XC Ottawa was in Thunder Bay last week for an exciting week of racing at the 2016 Haywood Noram event! The Noram races were combined with the World Junior/U23 Trials and Ontario Cup #1 events, drawing racers from across Canada. Our crew of 6 arrived at the airport on Tuesday afternoon and set up camp in the Lakehead University residences – a great, affordable place to stay if you’re ever looking. Plus the all-you-can-eat cafeteria meals are good for a group of hungry skiers!
Our first race took place on Thursday January 14th at the Lappe Nordic centre. This was a 1.3km skate sprint. The course was a quick and gently winding descent for the first half and then a steep climb up Pilon’s loop for the second half. The Pilon hill was recently renovated to head directly back to the stadium so it was a quick down and up. The fastest man (Angus Foster) qualified in 2 minutes 27 seconds, and the fastest woman (Andrea Dupont) finished in 2 minutes 59 seconds.
From the XC Ottawa team, Ingrid, Sheila, Andre and I raced the qualifier, while Megan and Karl took the day to ski easy. All 4 of us qualified for the heats, and Sheila managed to move from the quarterfinals into the semifinals and then the B-final for a solid day of racing! All in all, it was a ton of fun amidst some of the best Canadian racers!
Andre working super hard on his offset and his drool.
Ingrid looking super strong, as always!
Check out my sweet new Excel poles! :)
Sheila crushed it!
And lastly, a screenshot of the results of the heats (from zone4.ca).
Interesting Reading. . .
"OWL Rafting - The Mighty Ottawa River"