It was a compressed weekend for Eastern Cup #3, with 8 races stacked into a single day. Saturday’s brutal cold temps meant no racing could take place, so each age group’s respective mass start classic and skate races were all happening on Sunday. That meant a LOT of ski prep and racer prep…nothing like racing a mass start in one technique, taking a little break, and then getting revved-up to do it all again in a new technique!
The snow conditions were great, and a big 5- or 7.5km loop was used for each race. It was a chilly start to the day, but the sun was out and quickly warming things up.
Mass starts are generally chaotic for more than a few skiers. We had everything from trips to the ditches, to bindings blasted open and skis flying away from boots, to broken poles (sometimes more than one in a single race). The MNC crew held strong though, and the great thing about having two races in a day is that there’s always time for redemption if one race goes awry, or a good one to look back on if the second doesn’t go your way!
Elsa had an awesome skate race, making passes all the way to the line!
Farmer getting forward and powerful
Virginia put the biathlon rifle down to demonstrate her speedy striding
Jonah knows how to “hit those angles” as Devon Kershaw says when referring to technique!
This was an important Eastern Cup for a number of reasons, but chief among them because I (Adam) was not present. I have been at every Eastern Cup race since the 2015/2016 season, and it has been incredible to watch our race presence grow. From the amount of gear and skis we travel with, to the number of athletes competing with MNC, everything has just surged in scale. But from day one, it has always been about the PEOPLE that make a race weekend happen.
While SMS coach Alex Jospe and I were watching live timing from the Salt Lake City airport and getting video messages from coaches and parents on course, the team on-the-ground in Waterville was doing an awesome job keeping things running smoothly despite a weekend of changes, crazy weather, and long drives.
We had a lot of folks step in to help, both regular MNC coaches and special guests. Thanks to Sara, Rosemary, Tom, Dan, Dana, and Kristen for all of their work to facilitate the race weekend. It says a lot about our team and our leaders that we can keep rolling and striding right along even if I may be staring at the race from a screen across the country!
Wonderful coaches and wax techs!
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