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2011 Cross Country Ski Championship Women's 10k Men's 15K Exciting Classic Ski Racing

Cross Country Ski Racing. Once again snow making and snow shoveling was in the mix for the second race of the 2011 US Cross Country Ski Championships in Rumford, Maine. Just the day before racers walked the course wondering whether race organizers could move enough snow fast enough to get the race course ready. The original race course was adjusted to a modified course due to lack of snow. But the race organizers pulled it off and the ski racers waxed up their classic skis for a 10K and 15K race for women and men on January 5th.

The women's 10k race finished in just over a half an hour. The women raced four laps around the 2.5km loop. Sadie Bjornsen of Alaska Pacific University took the gold, finishing in 32:09.9 minutes. Silver was captured by Morgan Smyth (Park City, UT) just 31 seconds behind Bjornsen and the U.S. Ski Team's Morgan Arritola (Fairfield, ID) took the bronze finishing in 32:58.5 minutes. Bjornsen finished third in the first race of the event. Snow conditions were tricky and the nordic skiers really had to stay on their wax to get a good kick. But the wax and the conditions were right for Alaska Pacific University skiers who took multiple podium positions.

The men's 15k classic race was six laps of 2.5km rolling hills. Lars Flora finished in first place with a time of 43:29.1 seconds. teammate James Southam finished in second, just 18.4 seconds behind first. Third place was captured by David Norris of Fairbanks, AK. Most of the cross country ski racers enjoyed the short loop.

More than 400 athletes have turned up for the US Cross Country Ski Championships. Colleges, High Schools, Ski Programs, Master's, Juniors and nordic fans all participated in the different events that last an entire week. It's a way for ski racers to measure up against many competitors across the country. The ski races also serve as ski trials for the Nordic World Ski Championships team, the Junior and U-23 World Cross-Country Ski Championship teams, and, the Junior Scandinavian Championships. The week includes four races. Two short races that are basically all out sprints of 1.4km in length. One races uses the classic ski technique - using the diagonal stride and kick wax under foot. The other race is a skate race - no kick wax and the compeditor basically skates side to side, using skate skis. The longer races are 10km and 20km for women - a 10km classic race and a 20km skate or freestyle race. Men's events are typically longer. The classic race is 15km and the skate race is 30km. All require top conditioning, strength, endurance, and some serious lungs. Most cross country ski racers train year round.

The next race on Thursday January 6, 2011 will be a 20k women's freestyle (skate ski) and 30K men's freestyle race. Cross country skiers across the nation turn to one of the nation's oldest cross country ski shops for nordic equipment, the latest xc ski news, and gear review: http://xcskistore.com.

We are a full service retail and online cross country ski shop. Serving the nordic community for over 30 years. Visit us online - http://xcskistore.com. See our informational videos, equipment reviews, and gear online.

About the Author

Brian has been running a cross country and bike shop in Mammoth Lakes, CA for over 30 years.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, September 2nd, 2010 at 7:17 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.