Eastern Canadian Championships Round 2 – *Ding* *Ding*

With the Individual Start racing out of the way, the UWNT turned their thoughts towards the mess that is mass start classic racing at Eastern Canadians. While the start grid was wide, deep and expertly groomed, the fact remained that each mass start was going to feature at least 50 participants. Mass starts are considered the most fun of any type of start in the cross country skiing arsenal for a few reasons – a whole lot of pretty spandex in one place, the potential for horrendous crashes and pileups, and in the men’s categories, too much testosterone packed into a small space. The UWNT exited the Purple Gorilla at Nakkertok Nordic Center with delusions of grandeur and the possibility of earning a spot on The Discovery Channel’s Destroyed in Seconds in mind.

 

 

How much fun does this look? Hint: A LOT.

 

The UWNT Women were first to go, however participation was limited. Heather Foley decided her race season had been furious and opted to remain on the sidelines, resting, avoiding skiing 15km, and taking awesome pictures of her teammates. Alison Stephenson gave the starting grid a shot, but ended up pulling the plug after the first 5 km, citing extreme tiredness as the cause. With the understanding that Sunday was going to be a suffer-fest, the UW men put on their hard hats and got to work. In the Junior Men 15 km, Tim Rhodes pushed aside heavy legs and slippery skis to finish as the 45th Junior Man, good enough for 11th OUA in the category. Nolan Beanlands overcame his irrational fear of mass starts, steep down hills and klister to ski to a strong 58th position, good enough for 15th OUA. Ryan McNamara, still suffering the effects of his 2-day cold, as well as being on classic skis for only the 8th time in his life turned in a spectacular race. The courageous rookie ended his day in 68th, or 17th on the OUA.

With the Junior’s out of the way, and Rhodes set up in his hammock, the Open Men prepped to ski 30 km with a little trepidation. For most, it was considered to be the toughest race of the season, and some, of their lives. Four laps of the 7.5 km loop which featured every prominent hill at Nakkertok sounded like the perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon. While Henry Reich focused on getting with the right pack and turning in a respectable performance, others focused on the more immediate and pressing goal of making sure they consumed their feeds to avoid bonking and finishing before the bus left for Waterloo. The first lap featured a little Waterloo action – Reich jumped out fast, while Derek Hartman (that’s right ladies and gentlemen, he did start this one) and Kieran Jones avoided trouble for the first 2.5 km and conserved energy. Everything was going according to plan until the 4 km mark, when Hartman, striding up a hill in front of Jones, decided to cross his skis, poles, boots and tights and go headfirst into the tracks, snapping a pole. After struggling around the rest of the lap with a mismatched set of poles, Hartman ended his day early at 7.5 km. Meanwhile, Reich was cruising along, hanging in with a tough group. For a while it appeared Jones was setting up to end his day early, as his lethargic lap splits were not exactly setting the trail on fire, however 3 excellent feeds from Coach Justin Faulkner as well as conservative pacing resulted in a hot final lap, crossing the finish line well before bus departure time. As per usual, Reich ended with the fastest time, 17th in Open Men, or 4th OUA. Jones ended his day with a 36th in Open Men, or 14th OUA.

Selected Team Quotes:

Heather Foley: “Why would I want to race 15km?? That’s a really long way!”

Nolan Beanlands: “I want to go to the Olympics…”

Andrew Jeffrey: “Why are you talking to me?? I wasn’t even there!”

Justin Faulkner: “Am I allowed to run with the athletes when I do feeds?? I heard there is an FIS rule against it, and I desperately don’t want to get fined or end up in jail, which is what the FIS hands out for punishment.”

Derek Hartman: “Ofrrefoncrackcrashshshblaa – crap”

 

With Eastern’s wrapped up, the Purple Gorilla was loaded, bagels were consumed and passing out commenced. Next up for the UWNT – OUA Championships, hosted by the University of Guelph at Mono Nordic, in Orangeville, Ontario.

 

Again, for full results, please see Zone 4.

 

On the Phonograph: Wonderwall – Oasis. No explanation needed.

On the ‘Tube:

It’s a little dated, yes, but considering the accomplishment of Sara Renner this past weekend at the World Cup in Canmore, and the upcoming Winter Olympic Games, the UWNN team finds it appropriate. Enjoy, and get pumped up for the greatest 2 weeks in Canadian cross-country skiing history.

Snapshot:

 

What is wrong with this picture?? Is it as obvious as it seems?