American Birkebeiner closes in on skier capacity

Skiers are registering for the 2012 American Birkebeiner races at a record pace, and the main events are within 1,200 of their capacity, months ahead of race day.

Through the end of last week, 7,800 athletes have registered for the Birkebeiner and Kortelopet. The cap is at 9,000.

Another 400 slots will be available in the 10K Prince Haakon race.

"We are very excited about this year's race. We expect to reach our capacity of 9,400 skiers for all three races by the end of November," said Ned Zuelsdorff, executive director of the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation.

"We've consistently reported being ahead of last year's record pace since this summer. There are many repeat skiers plus a lot of new participants, too. Birkie Fever is really catching on. We always like to hear the stories of people training in places like North Carolina, California, even parts of Illinois where snow to train on is no guarantee. It's this kind of energy and enthusiasm that makes the Birkie such a great experience."