Ocup #2- Bring your Woolies to Walden

          This past weekend the UW Nordic Ski Team competed in the first of their three major race weekends of the season.  The race was the Ontario Cup #2, held in Lively, Ont. (near Sudbury) hosted by Walden Nordic Ski Club.  The team travelled up as per usual on the Friday preceding  the event to pre-ski and get a feel for the race course.  The race format for the weekend was middle distance classic race on the Saturday and a longer distance skate race on the Sunday.
         The forecasted weather conditions for the weekend also proved to be challenging.  For Saturday a mid-range temperature between -2 to -6 and lots of fresh snow meant there was some figuring out to do for selection of the perfect grip wax.  And with Sunday's plummet to -19, it was expected to be a slow day for skating- even with the right choice of wax.
          The men got the first crack in the tracks (or what remained of them) in Saturday's classic race, being the first race  scheduled off the clock.  Saturday's race was also an interval start, with skiers starting at intervals of 30 seconds.  The entire men's team laid down some solid and consistent races.  The women were starting a little later in the morning, which meant that the snow would be that much softer, the hills that much more chewed up, and the tracks a little bit less useful.  Nonetheless, the women's team of two strode to the line, in a field that was somewhat less competitive than the men's.
Saturday's race results:


Men's:

Place	Name	Total Time for 10km	Time off of First Place
Junior Men
7	Colin Elliot	38:59.0	3:19.4
9	Ryan Fahey	39:43.4	4:03.8
Senior Men
3	Tim Rhodes	37:28.8	1:14.5
6	Glenn Hartman	38:51.7	2:37.5
10	Nolan Beanlands	40:49.3	4:35.1
21	Colin Pilkey	56:16.3	+20:02.0



Women's:

Place	Name	Total Time for 5km	Time off of First Place
5	Alison Stephenson	22:01.0	1:45.0
15	Katie Madden	26:10.3	5:54.3



          After a day of racing, warming up, cooling down, testing skis and locating teammates, the team was ready to head back to the hotel for some recovery time.  This time was spent by taking painful ice baths, (not so painful) naps, watching a hockey game or two, eating some delicious and healthy food, and prepping for the next day of racing.  An important aspect of the nights in between races is to debrief that day's races- figure out what you did well and what mistakes you could learn from- and to set goals for the following day's races.  Speaking of the next days races...
          The expected temperature plummet did in fact play out, and by the time the early morning run rolled around it was a balmy -19 with a windchill of something even more ridiculous.  Nevertheless, the races were held and the team bundled up to the point of being unrecognizable- and then some.  There was grease, tape and double layered buffs  on all of our faces, in an attempt to keep the frost from biting.  All circumstances considered, the team had a general, overall better day from the results perspective.


Women's:

Place	Name	Total Time for 10km	Time off of first place
4	Alison Stephenson	37:07.4	+2:53.3
10	Katie Madden	39:49.8	+5:17.6



Men's:

Place	Name	Total Time for 15km	Time off of First Place
4 (senior men)	Tim Rhodes	46:06.9	+2:13.0
5 (junior men)	Colin Elliot	46:08.2	+5:09.1
6 (senior men)	Glenn Hartman	46:14.3	+2:20.4
24	Nolan Beanlands	49:27.1	+5:33.1



         And with the first big weekend of racing at a wrap, it was time to hit the road for a long bus ride back to Waterloo.  Upon arrival in Waterloo we were warmly welcomed with a fresh layer of snow, which hopefully will be skied on the majority of this week.  The next bout of  racing is coming right up this weekend at the third race in the Haywood NorAm race series, taking place at Highlands Nordic in Duntroon, Ont.  Stay tuned!