On a cold, sunny day, Scott Patterson (UVM) and Robyn Anderson (VTXC) won the Sugarloaf Marathon in Sugarloaf, Maine.  Patterson’s winning time was 1:44:53. Craftsbury’s Patrick O’Brien followed him in second at 1:46:36, with David Sinclair of Dartmouth in third place, two minutes back.  Anderson finished in 2:01:12. Anya Caldwell Bean (UNH) placed second in 2:06:26. Hallie Grossman (Bates) was the third female.

Contrasting with last year’s slushfest, conditions were cold and fast. Around 15F at the start, the temperature warmed into the low 20s by afternoon. A dusting of new snow freshened the loop without slowing it down.  A couple of the downhills had sugary, mushy spots right in the line, keeping racers on their toes.

Finishing in 59:31, Linda Danvind-Malm (UVM) was the female and overall winner of the 25 k race, followed by Jane McClelland (UVM) in 1:00:36 and Liz Hollenback (NWVE) in 1:06:58. Logan Greenblatt (Bates) was the first 25 k male finisher in 1:08:49, followed by Rene Dufour (Espresso Sports), 1:10:29, and Steven Rose (Manhattan Nordic) in 1:12:10.

After 54 kilometers traversing the mountains of Norway’s Oppland region, Norwegians swept the podium and placed 12 in the top 13 of the Birkebeiner marathon. Anders Aukland of Team Xtra Personell took the title with a time of 2:42:38, edging out Norwegian World Cup skier Eldar Roenning, who was competing under the colors of Team United Bakeries and finished 13 seconds behind. Team COOP’s Espen Harald Bjerke finished third and Jorgen Aukland fourth, before Jorgen Brink of Sweden crossed the line as the only non-Norwegian in the top ten.

It has been a successful late season for the Aukland brothers, as Jorgen won Sweden’s Vasaloppet marathon, where Anders placed third.

Czech World Cup veteran Lukas Bauer clocked in at 14th.

Peter Kling of APU finished 95th in the elite men’s division with a time of 3:03:35. Canada’s Zoe Roy placed 39th in the women’s race with a time of 3:44:34. They were the only North Americans in the elite waves of the race.

In the women’s race, Seraina Boner of Switzerland and Team COOP dominated the scene, skiing to a time of 3:09:12 and winning by almost six minutes. Sandra and Jenny Hansson of Sweden finished second and third, separated by just eight seconds. Fellow Swede Suzanne Nystrom was fourth and Vasaloppet winner Laila Kveli of Norway fifth.

Both Anders Aukland and Boner were repeating their wins from 2012; Bjerke and Jenny Hansson also repeated their third-place finishes.

Searchable results

Frenchman Pierre Guedon won a sprint finish on Sunday at the Engadin Ski Marathon in Switzerland, completing the 42 k freestyle race in 1:28.19.6. Italian runner-up Christian Zorzi was half a second behind and Christophe Perrillat-Collomb of France placed third, one second after Guedon.

Swiss World Cup skier Remo Fischer was fourth (+1.4) and Martin Hammer of Norway took fifth (+2.0).

Finnish national-team member Riita-Liisa Roponen won the women’s race in 1:29.52.3, beating Swiss runner-up Seraina Boner by 2 minutes and 12 seconds.

U.S. biathlete Hannah Dreissigacker (Craftsbury Green Racing Project/USBA) placed 25th, and American Matt Liebsch (XC United) took 26th, 15.7 seconds behind the winner. XC Oregon’s Oliver Burruss finished 48th, and Craftsbury’s Nils Koons placed 54th and Peter Kling of APU was 56th.

Men’s results

Women’s results

The leading member of Canada’s Para-Nordic Ski Team, Brian McKeever won the 25th annual Canadian Birkebeiner 55-kilometer classic mass start on Saturday. Double poling most of the moderately hilly course as training, McKeever managed to beat his teammate and guide Erik Carleton by nearly three minutes in the “lite” division at the Blackfoot Provincial Recreation in Edmonton, Alberta.

Without a 5.5-kilogram (12-pound) pack to slow him down, McKeever finished in 3:19:37.7, and Carleton followed 2:59.5 minutes later. Jon Arne Enevoldsen of Oslo, Norway, was third in the “lite” race, 11:06.7 behind McKeever.

“Tough conditions for Birkie today,” McKeever tweeted. “… blowing, fresh & SLOW snow. Double poled & got the W, but We’ll see If the bod is janked tomorrow!”

Heidi Widmer of the Alberta World Cup Academy was the fastest female in 3:50:14.2. She was fifth overall and beat teammate Annika Hicks, the second woman, by 4 minutes and 20 seconds. Another Academy female, Marlis Kromm was third (+7:52.3).

“Lite” 55 k results

In the 55 k “with pack” race, Karen Messenger of Canmore, Alberta, was the overall winner in 4:14.50.4. Barret Dunbar of Saskatoon was the top man and second overall, 3:15.5 back. AWCA head coach Chris Jeffries was the second man and third overall (+4:52.8).

“With pack” 55 k results

US Ski Team veteran Kris Freeman (Maine Winter Sports Center), training in New Hampshire since the Tour de Ski, made his second appearance on the New England marathon circuit this weekend, easily skiing to a dominating win in the 50k classic Craftsbury Marathon in Craftsbury, Vermont.

Freeman skied a six-and-a-half minute win over Nils Koons (CGRP).

The race for second featured somewhat more drama with Koons besting teammate Bryan Cook by just a tenth of a second.

The home team Craftsbury Green Racing Project (CGRP) finished second thorugh sixth in the men’s event.

A brutal January that, featuring temperatures in the 40′s and heavy rains earlier in the week ruined any chance of the scenic point-to-point course that often highlights the event.

But the core trails at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center withstood the weather onslaught, and organizers were able to assemble a challenging 12.5k loop for the race.

In the women’s race Caitlin Curran (VTXC) skied to a clear win over Kirsten Beaudry (Dartmouth). Paige Elliott was third.

Eric Darling and Eileen Carey won the men’s and women’s 25 k event respectively.

The Craftsbury Marathon is the second stop in the New England Nordic Ski Association’s Marathon Series, following on the heels of last week’s White Mountain Classic, a race that Freeman also won.

50k Results

25k Results

Age Group Results

Sylvan Ellefson (SSCV Team Homegrown) and Lauren Fritz (APU) skied to victory in the 30km Boulder Mountain Tour in Sun Valley, Idaho.

Ellefson won a closely contested race, finishing at the front of a tight pack of 12 skiers, all within just 3 seconds. Sixth place was only a second off the win in an event that usually features a sprint to the line due to the 1000 feet of elevation drop in the course.

Mark Iverson (APU) was second, just half a second behind Ellefson.

The race for third was even tighter with Peter Kling edging out hometown favorite Mike Sinnott with a lunge. The official time difference between the two was just six hundreths of a second.

The women’s race was just as close at the front. Fritz out-lunged Corrine Malcolm and Brooke Hovey for the win and Alex Turzian was just a second back in 4th.

Results

The marathon season is in full swing with some big events both domestically and abroad. Here is roundup of some of the action.

Noquemanon (Michigan)

24/50k Classic and Skate

Santiago Ocariz and and Kim Rudd won the premier event of the day — the 50k classic. Ocariz made the journey from Ishpeming to Marquette in just over three hours, besting Eli Brown by two minutes.

The race for third was tight with Chris Pappathopoulos outsprinting Adam Swank and David Chamberlain to claim the final podium spot.

Rudd placed 20th overall, besting Maria Stuber by just 14 seconds in the women’s race. Claire Luby was third.

Michael Brouthers won the 50k freestyle by nearly three-and-a-half minutes over Chad Tolbert, with Jan Guenther taking the women’s title.

All Noquemanon results

Lake Placid Loppet (New York)

25/50k Skate and classic

On a frigid day in Lake Placid, New York, most skiers opted for the single loop of 25k, with only 15 skiers racing the 50k skate and 17 the 50k classic.

Duncan Douglas won a tight race over Jason Hettenbaugh in the men’s 50k skate, skiing away to a 16 second victory. Jacke Hollenbach was several minutes back in third.

Patrice Blackburn took the women’s title as the only female entrant in the 50k skate.

Bruce MacNeil posted an impressive victory in the men’s 50k classic, opening a gap of over ten minutes on runner-up Erik Sirnes.

No women participated in the 50k classic.

While participation was low in the 50k events, 220 skiers contested the various classes in the 25k races. James Coulton and Anna Crawford won the 25k classic and Matthew Piper and Veronique Fortin took the titles in the 25k skate.

All Lake Placid Loppet results (PDF)

White Mountain Classic (New Hampshire)

30k classic

Kris Freeman, at home training in preparation for World Championships, skied to an expected dominating eight minute win over Paul Allison. Eric Tremble was third, crossing just a second behind Allison.

Alex Jospe took the women’s title, skiing away from Robyn Anderson for a clear win. Kirsten Beaudry was third.

White Mountain Classic results

Colorado Govenor’s Cup (Colorado)

Sylvan Ellefson bested a strong field, containing a number of top Rocky Mountain collegiate skiers. Ellefson came out on top in a sprint to the line ahead of Rune Oedegaard and Andrew Dougherty in the 30k skate event. A post-race interview with Ellefson can be found here.

Lenka Palanova won the women’s 30k skate well ahead of Tammy Jacques and Mia Gaw.

Graham Baird and Kristin Johansen won the 30k classic.

Govenor’s Cup results

Marcialonga (Italy)

A yearly entry on the World Loppet calendar and a part of the relatively new Ski Classics series. Full race report from the organizers here.

Joergen Aukland (NOR) and Seraina Boner (SUI) are the new golden boy and girl of Marcialonga di Fiemme e Fassa (Italy), the famed 70km classic race in Northern Italy.  The Norwegian managed to keep back his older brother Anders and Stanislav Rezac of Czech Republic.

On the women’s side, Laila Kveli of Norway came in second and Russia’s Tatiana Jambaeva finished third.

Italy’s most renowned long-distance XC skiing race has taken place in Trentino region today, the same area that will be housing the 2013 Nordic World Ski Championships in less than a month.

Over 7500 skiers showed up early in the morning in sunny and chilly alpine valleys, ready to compete along the 70k course from the town of Moena to Cavalese. From the very beginning, Joergen Aukland appeared in great shape and put himself in the leading group together with his brother Anders, Sweden’s Ahrlin, Johnsson, Brink and Svärd and Italy’s Piller Cottrer, Paredi, Kostner and Debertolis. Thirty five skiers as a whole who remained strong in the head of the race for over 60 kilometres. Pietro Piller Cottrer was unfortunate and had to retire from the race due to a fall and bad knee injure.

The terrific Cascata climb (the very last 2k stretch before the finish line) has always been the most crucial part of the whole track, and this year it confirmed to be so. Joergen Aukland speeded up at the bottom, trying to create a gap between him and the pack, but Jerry Ahrlin, Rezac and Anders Aukland fiercely hit back and the battle was up. Joergen pushed harder and harder, and eventually managed to leave Rezac a few meters back, while Ahrlin slowed down a little and Anders Aukland kept his pace. Joergen Aukland stayed in the lead until the very end and timed 2h58’21”. Anders Aukland is the new FIS Marathon Cup leader.
Joergen Aukland had already won Marcialonga in 2003, 2006 and 2012.

As for women, Seraina Boner had no rivals whatsoever as kept the leadership from the beginning to the end. Laila Kveli managed to get rid of Jenny Hansson of Sweden and Jambaeva after three-quarter of today’s race and faced the climb with great resolution. This was the second time for Boner on the first step of the podium.

The Marcialonga Light race took place in the morning along a 45k course from Moena to Predazzo. The winners were the Italian Lorenzo Cerutti and Valentina Sirio.

Results

Info: www.marcialonga.it

Source: Marciaonga