March 26, 2011 (Sun Valley, ID) – What kind of conditions would you expect for a 50km classic in Sun Valley on the 26th of March? The last choice on most people’s list was hard wax and no binder, but that’s the way it was, making for an excellent and very fair US XC Ski National Championship event to open the 2011 Spring Series/Super Tour.

Veteran USST member, Kris Freeman, skied the smartest race on the 7-lap course with 4,491 vertical feet of climbing on freshly fallen snow, and had the juice to go when he needed to, earning his third national 50km gold medal (plus $1,200). Canada’s Kevin Sandau was closest to Freeman to get the runner-up position (and $600), and 20-year-old Yuma Yoshida from Japan, seeded 31st, was the surprise skier to fill the final step on the podium (and win $300).

Glenn Randall (Bridger Ski Foundation) and Noah Hoffman (Sun Valley SEF ODT), won the silver and bronze USSA medals, respectively, finishing fourth and fifth overall as Sandau and Yoshida are ineligible for the US titles.

Saturday’s 50km classic race marked the final men’s event of the five-race U.S. Championship series and it was Freeman’s 14th National title.

“I knew it was going to be a race of attrition,” Freeman told SkiTrax post-race. “When we went up the big hill at the end of each lap (South Bench climb) we’d lose a few more skiers, and over time the group got smaller and smaller.  I didn’t feel like I put a hard move in, but eventually people got tired and I was able to ski away.”

The race started at 9am under overcast skies with lightly falling snow, at about 27F/-3C. For the first three laps the lead group numbered between 16 and 30 skiers, periodically breaking into two or three sub groups, then regrouping back into a single large pack. With fresh snow falling, the pack skied mostly in single file.

Canada’s Stefan Kuhn, who won the same event in Fairbanks in 2009, was an early strong leader, but he faded from the scene about halfway through the race and did not finish. Others who stayed close to the front were Freeman, Hoffman, and Randall who skied well and would soon animate the race mid-way.

Starting with the fourth lap, Randall made a habit of pushing the pace up the 52m South Bench climb, the biggest climb on the lap.  About two-thirds of the way up is a herringbone section where he would normally open up a gap that he would hold to the top of the climb. But Hoffman, Freeman and several others kept Randall in their sights.

“Noah made a move at the end of the fourth lap and I chased him. I was hoping that when we got together he’d be strong enough we could join up and ski away,” continued Freeman. “I train a lot with Noah and that would have been really fun. But I talked to him and he said he wasn’t feeling it and couldn’t really help at that point in the race, so I had to back off and let the group catch up.”

On the fifth lap, Randall put a little extra into his surge and opened up a gap in excess of 10 seconds, which he stretched to more than 20 seconds by the time the leaders headed out the North End of the course.  Pursuing him were Hoffman, Freeman, Yoshida and Sandau, with Canadian Brent McMurtry, CXC’s Tad Elliott, and APU’s Lars Flora hanging onto the back of the chase group.

“When Randall made his move, I let the other skiers cover it. You know Randall’s getting stronger each year, but I was pretty sure that we were going to close the gap back up,” explained Freeman.

At that point the pursuers had to make the push to catch him or risk losing more time and possibly the race. Out of the sight of the spectators on the North End, Randall was getting reeled in, but McMurtry, Elliott and Flora were now being dropped.

When the leaders came back into view Randall, looking pretty haggard, only had seven seconds now as his lead was disappearing rapidly when the skiers ascended the South Bench climb.

Hoffman and Freeman attacked with Yoshida and Sandau able to respond while Randall hung in. Passing through the stadium with 7.2km to go it was a five-man race.

“I tried to keep my position in the leading group, and was always very watchful of the other skiers,” said Yoshida. “My skis had very good speed, and good grip, too.”

Soon after the factory feed near the start of the final lap Hoffman temporarily succumbed to some cramps and lost contact; shortly thereafter Randall lapsed as well. Now there were three – Freeman, Sandau and Yoshida.

Freeman had done a great job of skiing within himself through the first six laps, and now with a chance to ski away from everyone else, he was ready.  He opened a small gap over Yoshida (who finished 9th in the 30km at the World University Games in Turkey earlier this winter) as they climbed the final uphill before heading out the North End.

Sandau’s skis looked slick on that climb as he was losing ground to both Freeman and Yoshida, but after the race he said his skis were generally good. Hoffman was in fourth, losing contact.

“It seemed like the conditions around the 7.2km loop varied a bit, so the grip was really difficult in some places but felt easier in others, but that may have just been because my energy fluctuated,” Sandau told SkiTrax.

When they came back into view in preparation for the final series of climbs Freeman had a significant gap, but it was Sandau, not Yoshida, who was in second place.

“I overtook Yoshida on the uphill on the far end of the course with about 3km to go,” explained Sandau. “I went by him and got a bit of a gap and was able to maintain it.  I kept looking over my shoulder…”

Freeman’s 15-second advantage over Sandau couldn’t be termed comfortable, but looked to be enough barring something dramatic. Yoshida was at 22 seconds, a resurgent Randall at 40, then a gap back to Hoffman at 60 seconds.

Freeman descended the final, high-speed downhill cleanly (this same drop claimed Flora on the sixth lap), and skied steadily to the finish for a 10-second margin over Sandau. Yoshida was 22 seconds behind Sandau at 32s off the leader.

Glenn Randall, after suffering and fading off and on over the last two laps, chased hard over the last few km to come in only seven seconds behind Yoshida. Hoffman crossed the line 13 ticks after Randall, and was in obvious discomfort from cramps.

McMurtry, Flora, Didrik Smith (U of Utah), Vegard Kjoelhamar (Colorado U) and the defending champion, Tad Elliott, took places six through ten.

Elliott was happy with his race despite losing the title. “Yeah, it was good. There are a lot of good guys from the US, and a lot of good Canadians and Europeans in the field,” said Elliott. “It was hard to break it up. Last year was skate and this year was classic. I had great skis thanks to my CXC coaches; they were really fast.

“I was skiing off the front at one point with my good friends Noah Hoffman and James Southam, but Kris Freeman decided not to let that happen, and everyone came back together. It was a fun day out there. I’m super-pumped with my result.”

Flora (APU) in 7th was named the Grand US National Distance Champion, awarded to the skier who collects the most points throughout the series. Flora also increased his USSA SuperTour lead over Mike Sinnott (Sun Valley ODT) in second but Sinnott  is still within striking distance to win the overall on his home turf.

Full results w/splits HERE.

Results (brief)

1. Kris Freeman (USST) 2:37:05.2
2. Kevin Sandau (Alberta World Cup Academy) 2:37:15.1
3. Yuma Yoshida (Japan) 2:37:37.2