January 27, 2011 (Otepaa, Estonia) – Wednesday morning’s 5km Skate race was, as expected, a hammer fest. The course is not nearly as challenging as past years at the World Junior Championships, but nonetheless, it demanded every piece of you. I knew that the fastest girls in the world would be in the hunt today and I wanted to push the pace right from the beginning.

Blasting off from the start and hoping that my legs would hold on for the ride would have been ideal but my legs had other ideas. I finished today in 45th position, and although it is not the most impressive result, it’s my best 5km result in the last three years of competing at the World Junior Championships.

It wasn’t the best feeling race for me by any means, but I was happy with the way I skied it and I’m hoping this will serve as a good way to clear out my system before Sprint day on Friday.

Janelle Greer was our top Canadian in 35th position and commented, “I didn’t have anything left at the line today and was happy with how I skied my race. I’m excited for the sprint later this week.”

Heather Mehain was hot on my heels, only .5 seconds behind in 47th position as well as Annika Hicks finishing in 57th position. Jessie Diggins of the USA proved her fitness is enough to compete against the fastest in the World. Competing against her in Rossland, I’ve seen how strong and determined this girl is, so I’m so pumped to see her post a top 10 result.

The crowds were pretty weak in comparison to the World Cup on the previous weekend but let’s hope once this weekend hits, the people will come pouring back. In other news, we saw the sun and a glimpse of blue skies this afternoon! The first time I’ve seen that blazing sphere since we left Canada, this means the temperatures here are starting to drop.