, and BFA teammates. However Damian knew when he arrived at an intersection that he was off course and began back-tracking. As he back-tracked he encountered the rest of the field and instructed them that they were going the wrong way. They paid him no attention, as did he, when he passed his wife, Jessica Bolduc, and fellow citizen racer Dave from Champlain College. As Damian made it back on course, there was John, the only athlete to make the turn, plodding away steadily with the mind to make the right decisions and complete the race course as planned and laid out. Nothing more. Nothing less. He studied the map and knew the trails names. John remains unbeaten by using the largest and most important muscle of all, his BRAIN! Though Damian was able to overtake him again and finish having skied the whole course plus 3k. He had to concede defeat to the man 32 years his senior with 8 grandchildren. An ancient fable came to life today at Hazen's Notch. Slow and steady wins the race. It does not matter how fast you go, you have to finish to win.

Many racers competed today and all were happy to get some great skiing in at Hazen's Notch. This years course outsmarted all but one. It really was a nice course, offering great snow, temps in the high single digits, long climbs and thrilling descents. The usual sharp turns that got the best of most of us to one extent or another. NWVTer's in attendance were: coming up short, Cathy Martell, Scott Magnan, Andre' Bolduc, and Sam Martell. Going way too long Damian Bolduc, and Perry Bland. Jessica Bolduc also missed the turn, but realized it within time to only deviate about 200m from the course. And the day's winner by brains, John Bolduc. Since it was a new course this year John wins the race, and holds the record. Let this be a lesson to all. Anything can happen in a race, whether you think you are good enough or not.