The Bellingham Firefighters have a reputation for flashy Ski to Sea finishes. Between bagpipes, drums and the fireboat on Bellingham Bay spraying geysers of water into the air, the corporate division team makes its presence known at the finish line.
Retired Bellingham firefighter Brian Flannelly, 64, said year after year his favorite moment is signaling to the Bellingham Firefighters’ finish line ensemble. As the band begins playing “Scotland the Brave,” Flannelly hands the finishing teammate a fire helmet to wear while they cross the finish line.
“We are here,” Flannelly said. “We are your fire department.”
The Bellingham Firefighters are one of those established teams that race to win, frequently taking first or second place in the corporate division.
“It was almost like they built the division for us,” Flannelly said.
Flannelly said the team takes considerable pride in the competition and, for many of them, outdoor recreation is part of their everyday lives.
“We are a team, we’re a brotherhood, we’re a family and this race is essentially an extension of who we are,” Flannelly said.
In preparation, Flannelly, who is entering his 31st consecutive Ski to Sea, has practiced the canoe course at least 16 times. It will be his last run with the firefighters, though he plans to compete with other teams in the future.
“It’s time for me to get out of the way and let somebody more capable come in and fill in the spot,” Flannelly said. “After this year, I am going to miss it.”
The Bellingham Firefighters may have a flashy finish, but teams like VanDammage make their whole race a spectacle. Whether it is the face of action-film star Jean-Claude Van Damme on colored onesies or their fans wearing team merch and holding giant cutouts of the film star’s face, VanDammage is a team that has fun but also gets results.
This group of Western Washington University industrial design graduates use the race as an annual reunion of old friends.
“We’re just a group of design nerds who have gotten really good at it because we have been doing it so long,” VanDammage’s cyclocross biker Darrin Seeds, 42, said.
A 20-year race veteran of Ski to Sea, Seeds is the only member of VanDammage who still lives in Bellingham, but the team and tradition have remained the same since 2010.
“We spend a majority of our time getting all of our crazy kits together, branding everything, wrapping vehicles and making the kind of spectacle that I think it’s pretty fun to be out within the community,” Seeds said.
Instead of training, Seeds said they get pumped for the race by sending clips of Jean-Claude Van Damme or photos of the mustaches they have been growing for race day.
While some racers have decades of race experience under their belts, online high school senior Amber Obbink, 18, and Squalicum sophomore Coleton McCoy, 16, will compete in Ski to Sea for the first time. Both are on team Gingerbread Men, competing against the other handful of high school division teams.
Obbink watched her father compete multiple years with his coworkers and wanted to compete when she was of age. However, forming a team of high schoolers was a scramble. Obbink assembled the ragtag team with another friend and continually recruited friends of friends to join.
“Obviously our team is thrown together, and I know we’re not the only one like that, so it’s cool to think big picture and also to think I am following in my dad’s footsteps,” Obbink said.
McCoy’s interest began when he was younger, watching his sister compete. He often competes in sprint kayaking competitions on lakes and said that Ski to Sea will be his first time kayaking in Bellingham Bay, but he isn’t worried.
“I am super happy that I get to ring the finishing bell and end the race,” McCoy said. “I am very biased, but I think my leg is the best.”
