March 31, 2008 (Fairbanks, Alaska) – Frode Lillefjell wanted to make his last race count before moving back to Norway after 13 years in Anchorage. On Sunday at Birch Hill Recreation Area, made good on his plan and ended up winning the 50km U.S. Distance National Championship that he didn’t even know he was eligible for.

Lillefjell at 39, the oldest of 43 starters in the 50-kilometer classic, took the lead right from the start and wound up third behind winner Ivan Babikov (Salomon Factory Team) of Canada and Babikov’s team mate Andrey Golovko of Kazakhstan who finished second. Then the Norwegian native and coach for Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center learned that because he holds a “green card” and is a U.S. resident alien, he was acknowledged as the first American finisher. “I had no idea,” an exhausted Lillefjell said minutes after finishing in 2 hours, 35 minutes. “John Estle (race director) told me after the event.”

It was Estle who scrambled to research the unprecedented scenario midrace by consulting a rules book and calling former U.S. Nordic director Luke Bodensteiner. Once he verified that Lillefjell indeed could be national champ, Estle passed that information on to U.S. Ski Team coaches. Then they informed Torin Koos (USST), who trailed Lillefjell by almost 90 seconds with just the seventh and final 7.5km lap remaining.

“They were like, ‘Yeah, he’s got his green card, so you gotta put your head down and go for it,’” Koos said. What ensued was a dramatic chase for Koos that ended up six seconds shy of overtaking Lillefjell. Koos, known primarily as a sprinter, still claimed the U.S. silver medal.

Lillefjell was contending with a nose bleed for the final 15km, but Koos proved to be an even bigger challenge. “The hardest part is that Koos was coming on so strong. I really had to dig deep the last few kilometres to hold him off,” said Lillefjell.

The race was a storybook ending for Lillefjell, who won an NCAA national 10km classic championship for the University of Alaska Anchorage in 1997. He found the time outside of his APU coaching duties to train, hoping to go out with a final hurrah before returning to Norway in May to take over his family’s farm.

Still, how did he pull off the result against the best American skiers and a handful of top foreigners? “I had really, really fast skis, so that helped a lot, and the 50km classic has always been one of my best events,” commented Lillefjell, who once placed in the top 30 in a World Cup race and was 16th at the Norwegian Nationals in the event. “I used to race a lot of hard classic races. When it’s tough, you just dig in and go.”

Sunday’s race, with more than 6,000 feet of cumulative vertical gain, was no doubt tough.
But Babikov and Golovko, both members of the Salomon Factory Team, broke free of Lillefjell after about an hour, then worked together until the final lap.

Then on the exceptionally steep “Black Funk” climb, Babikov gapped Golovko and never looked back, finishing in 2:32:37. The win, coupled with his victories at Friday’s USSA 30km skiathlon and the 50km classic at the Canadian XC National Championships just a week earlier, completed a remarkable trifecta in just eight days for Babikov, the Russian native who recently received his Canadian citizenship. It also earned him $1,200.

Golovko, who arrived in America in January, was 53 seconds back. Misfortune caused him to lose contact with Babikov. “He started getting some cramps in the stomach. I just kept the same pace. When I looked around he wasn’t there,” Babikov said. “I thought we were going to finish together. We worked really well together. It was unlucky for him.”
Babikov said despite the 35-degree day and excellent ski conditions, the race wasn’t exactly enjoyable.

“It’s fun the last 10 meters and after the finish if you won,” Babikov said. “But out there it’s really hard. It’s always painful.” For Babikov skiing is a year-round job. “This is how I make money here and how I made money in Russia,” he said. “That’s how I feed my family.”

Andy Newell, another sprint specialist with the USST, won the U.S. bronze medal and took fifth overall in his first 50km race after breaking free late in the competition from Colin Rodgers of Fischer-Craft. Marius Korthauer of the Alaska Nanooks took seventh while the USST’s top distance skier, Kris Freeman, who’s been plagued by sickness this season, placed eighth. Zachary Violett, a former UAA skier who was in fourth place (and solidly on the U.S. podium) after lap five, faded to 10th. “No risk, no reward,” Violett said.

Fairbanks junior David Norris had his second exceptional outing in three days finishing in 17th. For Freeman, a two-time Olympian and typically the top American distance skier, the race culminated a frustrating season that had started with great promise (fifth place in a World Cup race in Finland). Freeman considered not coming to Fairbanks due to a recent illness, then wasn’t helped on Sunday by slow skis. He even stopped for a minute midway through to scrape some wax off because it was providing unwanted friction. “We were using klister as a binder. It was just incredibly slow,” Freeman said. “When you’re in a pack of four guys and you lose 10 seconds going down the hill and you have their draft, something’s wrong.”

Freeman, who dropped out of Friday’s skiathlon, persevered on Sunday. “I skied solid today so I’m not disappointed with my performance. I’m disappointed in the overall day,” he said. Freeman’s goal remains an Olympic medal. “I’m as driven as ever,” he added.

Full results here.
Full results with lap times here.