Alaska Update – Day 5

US Nationals Skate distance race. For Durango and RMN, the big news of the day is Tad Elliott’s 2^nd place overall finish, just 24 seconds behind Kris Freeman and another 33 seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Way to go Tad!!

Both the men’s and women’s races were very exciting. I was fortunate enough to be out on course giving splits. It was awesome to see Tad come flying by, becoming the race leader by over 20 seconds just 3k into the race (this was first lap and before the A seed group had started). After the “A Seed had skied through, only Freeman was able to reach Tad’s speed. This remained the whole race, with Tad skiing in 2^nd place, just off the back of Freeman. There was also many other great races by RMN skiers. Sylvan Ellefson ended up 21^st overall and 4^th U23. Mike Vigers and Spencer Lacy were 78^th and 82 overall, 6^th and 7^th J1’s. It was great to see such high quality racing.

The women’s race was just as exciting. AliciaRose was 5^th out on course, with her and many other J1’s setting a fast early split times. Following the C and B seeds, Kikkan and the other A seed skiers came through, setting new lead times. At the end of a tough race, Alicia skied to 91^st overall, 13^th J1. Other RMN Juniors were Jessica Jortberg, 70^th overall, 8^th J1; Haley Piske, 93^rd overall, 15^th J1; Michaela Frias, 100^th overall, 19^th J1; Mary Rose, 116^th overall; and Molly Newman, 120^th overall.

Today, we are heading back out to test kick and glide in preparation for Wednesday’s classic race. All photos were taken by Rob Whitney, via Fasterski.com.