Randall Earns Best Worlds Pursuit Finish

“Yeah, the sprint is a sprint because you have to go fast, but it's also a long day of racing and you need that distance experience, too.”

The mass start race for 59 skiers, with 7.5 kilometers of classic technique skiing and then a 7.5K race in freestyle, was the first pursuit for Randall since she finished 54th in the 2003 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy, when it was a 10K (5+5) format.

“First lap today I wasn't too concerned about being conservative. I just wanted to get in there and ski with people,” she said. “I had myself well into the top 30 and that was fun. From there, I just tried to experience the rest…

“I went into today not with any big goals. I just wanted to experience the race, and I certainly did. I had a great time in first lap just making moves on people. I passed 15 girls on that hairy downhill just because they were snowplowing. I took a smooth outside line and started whizzing past…

“I wanted to ski in the top 50,” Randall said. “This is a big improvement on my 54th (from 2003).

“There was not a goal of being on the podium in this race. That's a totally unrealistic thing to achieve, but we're looking at 2010 – at the sprint, and this is good, in general. When she says she's having fun, that's not the same as going to the amusement park,” Vordenberg said.

“Maybe only a cross country racer can understand, but it's some pain and definitely battling it out with other people…not a bowl of popcorn with friends or going to the movies. It's competing against someone else.”