March 26, 2008 (Fairbanks, Alaska) – Racing a ski marathon three days earlier didn’t slow Norwegians Sigrid Aas and Petter Eliassen – at least not enough to keep them off the top step of the podium at Tuesday night’s Tour of the Golden Heart Spring Series opener. Though Aas complained of “heavy legs” following her victory in Saturday’s 42km Sonot Kkaazoot, she skated the 5km course at the same Birch Hill Recreation Area in 14 minutes, 41 seconds. Alaska’s Nanook Anna Coulter was eight seconds back and Laura Valaas from Alaska Pacific University finished 20 seconds off the pace.

“The Sonot, I can probably still feel it a little bit, but I think it was good to do it,” said Aas, a two-time NCAA champion in 2004 for the Alaska Nanooks. Aas is making the most of her first visit to Fairbanks since graduating from the University of Alaska Fairbanks four years ago. She didn’t exactly become a coach potato after Saturday’s hard effort.

“Some friends and I went to Delta (Junction) and stayed with other friends,” Aas said. “We went snowshoeing a little bit in the mountains and went ice fishing.”

Due to illness or because they were saving energy for the upcoming national championship races this weekend, Alaskans Amy Glen, Tazlina Mannix, Kate (Pearson) Arduser, Becca Rorabaugh and Katie Ronsse were late scratches, diluting a field that saw just 12 females cross the finish line.

“I was kind of bummed that there were only 15 people on the start list and not everybody showed up,” said Coulter, who just completed her sophomore season with the Nanooks.

Valaas, the last to sign up, wasn’t about to miss the race, even if the podium prize was flowers (presented by local Olympian Aelin Peterson) instead of a share of the $8,400 in total prize money to be awarded on Friday’s skiathlon and Sunday’s classical marathon.

“There’s only so many races left before we have a really long summer of rollerskiing and running,” explained Valaas, who last competed in Fairbanks at the 2003 Junior Olympics. “I just really like to take advantage of all the race starts that are available.”
Coulter, meanwhile, met Aas at a gathering a few days ago and found they had plenty to talk about: Coulter spent three months in Norway this past summer visiting her boyfriend, Harald Aas (no relation to Sigrid).

Eliassen, Sigrid Aas’ boyfriend, scored a convincing victory in the Sonot but had to hang on Tuesday to win the 10km freestyle in 25:49. Korthauer, a newly crowned NCAA champion for the Nanooks, finished in 25:53 after nearly closing a late 10-second deficit while Leif Zimmerman of the U.S. Ski Team took third in 26:02.

“I wasn’t sure I was going to win at all because I got really tired at the end,” said Eliassen, who will skip Wednesday’s sprints. “It was just enough to win.”

Korthauer’s busy day – he got up early, took an accounting exam and was honored at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon – hardly sapped his energy. “10km is my favorite race, so I figured it might be my last chance on the podium,” said Korthauer, who wore a Nanooks racing uniform but otherwise sported gear from Rossignol, a team he is considering joining. “I think I did better in the race than in the exam today.”

Zimmerman, who came to Fairbanks directly from the Canadian XC National Championships in British Columbia, was first to start the interval race and held nothing back on a sunlit course that kept racers challenged with tight turns, tough climbs and descents offering only minimal recovery.

“I assumed that (Eliassen) would be going fast today and definitely Marius on his home course I knew would be pretty hard to beat,” Zimmerman said.

Though Zimmerman isn’t contesting the sprints, USST teammates Andrew Newell and Torin Koos, who each have World Cup podiums on their resume, are signed up. For the women, Kikkan Randall of Anchorage was slated to arrive in the Golden Heart City late Tuesday night and will be seeking a sprint gold, something she achieved in historic fashion last December in Russia.
The classic sprints begin with individual qualifying at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, followed by a break and then action-packed elimination heats likely to feature jostling for position and high-speed spills.

For complete results click here or visit www.summittiming.com.

For Wednesday’s Sprint start list click here.

Matias Saari is a reporter for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner