March 26, 2008 (Callaghan Valley, BC) – The US National Team’s Kikkan Randall won two races at the recent 2008 Haywood XC Ski Canadian Nationals in Callaghan Valley, BC but as a US citizen was not eligible to win any medals. Here’s her inside story…

Cliff Notes

After wrapping up the World Cup season in Drammen, I headed back to AK for a short one-week break (which was sweet as I hadn’t been home since the end of November). Junior Olympics were going on in Anchorage and it was fun to watch the competitions. Rejuvenated, I repacked and traveled down to BC, Canada for the 2008 Canadian Ski Nationals. It was my first look at the 2010 Olympic trails.

I started off the championships with a bang, winning the club team sprints on Sunday with my APU teammate Laura Valaas. Racing multiple laps around the sprint course was a great opportunity for getting a feel for the trails and our first experience with the freaky weather (lots of fresh snow around the freezing mark).

Monday was a quick day off and then it was back to competition on Tuesday with a classic race. The women raced 5km, 2 laps of the 2.5km Olympic classic loop. The weather was just about the worst you can have for a classic race. Temperatures just above freezing and fresh snow falling. I thought I was in trouble when I had no kick in the tracks going up the first hill. So I resorted to running outside of the tracks where I was able to get a little grip. I proceeded to run up all the hills and double-pole the flats. While the running was not as pretty as a pure classic striding, it paid off and I won the race by 47 seconds over Chandra Crawford. I was happily surprised with the win.

Next we raced a 10km skate. It was snowing like crazy and the track packed hard and uneven, making it difficult to find balance. Although I felt the effect of the previous two races in my legs, I was able to knock out another podium finish, this time for 2nd place, twenty-two seconds back from my US teammate Liz Stephen. Liz started 30 seconds behind me and caught me at the end of the 2nd lap. We skied together for most of the third lap and then I took a little time back at the end.

Thursday was another quick day off before the freestyle sprints on Friday. Conditions improved from the previous days of heavy snowfall and the sun actually came out for a while. I won the qualifying round and led both my quarterfinal and semi-final heats all the way. It was quite the A final with Chandra Crawford (Olympic gold medalist), Sarah Renner (5 world cup medals & Olympic silver) and myself, as well as US teammers Liz Stephen and Lindsay Williams and Canadian National team skier Perianne Jones. The final was tight and I got knocked down going up the first hill. I worked my way back up to the pack and skied the inside line on a corner to move into second. I followed Renner into the final downhill and accelerated hard out of the bottom to take the lead. Chandra followed my move, but then put her pole between her legs and fell. I continued to the line in front, unaware of the fall, and won the race. It’s too bad Chandra fell because it would have been fun for the two of us to drag race the final 100m on the Olympic course.

I opted to sit out the final race, a 30km classic event, to prepare for the US Distance Championships next weekend in Fairbanks, Alaska. While it was hard to be on the sidelines, it was fun to be race support for my fiancé, who skied the 50km men’s classic race. I helped give out feeds and splits, and in the end it was a taxing day!

My final day at the Callaghan Valley was spent at my good friend Chandra Crawford’s girls empowerment event Fast and Female. I got to be a guest instructor, working with girls age 10 to 18 on ski skills, and relaying my experiences as an elite female ski racer. There was lots of pink around and the energy was high. It was inspiring to work with the girls and I definitely picked up a few ideas for hosting a similar event in the US.

Overall it was a great week! Now I’m headed back to Alaska for the final races of the season. There is a fun classic sprint on Wednesday night, a 15km duathlon Friday night and a 30km classic on Sunday. Looking forward to sharing those stories with you!

Cheers,
Kikkan 🙂