The skiing season in Iceland came to an end on Saturday with the country’s biggest and
most prestigious race, the Fossavatn Ski Marathon. Around 180 skiers participated in
the four distances, 50 km, 20 km, 10 km, and 7 km, breaking the record for the biggest
Icelandic cross-country ski competition ever. There were skiers of five nationalities,
including five from the US plus some of the best long-distance skiers in the world,
such as former FIS Marathon Cup winner Jörgen Aukland of Norway.
US women maintained their 100% winning record in the 50 km at the Fossavatn. The long
distance was added to the race in 2004 and was won by Linda Ramsdell (Craftsbury
Nordic) in 2004 and 2005. This time it was Mary Beth Tuttle from the The Finn Sisu
Vakava team in St. Paul, Minnesota who celebrated her birthday with a victory ahead of
Stella Hjaltadottir of Iceland, while the defending champion Ramsdell took the bronze.
As expected, the men’s race was a parade for the Norwegian Team Fast. The long-distance
specialists took all the top-five spots, with Jörgen Aukland claiming the gold two
seconds ahead of Gard Gjerdalen. Anders Hallingstad finished number three. Two US
skiers raced in the men's 50 km. David Christopherson (Finn Sisu Vakava team in St.
Paul, Minnesota) claimed the silver in the 50-65 years category while Jerome Bier
finished number nine in that same age group. Lou Chouinard skied the shorter distance of
20 km and finished number four in the 50-65 group.
