Editor's Note: Due to the sheer number of events being held each day, FasterSkier will nop be able to provide detailed recaps – there are as many as 72 podium finishers on each day of racing. We will attempt to communicate some of the highlights, but please look over the result sheets to recognize the fine performances by the skiers who are not singled out in our articles.
The 2008 Master's World Cup kicked off with Saturday's classic events. Men M1-M6 raced 30km, M7-M9 raced 15km, and M10-M12 raced 10km. In the women's events, M1-M8 raced 15km and M9-M12 raced 10km. Each group represents a 5 year span, with M1 starting at 30 years old. Race starts are a wave format by age group – allowing skiers to go head to head with their age group competition.
The US had a successful day on the result sheet with 15 podium finishes. Medals are awarded in all age groups. Some of the highlights included victories for Gabriele Andersen (M7 15km women), Kate Ellis (M5 15km women), Mary Wellington (M2 15km women), Rune Harkestad (M3 30km men), and Adam Swank (M1 30 km men).
The Russian team put in their usual strong performance, winning seven races. The Norweigans took five golds.
One of the more impressive results was Russian Lev Litvinov, who won the M12 10km (ages 85-99) by over 30 minutes.
Racing continued on Sunday with the freestyle races in the same the same distances and formats as the classic events.
The US team made Saturday looking like a warm-up, taking 26 podium spots. There were plenty of close finishes over the course of the weekend, but the most exciting may have been in the Men's M5 30km freestyle, where German Erwin Haas out-sprinted American Jon Engen at the finish to win by .1 seconds. Two other men's races were decided by less than a second – the M7 and M10 classifications.
The US women staged an impressive podium sweep in the M7 15km category, led by Trina Hosmer, who skied away to win by just over two minutes. Olympians Laura McCabe and Leslie Hall took the top two spots in the M3 15km.
Racing continues today with 5/10km classic races.
