Soldotna Besh Cups

Jan. 24, 2011

      I would first like to thank all the volunteers out there on Saturday and Sunday at the Soldotna Besh Cup races. The races went off with very few if any mishaps which is uncommon for ski races. I guess it helps when the weather is perfectly ideal for the sprint races and apart from a little wind in the stadium, wonderful distance race weather. It has been a really long time since I have had a chance to race on my home trails and I was excited afterwards to have done so well. For me typically being on a professional racing circuit, Besh Cup races can generally be thought of as milder more relaxed races with little competition at the elite level. This was not the case this weekend. Most of the APU elite squad was home this weekend and most everyone decided to come down and throw down in Soldotna. With some of the best skiers in the country present, these races were every bit as intense as many of my Supertour races. Some of these racers have stood on the podium in national caliber races already this season.
     The sprint race was pretty exciting for me. Bill Holt has been talking about the new sprint course for a while and was very excited to see it put to the test. Being only 1k long, it was basically a full throttle no holds bar type of race. As fast as you can possibly go for roughly 2 minutes. Our typical sprints on the national circuit average about 3:45. Nonetheless though, my legs flooded with lactic burn as I awkwardly tried to sprint herringbone up the steep sugary climbs. The mens A final was a good group of athletes and made for a tough final heat. Mark Iverson was strong out of the start and i latched right on. The second steep climb proved to be the decisive climb over the day for most heats and was true to form in the final as well. Mark made a superior push over the top that gained the crucial 5 meters over me and allowed him the comfortable victory over me. I wanted the victory on my home trails, but Mark just had the extra umph that it took to win. I was glad to come in second, but the fire burned a little hotter for the next days race, a 10k skate.

     It was a bit chillier than the sprint day, but the conditions were hard and fast for the distance race. I had a good start position that was about a minute and a half behind Mark and would allow me to have splits off of him if i were to get any. Mark along with Patrick Johnson (who started right after me) are two very good skaters and I had to be on form if i was going to try and bring home a win. To break Patrick, I went out fairly strong and focused on quick relaxed movements. For the terrain, there is a lot of working sections and it can be very easy to bog down and lose speed. By 4k I had caught the two men starting in front of me and one of our APU jr coaches gave me a split that i was 5 seconds up on Mark. Nice, but there is still 6k to go. At about the 6k mark, my legs were starting to feel very heavy from going out so hard, but again I was focusing on keeping things moving quick. Mark is a strong skier and every second counts. The last couple of big climbs were excruciating. There is little rest on the course to clear lactate and by the last 2k, everything was hurting and making smooth movements was getting very difficult. I powered up over the last big climb and couldn't help but hunch over and tuck skate a little to gain even a little composure back. We finished with a long drag uphill that i was able to cover fairly well and hold the speed into the final downhill into the finish. Mark was standing there looking at his watch and I knew it from his look that it would be close. He said that it looked like it would be within seconds.
     The cool down was slow and and it took a while for me to get the looseness in my muscles again. I was going to be bummed if i came out a couple of seconds back from Mark. Mark and I talk a lot of crap to each other (in a friendly way) and i know I wouldn't hear the end of it if i couldn't beat him on my home trails. Thankfully though, the results came out and it was I that got the better of him by 11 seconds. My first win on my home trails in a long time and a good motivator for the second half of the season coming up. Congratulations to all the racers out there this weekend for a job well done. I was a joy to remember what it was like for me 13 years ago doing some of my first Besh Cup races. Good luck to all the young racers out there with the rest of the season!