Scheduled this weekend of January
21-23 was the North Bay Nordic/Nipissing Invitational Race. Although there had been previous scheduled
races this season and a couple of time trials, this was the first major race
for the Waterloo Nordic Ski Team. It
was similar to last year's race in that format was the same- skate races on
the Saturday and classic races on Sunday but it differed in that both the Men and Women were to ski the same
distances and the forecasted temperatures weren't an unbearable -30 degrees.
From Waterloo left coaches Colin and
Derek, and athletes Martha, Lucy, Tim, Ryan, Alison and Katie. We were joined in North Bay by Glenn who
travelled from Ottawa. Friday met us
with some chillier temperatures but the skate race course was skied by the
team- two laps around the red trail for both men and women. For those unfamiliar with North Bay Nordic
trails the red course is essentially a long
gradual uphill, a series of rolling ups and downs, a climb up the
"wall", yet more gain in elevation, about 1km of downhill back to
the stadium and, for this race, a lap around the stadium, a repeat of previous said course and back down to the
finish. To finish off the first day of
the weekend the coaches stuck around to do some wax testing in preparation for
Saturday's race and the athletes returned to the hotel for a room-cooked meal
and an early bedtime.
Saturday's race had quite a later
start than usual- the race didn't start until 12pm. For most athletes it was a nice relief to
have such a long time to wake up, prepare for the day, and then extra time at
the race site to warm up and make it to the much-anticipated start line on
time. The men were scheduled to race
first and the results are as follows:
Place
|
Name
|
1st 5km Lap Time
|
Second 5km Lap
Time
|
Total Time for
10km
|
18
|
Glenn Hartman
|
16:06
|
16:57
|
33:04
|
33
|
Tim Hughes
|
17:50
|
19:00
|
36:51
|
38
|
Ryan McNamara
|
18:44
|
19:47
|
38:31
|
And for the Women:
|
Place
|
Name
|
1st 5km Lap Time
|
Second 5km Lap
Time
|
Total Time for
10km
|
|
25
|
Alison Stephenson
|
20:12
|
20:54
|
41:06
|
|
27
|
Katie Madden
|
20:44
|
21:03
|
41:47
|
|
42
|
Lucy Yao
|
28:30
|
31:04
|
59:35
|
It was somewhat challenging for us Southern Ontario-ers as we've had significantly less time on skis than some of the northern schools. Regardless, everyone put forth their best effort and some decent results were found, with Glenn having the best placing within the team. Saturday night was the usual post-race/pre-race happenings and all was prepared for the following day's race.
The forecast for Sunday was supposed
to be a step warmer than Saturday, but as we arrived to the race site we found
that it felt significantly colder than Saturday. The start was more of a usual 10am time- the
men's race starting the clock and the women's starting 25 minutes after. The race course was North Bay's blue
extension trail instead of the red. This was beneficial for a classic race
because there weren't nearly as many steep climbs to herringbone up, but
rather more gradual hills which were easily stride-able. The disadvantage to this course was that
many athletes had not skied the course in the past and there was very little
time and/or energy to ski the course after Saturday's race. As a result a number of athletes saw the course for the
first time during their race. Even so,
most athletes were quite pleased with their results.
Men's:
Place
|
Name
|
Total Time for
10km
|
13
|
Glenn Hartman
|
28:57
|
21
|
Tim Hughes
|
32:25
|
33
|
Ryan McNamara
|
34:10
|
Women's:
|
Place
|
Name
|
Total Time for
10km
|
|
19
|
Alison Stephenson
|
38:25
|
|
29
|
Martha Sutton
|
42:24
|
|
31
|
Katie Madden
|
43:53
|
|
36
|
Lucy Yao
|
1:00.0
|
Once again, Glenn was the best
ranked on the team, with an excellent placing of 13th. For most, Sundays results were welcomed
with much more pleasure for the team.
-
The race weekend finished up quite
early and we were able to depart by about 12:30 to embark on the trek to the
land-of-no-snow. To our surprise there
was snow on the ground upon arrival, even enough for skiing! However, our hopes were once again crushed
with a morning of rain. Oh well, to
Mono Nordic next weekend it is for the Mono Nordic Ski Race, as it is
officially called on Zone4. Until then,
happy skiing, slush-skiing or whatever the heck it is we're supposed to be
doing until then.
Glenn
Lucy
Alison
