Good Races in Alaska

My business in Alaska was not finished. Cold temperatures meant that only 2 of 4 races planned for US Nationals were held. Hungry for more racing and another chance to prove myself on the trails at Kincaid Park I decided to change my ticket and stay in Alaska for the University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolf Invite.

A number of the skiers with top results earlier in the week would be racing and the competition would be pretty strong. Next year's National Championships will be held in the same place and I wanted a chance to race the different courses.

I was able to stay with my friend and fellow In The Arena athlete Laura Valaas which worked out really well. Laura lives with the Burkholder family in an apartment attached to their house. Sally and Burky were great company and made me feel very at home. They live within walking distance to the ski trails which was great. I forgot my balaclava on Sunday so I simply skied back to the house for my warm up and grabbed it.

Arriving to the venue with the moon still the brightest thing in the sky.
Race starts at 1oam, It starts getting light around 9am.

15km Mass Start Classic

One of my better classic races to date. I tend to ski smoother and more relaxed in mass start races. I fell off the main pack at about 5km and skied with three other guys. We worked together and caught a few skiers falling off the lead group's pace. I skied a consistent race and almost caught a few other skiers near the finish. I ended the day in 8th place with just 4 college skiers ahead of me.
Classic Results

15km Mass Start Freestyle
I wish I felt this good on Monday for the US National Championship Skate Race. I felt strong theentire race. I made a few short surges to separate things out a bit and group of 5 of us skied about 30 seconds ahead of the main group. Vegard Kjoelhamar, Simon Reissmann, Tyson Flaharty and Marshall Greene and I made up the lead pack. Vegard and myself led most of the race. With 2.5km to go Simon Reissmann made a move but it was challenging to break away. With 1km to go I got a small gap and held it to the line. Simon and Vegard had a big sprint to the line with Simon winning the photo finish. This is the first race with a strong field that I have won in a long time and I was very happy. Ever since I was in highschool I dreamed of winning a college ski race. Too bad it had to happen after I graduated. It felt particularly good to win in Anchorage. While studying and skiing at UAA we held our home invitational in Wyoming due to the travel cost of teams having to fly to alaska.
Skate Results

Leaving Alaska on a good note I am excited to return to Hayward and the midwest.