A record number of skiers is expected in northern Wisconsin next weekend for the American Birkebeiner cross country ski race.

Shorter races and other events for the 37th running of the event start Thursday, with the actual Birkebeiner on Saturday. The 50-kilometer course runs from Cable to Hayward.

Race spokeswoman Cherie Morgan says more than 8,000 skiers have registered. Officials instituted a 7,500 cap for the 2010 event but they ended up extending the registration. She says the last time they had so many entries was in 1997, with nearly 7,900 skiers.

The Birkebeiner is part of the Worldloppet, a circuit of 15 Nordic ski races held on four continents. It’s considered the largest cross country ski marathon in North America.

It’s modeled on a piece of Norwegian history — the skiing rescue of an infant who would become king.