The second race of the OCUP weekend was a medium distance skate race, 10km for both the men and the women. And as is typical for distance races at Highlands, the course was created to feature a significant amount of climbing. This meant that the course was selected as a 3.3km loop, which meant that the Racer Out Hill leading from the stadium up towards Larry's Glacier was feature 3 times in the race, along with the associated descent back down to the stadium. This made these portions of the course very important, as a significant amount of time could be made or lost on these climbs and descents over the 3 laps.
The Waterloo racers were similar to the day before, with assistant coach Justin Faulkner also parachuting in for a start. Having come off the sprint the day before and not necessarily having rested as much the day before, owing from the fact that it was a camp and significant amounts of technique and skiing had been fit in and around the sprint, meant that the Waterloo skiers were not necessarily as fresh as some of their competitors. However, this did not deter any of the Waterloo skiers, as they all stepped to the line looking to inflict damage on their competitors and the course itself.
The race was a mass start and so all of the men gathered at the line and headed out up Racer Out for the first time. There were a total of 41 men on the startline. Justin, fresh from not racing the day before and none to happy about being seeded at the back of the field due to his lack of a CCC number and the fact that all of the university skiers now have them, took the opportunity to double pole on the outside of the track around three quarters of the field and get a good position leading up the first climb. This would appear to be a little overzealous of a move on his part, as his arms would let him know later in the race. Something about being a stay at home day and not having time for a significant amount of training leads to decreased ski specific strength and endurance.
The rest of the Waterloo skiers settled into the field and worked their way up the large climb for the first time and in their minds did the tally; Me: 1, Racer Out: 0.
Over the top of the hill, the field would start to string out as each skier was left settling into their pace and trying to lead a pack or stick with a pack around them.
The women then started off to attempt to chase the men down the course. It was a smaller field, with only 21 taking to the line. Up the first climb for the women, the pace at the front of the group was noticeably slower and this led to most of the skiers bunching up on the climb. It was clear that the women were determined to not let Racer Out win overall and were saving a little bit for the next couple times that they encountered it.
As the men lapped through, the different groups of skiers were clearly starting to form in the race with a lead group of about 5 skiers, a first chase group of about 8 or 10 and then a second chase group of another 8 or 10. Nolan had settled himself into the back of this second chase group and was skiing a fairly strong race. Tim and Glenn were then a little bit back of this group, with Glenn skiing hard to make contact with Tim and settle in behind him. The two coaches, Justin and Colin were also skiing together and were trading leads back and forth over the different sections of the course. Colin, with significantly more training under his belt on the year was holding his own over Justin on the climbs, who was clearly feeling the wrath that Racer Out was dishing out. Ryan was skiing on his own a little ways back of these two, trying to find a good pace and have a sound technical race.
On the woman's side, the pace had settled in over the course of the lap and all were skiing a more consistent pace for the second lap. Both Alison and Katie were skiing around the middle of the pack as they headed up the climb a second time.
It was clear that the second time up Racer Out was significantly harder then the first, as the toll of the first loop and trying to find that proper race pace was having an effect on the racers. For some of the racers, Racer Out won that second time, exacting some revenge and leading to some tired looking technique and struggles getting up the hill. Me: 1, Racer Out: 1.
Coming around for the third lap, the racers had started to string out significantly more, with less defined groups beyond the first lead group and more skiers on their own, trying to keep their pace up. Tim and Glenn were still skiing together and working their way up the field picking off a few skiers ahead of them, as they managed to work together. Justin and Colin were also skiing together and were exchanging leads depending on the point in the course. Justin would manage to sneak by Colin on some of the downhills, and the area in and around the stadium, where as Colin had a little more to give on the uphills and the top portions of the course.
On the third lapped, the skiers were more prepared to deal with Racer Out, as they had experienced its wrath on lap 2. Having settled into a consistent pace and being prepared for it meant that the skiers were able to successfully climb the hill for the third and final time. While the technique and tempo may not have been perfect, the fact that it was about 7 km into the race meant that this round went to the skiers. Me: 2, Racer Out: 1.
Finishing up the last loop and then heading into the finish, the skiers attempted to pick off that extra one or two skiers in order to improve their finish. Or in the case of those skiing together, like Tim/Glenn and Colin/Justin, they were still jockeying to see who would come out on top. In the pairing of Tim and Glenn, they both went hard over the top of the climb and Tim had more to give, ultimately gapping Glenn and besting him by 8 sec and two places as he got an extra skier at the line. In the Colin and Justin pairing, Justin tried to use the same strategy as the previous two laps where he went by Colin leading into the downhill and led into and around the stadium area. Colin however was not going to have any of that, knowing that he did not have another uphill to go around Justin again. As a result Colin lead Justin to the line, taking him by 2 s.
In the final standing, Nolan had the best results of the Waterloo man's group, skiing a respectable race into 20th place. On the woman's side, it was Alison in 10th place.
Nolan: 20th
Tim: 21st
Glenn:23rd
Colin:20th
Justin: 30th
Ryan: 35th
Alison: 10th
Katie: 14th.
Full results can be found at Zone4.
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