March 22, 2014 (Anchorage, Alaska) – Skiing on home turf is always rewarding but when you’ve been on the road for five months like US star Kikkan Randall, there’s a special feeling of racing in front of a hometown crowd that’s hard to match.

No matter where she competes Randall is one of the best cross-country skiers on the planet and she proved that once again on Saturday at home in Kincaid Park besting her fellow U.S. Ski Team members to capture gold in the women’s 10-kilometer freestyle at the USSA SuperTour Finals.

“It’s just so nice to be back home and see everybody,” said Randall, who raced the course in a winning time of 27 minutes, 27 seconds. Adding to her storied career she claimed her third Sprint Cup crystal globe this season to become the third woman ever to accomplish the feat.

Not that Randall, 31, needed to prove anything to her fellow Alaskans. They treat the four-time Olympian with celebrity-like status, asking for autographs and posing for pictures — and even going so far as to dye their hair hot pink.

Randall gave her fans something to cheer for as she edged fellow U.S. Ski Team member Liz Stephen by just 2.2 seconds to take home $750 in SuperTour winnings.

“I knew that Jesse (Diggins) and Liz were going to be hot on my tail,” Randall said. “A 10-K skate is a good distance for all of us. It’s where we are most competitive.”

After spending the entire cross-country ski season away from Anchorage, Randall said it felt great to finally come home and ski competitively in Alaska for the first time since the 2010 Olympic Trials. “It’s kind of like a flashback to high school,” said the former Alaska State Skimeister.

One of the perks of racing in the United States, she said, is to be able to understand what the crowd is saying above the ringing cowbells. “It’s nice to hear some cheering in English,” she said.

Out on the course, Randall never paid attention to the splits volunteers announced as she skated through the wooded course. If she had decided to listen, she would have known that Stephens — who started a minute behind her — was on track to upset the three-time World Cup sprint champion.

“I knew I had to go out and stay out of sight,” Randall said. “I was not getting too much information out there – just trying to put my head down and go hard.”

Stephens, on the other hand, was all ears. “I was getting splits off Kikkan and I was just getting closer and closer in the last three kilometers,” Stephens said. “It made for a really exciting race.”

Stephens, a two-time Olympian from Vermont, said she didn’t have the strength to pull off an upset in the final 50 meters — which were all uphill. She wound up second (27:29) and 18.7 second ahead of third-place finisher and SuperTour points leader Caitlin Gregg of Minnesota.

“I was trying to glide, relax and then ski really hard up that hill,” Stephens said. “That’s ok though. It was a really fun fight.”

Other than keeping Stephens out of sight, Randall said the biggest challenge Saturday was overcoming the feeling of winter. “In Sochi we were pushing almost 60 degrees,” she said.

“It’s been a lot of warm weather racing, so to come back here and have some cold snow is a challenge just to get that feeling back. I was a good course just to put your head down and go.”

Live results here.