Amy Glenn, Laura Valaas, Sigrid Aas

I had a fantastic time racing last evening at Birch Hill. I qualified in 5th, almost 7 seconds back from Stursova so it didn't get off to a very promising start but once we got into the rounds I got progressively faster-- 3:17 qualifier, 3:14 quarter, 3:10 semi, 3:05 final. Huh? Now why can't I just start out by skiing a 3:05? I think Gibbs changed my structure in my race skis between the qualifier and the heats but it couldn't have made that much of a difference.

I think I kind of like racing in Fairbanks. Everyone has been super nice and it seems that there's always someone in the start/finish area to make sure I get my warm-ups and a hot cup of tea if I want it. And the races have been run very professionally with no glitches. And there was even a cash pot for the winners (Koos won the men's sprint) donated by the spectators!

AND the Northern Lights were out after dinner! Which, in my opinion, made the whole trip to Fairbanks worthwhile, even if the racing hadn't been awesome.

Labels: photos, race