March 11th, 2008
If you are a results junkie who is stuck in the lower 48, away from this week’s junior racing action, you have certainly found the first round of results from Junior Nationals by now. After a couple of days of settling in, watching the snow melt and watching the volunteers shovel and shovel to keep the race alive, the racing is now underway in Anchorage. After possibly the longest day of Nordic sprinting ever hosted in the US (seriously; no one I’ve talked to can think of one that was longer), Monday wrapped with the OJ girls A Final at 5:30pm. Attached are a few photos and a few tidbits of information that may or may not have made its way around yet.
- Opening ceremonies were on Sunday. Every participant was given an alaskan yo-yo and a challenge to master it by week’s end. Practice commenced immediately, as did the trash talk. It’s harder than the cute little eskimo girl made it look…
- It is warm here and the snow is melting fast. The race organizers are working double time to make it all work and the racers are rolling with the changes. The sprint course was modified to avoid “Lake Kincaid” (aka, the stadium) and the order of the classic and the skate races has been switched. So note: Wednesday is now the skate race.
- The sprint course actually ended uphill of the start, making it a course with net elevation gain. Cool.
- New England and Alaska had a REALLY good sprint day. 13 out of 18 podiums good. That didn’t leave many for the rest of us.
- There are a lot of fast kids here. Racers include all of the still-junior members of the World Junior Team, this year’s entire Scando Cup Team, many of last year’s members of the Scando Cup Team and plenty of kids who were sick or not present in Houghton and who are now looking to put their names on the map.
The official web site: http://www.anchoragenordicski.com/jo2008…
The sprint climb
The starting line
Skiing at an airport
Into the final curve
Finish sprint
Fans line the finish area
