October 16, 2008 (Minneapolis, MN) – I had only been to Minneapolis a handful of times during the fall to run cross-country races or travel through the airport, but I often stayed far from downtown. I did have the opportunity to run an OD, along what I now know as the River Road. Sten Fjeldheim, my coach at Northern Michigan University, would tell me how great the training was in Minneapolis and how he grew up a few blocks from those paths.

In 2004, after I graduated from NMU, I thought I was going to return back East to the green mountains of Vermont. Instead I received a phone call from my mother telling me she had been diagnosed with cancer and didn’t know what was going to happen. She had moved to Minnesota while I was in college and often bragged about how much she loved it. She said that she was in need of some assistance while she went through her surgery and chemotherapy and asked if I could come and stay with her. I immediately packed everything I owned and moved to Minneapolis, MN.

When I arrived my mother was thrilled and told me that I would love it here. Sitting in the hospital she spoke about the rollerskiers and ski reports she had seen or heard about. “I think they are really into it [skiing] here”, she said. I nodded and let her tell me whatever she wanted but inside I felt that my dreams of competing in cross-country skiing at the next level would probably be over.

I was soon be on the road again with training and racing and over the next few months I slowly made the Twin Cities my newly adopted home. It didn’t take long before I stumbled across a small store with a blue awning, Finn Sisu. From there, I began to meet people like Avho Tapali, Chad Guise, Piotr Bednarski, and a really great xc ski community.

I never would have thought moving to Minneapolis would take me to the next level in my skiing career, but I’ve definitely found that the size and strength of the fabulous ski community here helps me train for and reach my high aspirations in cross-country skiing. After four years of living here, my mother is doing well, and really happy that I’ve grown to love Minneapolis as much as she has.