Most of the team is heading off for a week of racing at the Haywood Canadian XC Nationals March 8-15 in Duntroon. This year’s event is hosted by the Highlands Trailblazers Ski Club at Highlands Nordic Ski Resort. With impressive team results this year, XC Ottawa’s looking for some good performances at Nationals.
Over 500 athletes will be taking part in the event, including some American skiers and a strong representation from Ottawa-area athletes competing for XC Ottawa, Nakkertok, Skinouk, and Chelsea Nordiq. The series of races will test athletes at all distances, from sprints to long distances.
Here is our race week looks like:
Sunday, March 8 - Team Sprints - Format: Free (3 X 1300m)
Monday, March 9 – Individual start Free Short Distance (10k men; 5k women)
Wednesday, March 11 – Individual start Classic Med Distance (15k men; 10k women)
Friday, March 13 - Classic Sprint Qualifiers and Heats
Sunday, March 15 – Mass Start Free Long Distance (50km men; 30km women)
Staged in March, Nationals often provides some waxing and ski challenges for the athletes and coaches. The forecast for Duntroon suggests that this year will be no different . . . .
Check back for updates!
Useful links:
Results: www.zone4.ca/
Ski Nationals Website: http://skinationals.com/2009/en/index.shtml
Course Maps: http://skinationals.com/2009/en/trailmaps.shtml
Weather: http://www.theweathernetwork.com/golffx/caon0972
XC Ottawa's Zoe Braul racing at last year's Nationals in Whistler
Duntroon Race Course
"Sustaining People in Motion"