Thursday: 10 and 15km Classic. The scenario. Wednesday the course skied perfectly with a cold klister covered with a mid range hard wax. The snow was ground up ice, and although soft, the track was holding. I know that it was ground up ice because I had skied the same snow a week before when it was hard as cement. Sovereign Lakes and Silver Star resort have done an excellent job of making good conditions out of scarce amounts of snow. Most racers and coaches likely went to bed confident that Thursday’s morning race would present more of the same.
I have a potential new rule for classic race waxing in most climates. (Ruling out frigid Alaska and the dry air of the rocky mountain region.) If you are sure that you know the next mornings kick wax than surely it will be something different.
 skied very well with challenging climbs, and some quick S-turns. The 15 second intervals that the race organizers decided on set the stage for a lot of tight racing with people forming small trains. This certainly benefited many that were able to catch a fast draft. The last couple of kilometers of the coarse featured a bunch of downhills and quick climbs which added to the excitement and enjoyment of the event. Race organizers take note: If you want people to have fond memories of your race, then have a section of fast downhill coming into the finish. This allows many racers to stow away the ugliness of the brutal climbs in the back of their mind and remember what it felt like to come into the finishing stretch feeling like a champ.<br />
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Race winners Wendy Wagner and Kris Freeman likely skied in full champ style the entire way as both won with substantial leads over strong fields. Many of the top North Americans seem to be going strong early this year, which is a good sign for later success on the world-racing scene.<br />
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Tomorrow’s sprints should be exciting. The organizers have decided that 32 will advance to the final heats instead of the normal 16. This gives many more racers an opportunity to race in the exciting 4 person head to head match-ups that will be held under the lights. This also means that the eventual winners will have to make it through one more round of sprinting, which could make for a long night. </p>
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