Supertour Races at Telemark Resort

Last week's Supertour races featured a 1.2k sprint, a short distance classic, and a distance skate race.
Katie Ronsse(USA), Nicole Deyong(USA), Martina Stursova (CZE), Christina Groulx (CAN) in the semi-final.

The sprint was on one of the most excruciating courses I have done so far. We made a sustained climb up part of Telemark mountain, swept down for a hairpin turn, went up a toilsome climb to the high point of the course, rocketed down, and went over a steep bump before the finishing stretch. This race felt more like a V02max interval rather than a short "sprint", but grueling sprint courses seem to be the trend in World Cup races these days too.
Katie Ronsse (#2), Kristina Trygstad-Saari (#1), Kristina Strandberg (#3) on the ladies podium.

Trygstad was definitely the strongest lady of the day. She dominated the prelim and lead most of the final. I hung on for dear life until the high point in the climb, and then slung-shot around on the last long downhill after sitting in the draft; but in the lunge for the line she got me, along with the $900 in prize money. A well deserved win for Trygstad! The $425 for 2nd was still an exciting award for me, since it marked my first time winning prize money that I was allowed to accept and it is going to buy me A LOT of oatmeal! Colin Rodgers (#2), Leif Zimmerman (#1), Garrott Kuzzy (#3) on the men's podium.

The classic course was held old World Cup courses that were designed before skate skiing was invented-- which meant numerous steep herringbone hills and several narrow winding downhills.

The highlight of the races for me personally was NOT getting 2nd in the sprint as an onlooker might predict, but rather finishing THIRD in the Saturday's 5k Classic race! I have struggled so much with my distance racing in the past 4 years, so to make the podium in a Supertour distance race was a welcomed surprise. Men's and women's classic results can be found HERE.

Also, a HUGE thanks to Brian Fish and the CXC waxing team for assisting me with waxing. To have a rival team offer to help me while my coaches are unable to be here speaks of the character of CXC. Finding the perfect wax is a time consuming and secretive thing and without the help of CXC, I wouldn't have had a top coat. I could've easily been floundering in a assortment of kick wax where my "secret" would have been to pick the prettiest color (...joke)!
The men's mass start pack-- thanks to Tom Dunaway for the great photos.

The distance Supertour races were also collegiate races and Junior Olympic qualifying races for the central region, which meant there was a chaotic stampede of hundreds of skiers to get to the finish line as fast as possible. There were skis and poles flying in all directions at times...pretty sweet! Men's and women's skate results can be found HERE.