American Birkebeiner, live.

Cable to Main Street Hayward, 50 km skate or 53 km classic

The American Birkebeiner is a point to point ski marathon through the northern Wisconsin woods that ends on Main Street in Hayward.

The Birkie began in 1973, when 35 skiers gathered on the start line. Today it is the centre of Birkie Week, which runs from 24 to 28 February 2027 with open track skiing, skijor races, youth events and an expo before the main races.

The American Birkebeiner itself is on Saturday 27 February 2027. Skate skiers race 50 km and classic skiers 53 km, from Cable to the finish on Main Street in downtown Hayward. The waves start from 08:15, with the women's elite skate at 08:30, the elite classic at 08:35 and the men's elite skate at 08:50, followed by wave after wave until 10:10. Finishers must be in by 6:00 PM.

Friday 26 February has the Kortelopet, 29 km in classic or skate from the OO Trailhead to the same finish in Hayward, with the first wave at 10:15. The Prince Haakon is 15 km in classic or skate on the same day. Birkie skiers must be 18 by 27 February 2027, while Kortelopet skiers must be 13 by 26 February 2027.

According to the organiser, about 40,000 spectators and skiers gather in the Cable and Hayward area each February. On race morning buses take skiers and spectators to the start in Cable, where supporters can cheer skiers off on their way to Main Street, and a shuttle links the finish area in downtown Hayward with the spectator parking lot through the day.

On Livebib you can follow a skier who chooses to share their own live position from the phone they carry. This is not the organiser's timing, and the official results come from the American Birkebeiner.