Sven Johansson 30k Race

The Sven Johansson, the final race in the AMH Anchorage Cup, is nicknamed as "The Tour of Kincaid", because the course tackles just about every big climb in the park-- Stairway to Heaven, Hairpin, Ice Box, Elliots Climb, Burky's climb, Lekisch, you name it.

Several of the elite women got the honor of starting in the elite men's wave, which made for a more interesting and exciting race. Once the mayhem of the mass start simmered down, my APU teammates Taz Mannix, Kate Arduser, and I skied in a tight triad through the rest of the race. It was a rewarding experience cruising up and over the hills going faster together as a group. At times it felt like we were flying.

Long mass start races are pretty sweet in that there's much to be learned while racing. When skiing behind these ladies, I was able to make small adjustments with my technique and tempo and have immediate feedback on the most efficient way to ski for that particular terrain. I found that focusing on shifting my weight over each ski was far more efficient than trying to power up the hills with more upper body strength.

Similar to cycling, we worked together rotating through a pace-line and recognized the unwritten rules of racing etiquette. There was no surges when one of us was getting a feed, nor when one of us was in a vulnerable state due to an external issue. For example, Taz accidentally stepped on Kate's pole while we were hammering up Hairpin. Kate's pole completely came off so rather than using the opportunity to speed away, Taz helped Kate fetch her pole and I waited in front (and was thankfully able to catch my breath) before continuing onward. We had already made it 26k together and we were going to battle it out to the end together.

In the final 2k Taz put the stomp down, forcing me to focus on putting all my energy into the final climbs. My legs burned and my lungs screamed, but I made imaginary finish lines at the tops of the final hills to keep my motivation at it's max. I figured that if I could keep close enough contact and not let her gap me too much before the final downhill, I could muster up enough of a sprint for the finishing stretch to win the race. I felt stronger than ever, my theory worked, and I was able to pull off the win! It was a welcomed surprise and a gratifying experience after putting so much hard work into training. Taz, Katie, Kate post race (Barry Johnson photos).

Congrats to my APU teammates who took the top 6 spots in the women's race, the top 3 spots in the mens race, and the top spot in the mens 10k. It was also great to see so many citizen athletes there enjoying the day of racing, as well as Jan and Ben, my former AWS coaches, out there racing fast! The ADN article and results can be found HERE.

CONGRATULATIONS KIKKAN!

APUNSC's Kikkan Randall won a SILVER medal at WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS this morning! Congratulations Kikkan-- we are so proud of you! You are a source of inspiration for your teammates, the state of Alaska, and for America!
Kikkan will go down in history as being the first American women to win a World Cup GOLD and now also the first American woman to win a Medal at World Championships in Nordic Skiing. YEAH KIKK! (Podium shot from Jens Meyer, jumping shot stolen from Liz's blog-- thanks Liz and congrats to you too!)

Hayward Primary School Visit

I got the chance to be in Hayward, WI leading up to the American Birkebeiner and witness the anticipation and excitement around the race-- also termed the "Birkie Fever". Even though this is the largest ski race in the country, there are still many young children who haven't been exposed to cross country skiing. Brian Gregg of CXC organized an school visit to Hayward Primary school that was aimed at educating and inspiring the local youth about our sport. Kristina Owen, Heather Zimmerman and I had the opportunity to be included in the excitement. Ronsse getting to play ski "show and tell".
Kristina telling the history of how the American Birkebeiner race began while Brian and I "skiing" around the room with young "Prince Haakon" in tow.
Heather and Kristina racing around the room with a few volunteers while Brian and I joined the rest of the students in the traditional "Heiya" ski chant.

I was impressed with each of the 19 different classes that we saw-- the kids were very well behaved, considerate, and asked thoughtful questions. It looks like there was a successful Barnebirkie and there was some enthusiastic spectating.
APUNSC's Holly Brooks finishes runner up in the American Birkie by a fraction of a second. Photo courtesy of Andy Canniff at Swix Sport. Way to go Holly! Also, congrats to Carolyn (my host in Madison, WI) for completing her 30th Birkie.
The wide and pristine Birkie trail could be accessed from the the back door of Julie and Tom's house, where I stayed in Seeley. The Birkie will be an event I will definitely have to include in my racing schedule for an upcoming season. For now, I am home in Alaska where I am re-grouping after spending 5+ weeks on the road. The skiing, weather, and time I've been able to spend with family and friends couldn't be better.

Ice Caves

While in northern Wisconsin, Donovan, Heather and I got a chance to venture up toward the Apostle Islands to check out the ice caves on the coast of Lake Superior. It's a phenomenal place.
H. Zimmerfest
Dun Dun Don Dums
Ronskizzle and orange icicle
Dums in his element. This guy used to chill in Antarctica-- no joke! Ronse, Ronsee, Ronsse, Ronnse, or Ronski?

Feather-less flying kiwi Heather

If you're one of the 7,000+ competitors that will be in Northern Wisconsin for the Birkie this weekend, then I highly recommend checking this place out if you get the chance!

City Sprints in Madison, WI

The city sprints in downtown Madison were all that I had hoped they would be. Some people had their doubts that the races would happen, because the temperature was in the mid-50's prior to the races, and when we showed up on Friday afternoon there wasn't any snow in sight. But, due to the hard work of Yuriy Gusev and all the volunteers, the "impossible" became POSSIBLE. Maria Stuber cruising around one of the 180 degree turns below the Madison's capitol building. The races were a total success and exposed many non-skiers and aspiring young skiers to elite-level racing.
Lars Flora sliding in the slush. We raced on snow that was stock piled and trucked into the city. We raced a 100m World Record attempt and two team sprints where athletes alternated racing 1k...3-4 times.
First leg leaders in the women's classic race. The course was fast and relatively flat, so it turned into a double-pole derby on skate skis and boots. Thanks to Renee Callaway for captivating the scene with her wonderful photos of the races!
3rd and final tag off in the ladies classic race.
Women's podium for classic team sprint. Strandberg/Deyoung (Saab/Salomon/Fischer), Dehlin/Williams (USST), Ronsse/Stursova (APUNSC/Rossignol). My APUNSC teammates are either home in AK or at World Championships, so I paired up with Stursova of Rossignol-- we made a great duo!
"Experienced" Strandberg vs. "rookie" Ronsse battling it out to the line-- experience was final victor.
Ladies podium for the skate team sprint. Stursova/Ronsse, Deyoung/Strandberg, Zimmerman/Owens.
Brian Gregg bringing home the win for CXC.
Dennis Kruse usually gave us something to laugh about when he was announcing at the Supertour races. The American skiing community is fortunate to have a guy like Kruse, who goes out of his way to support athletes in reaching their goals. Kruse built an additional cabin for his visiting friends to stay in. I get the impression that getting to stay there is right of passage for aspiring athletes since "all" the big time American skiers and cyclists have stayed in Kruse's cabin. Heather and I got to stay there during our week in Cable, WI...does this means we're going to be legit skiers now?
Exploring the capitol building after the race-- definitely the most scenic post-race warm-down I've ever done!

Mora Vasaloppet USA

This past weekend I got to race in the Minnesota's largest ski race, the USA Mora Vasaloppet. The event was incredibly well organized and exciting to be apart of. They also awarded the best prizes that I've ever seen-- including intricately painted Dala horses to age group winners and gigantic fresh wreaths for the overall race winners. Skatie Ronski post 35k skate race.
Linda (Spring Brook, WI) and Gretchen (St. Cloud, MN) of the "Ski and Tea" women's group were all smiles after winning their respective age classes. These ladies took care of Heather and I for the weekend-- we had a blast with them and spent much of the weekend in laughter.
Here's the lead pack pack during the 35k skate race. I loved getting to cruise around in a pack of skiers, where we took turns cycling through in the pace line. Thanks to skinnyski for the above racing photos. I hope to make it back to Mora for the featured event one of these days, the 58k skate race.

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.

From Rossland, BC to the Midwest, US

Perfect skiing in Rossland, BC-- a town built in the crater of an extinct volcano of the Monashee Range. I'm told that Rossland has the highest per capita of doctors in Canada because the skiing, mt biking trails, and active community is so hard to beat.

Jeff Ellis, Laura Valaas, and I made our way over to Rossland for some NorAm races for Canada's final World Championship qualifier-- where the field was small but stacked with many of the nation's fastest skiers. (#1)Phil Widmer, (#2) APUNSC teammate Jeff Ellis, and (#3) hometown hero George Grey on the men's sprint podium. Laura also made the podium in both the skate sprint AND the classic distance race. Good luck to Laura at World Championships!

I was not sure how traveling and racing on my own would logistically work out, but so far I have been absolutely blown away by the support of other skiers. A HUGE THANKS to John Jaques and Dan Madlung of the Rocky Mountain Racers for the waxing support, Chris and Taneel for letting us stay in their home even though they were away for the weekend, Jonas for the use of a wax bench, Skeets for the ride to Vernon, and Andi for the hospitality in Silverstar! One of my favorite parts of being a nordic skier is all the incredible and friendly people you come across...I'm feeling lucky to be apart of North America's incredible skiing community.

The generosity of other skiers and coaches didn't end when I left Canada. I am currently in the Midwest racing on the Supertour circuit where I would not have had such a successful week of racing without the support of the people here. A Supertour update coming soon! An urban run from Jojo's apartment in Minneapolis-- the trail system and artwork that I saw in the city was quite impressive.