From the FasterSkier archive — posts syndicated from athletes’ and coaches’ own blogs between 2004 and 2012, kept online as published. Current coverage is at fasterskier.com.
Team Birkie athletes, including summer collegiate athletes, at the track, summer 2021. (photo: courtesy Team Birkie)
Team name and location: Team Birkie; Minneapolis, Minnesota (also Hayward, Wisconsin)
Coach: Caitlin Gregg (co-coach), Leo Hipp (co-coach), Jeremy Hecker (technique coach and wax tech)
Current roster: For the men: Zak Ketterson, Christian Gostout, Andrew Millan, Tony Mathie, Brian Gregg; Women: Ingrid Thyr, Julie Ensrud, Jordan Schuster, Abbie Drach, Amanda Kautzer (focusing on biathlon)
What’s new: “Everything,” Gregg writes. While elite teams have existed in the Midwest in the past, Team Birkie is new this year. You can learn more about the program in this podcast with Gregg.
Who’s still on this team, or otherwise involved in American skiing, from when we did this in 2012: Since this is the inaugural year for the team, this question is not directly applicable; however, Caitlin Gregg and Brian Gregg remain recognizable names from our 2012 CXC preview. Nichole Bathe raced internationally for Great Britain as recently as last season.
Ingrid Thyr bounding, summer 2021. (photo: courtesy Team Birkie)
Top results last season: While racing for different programs, Ketterson was 4th and 15th at NCAA Championships racing for NMU, including top American in the 20 k skate. Kautzer was 7th in Soldier Hollow in January against a RMISA field. Gostout was 13th in a January race in Soldier Hollow against a strong regional field. Drach was 8th in the skate Birkie. Among the coaching staff, Caitlin Gregg was third in the skate Birkie, marking the rare year in which she has entered the race but not won it.
Zak Ketterson doing work on the rollerski treadmill. (photo: courtesy Team Birkie)
“We are a brand new team with lots of excitement for the upcoming season.
“Our summer was very productive with the addition of 17 college athletes who helped push our Team Birkie athletes and made our altitude camp in Bozeman very successful. With lots of strong runners during the summer we enjoyed pushing our fitness on foot and refining our technique on rollerskis.
“Early fall was spent in the Midwest increasing our paces on familiar courses and dialing in efforts and technique on the rollerski treadmill.
From left, Christian Gostout, Ingrid Thyr, Andrew Millan, Zak Ketterson, Tony Mathie, and Jordan Schuster, Frozen Thunder, Canmore, Alberta, fall 2021. (photo: courtesy Team Birkie)
“As we approach the first series of races this winter we are in a final three-week altitude block and back on snow in Canmore, Alberta.
“We look forward to starting the season close to home in Duluth and Cable and competing at U.S. Nationals at Soldier Hollow (one of my all time favorite venues).”
Caitlin Gregg (fifth from left) and some athletes with members of the Loppet Foundation’s Northside Adventure Team, Minneapolis, summer 2021. (photo: courtesy Team Birkie)
Author Kristina Owen races in the 2009 American Birkebeiner ahead of Evelyn Dong.
The following article was originally published on FasterSkier on October 15, 2008. It was written by CXC (Central Cross Country Skiing) athletes Kristina Owen and Heather Zimmerman. Roughly contemporary photos have been added for this reprinting; the pictures that originally appeared with this article are no longer available.
The piece is simultaneously from very much another era, yet also completely timeless. On the one hand, “Caitlin Compton” now has a different last name; Jessie Diggins, who had recently turned 17, would go on to do things even more impressive than win the junior division of the Climb to the Castle rollerski race; the article’s authors last competed in FIS races in 2011 (Owen) and 2009 (Zimmerman). On the other hand, in October 2008 skiers enjoyed the fall foliage, did hard doublepole efforts, and benefited from having athletes from multiple clubs together in one place for head-to-head competition. A quick perusal of social media shows that New England fall colors are still a thing, and that athletes from multiple clubs (including that obscure junior, Jessie Diggins) still come together in Lake Placid for fall training. 13 years later, some seasonal rhythms of American skiing remain very much the same.
Matt Liebsch coming up the final hill on his way to victory in the 2009 American Birkebeiner.
CXC Elite Team – Lake Placid Training Camp Report
The CXC Elite Team recently completed a two week monthly camp in Lake Placid, NY. We stayed and trained at the Olympic Training Center, which provided an ideal environment to make huge gains in both fitness and technique.
The weather was excellent for the first couple days: chilly, but clear skies. “The only problem with the weather was that is was cool enough that none of the boys took off their shirts,” Caitlin Compton mentioned with a smile. After a few days of such perfect training weather, the team’s luck broke and it started raining; beautiful miserable cold rain. The training continued as planned, but between workouts the hallways were filled with the smells of damp and drying athletic apparel.
One of the team’s favorite workouts at this annual camp is an over-distance run in Adirondack Park. We are able to take advantage of great trails up mountains with gorgeous panoramic views. This year the men’s team made it to the summit of Mt. Colden, but disaster struck on the way down. Matt Liebsch, Midwest born and bred, was unused to the speed on the steep rocky descent. He went down hard with a nasty ankle sprain. His teammates carried him out, but the injury was camp ending and he returned to the Midwest for recovery.
Leaves in the Lake Placid region were in their peak foliage and so was the CXC Elite Team’s performance during the second week. The highlight came at the culmination of the camp, with the Whiteface rollerski race. However, there was a lot of work to be done, both intensity and volume, before the race arrived.
Caitlin Compton sprinting at US Nationals in 2008 in Houghton, Michigan.
The workload wasn’t the only thing increasing during the second week of camp. The Olympic Training Center was overtaken by Nordic athletes. CXC Elite was joined by their Junior Development Program athletes and coaches, as well as the Sun Valley team, the USST, various NENSA athletes, and some of the region’s collegiate racers. CXC Elite Team was able to frequently take advantage of the large athlete gathering, as all the groups came together for some of the workouts. The best example of this was a hard double pole workout up a long gradual hill. The men did two sets of 3×4 minutes, with a ten minute break between sets, while the women concentrated their efforts to 3 1/2 minutes. It was a great workout and the added numbers definitely helped in ramping up the intensity!
The camp was also notably included the first competition of the year between CXC and their friendly rivals, Sun Valley. Last year Sun Valley pulled out a narrow victory in overall points. This year CXC was off to a good lead, with a win in an inter-team soccer match. The competition was fierce, but CXC’s greater numbers this year gave them the edge to pull off the victory.
CXC Team continued to utilize the hilly terrain in the area, traveling to Whiteface Mountain for a ski walking workout on the lower trails. Some of the team returned to the mountain later in the week for an evening hike, lured in by the fresh snow that covered the top.
Our second week contained not only some good intensity efforts but also a lot of volume. By Sunday most of the team had completed at least three ODs. All the mileage made us feel as though we had really gotten to know the Lake Placid area!
Garrott Kuzzy (CXC Team Vertical Limit/US Ski Team) races the sprint in West Yellowstone, November 2009. (Photo: Win Goodbody)
The camp ended with a grand finale, the Whiteface Mountain rollerski race! After testing ourselves on the area’s hills for the previous two weeks, what better way to finish up than a five mile, steep uphill race. Of coarse, mother nature decided to throw a few additional hurdles in our path before we began. The top of the toll road was too icy for skiing so the race was moved slightly down the hill. However, despite the alterations, the course still proved to be plenty challenging! Despite being tired, CXC athletes turned in some impressive results. Caitlin Compton led the way, winning the women’s race. CXC Junior Devo Program Jessie Diggins had a very impressive showing as well, placing 5th overall and winning the junior category. On the men’s side Garrott Kuzzy led the charge with a notable 4th place finish, followed closely by Brian Gregg in 6th.
Sufficiently exhausted by this final effort the team departed Lake Placid. This was the team’s final two week dryland training camp. Athletes will now have the next four weeks at home before leaving for West Yellowstone, early snow, and the beginning of the Supertour circuit!
In early July, the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation announced the launch of the Team Birkie professional racing team. The elite post-graduate training group would pull from the three primary midwestern clubs, the Loppet Foundation, Central Cross Country Skiing (or CXC), and the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation. While the midwest has a strong culture of cross country skiing with a breadth of strong youth and masters racing teams, it has been nearly a decade since the area has had a consistent robust training group that could support athletes at the elite level. In their words, this program fills this gap to allow “the next Jessie Diggins [to] stay home to train, inspire future generations, and win Olympic medals.”
Team Birkie elite and collegiate athletes enjoys the hazy summit of Hyalite Peak during a training camp in Bozeman, MT. (Courtesy photo)
Team Birkie will be based from the Trailhead at Wirth Park in Minneapolis, headquarters of The Loppet Foundation, and led by Head Coach Caitlin Gregg, who will coach alongside co-coaches Leo Hipp and Jeremy Hecker.
Team Birkie Coaching Squad: from left to right, Leo Hipp, Caitlin Gregg, and Jeremy Hecker. (Courtesy photo)
Gregg has spent her own career training in the area alongside her husband and fellow professional ski racer Brian Gregg. The duo — known as Team Gregg — forged their own path to the upper echelon of the domestic and international cross country race scene, gaining experience in writing their own training and supporting their careers along the way. [Find Team Gregg on a 2017 episode of Nordic Nation here.]
For those unfamiliar with Caitlin, her resume spans more than a decade of elite level ski racing; Caitlin earned her first World Cup starts in Vancouver in 2009 and was slated to start at the Minneapolis World Cup and Canmore World Cup finals in March 2020 before they were cancelled because of the impending pandemic. Those recent starts would have been just over a year after the birth of her daughter, Heidi, who is now two and a half years old and can regularly be found tagging along for her parents training.
Team Birkie mini-coach Heidi Gregg writes the prescription during a strength session. (Courtesy photo)
Caitlin is a 2015 World Championship Bronze Medalist, a 2010 Olympian, and a 5 time winner of the American Birkie. She was also a member of five World Championship teams and won eight National Championship titles, with several more podium finishes. Gregg is also no stranger to disappointment; there have also been near misses for team selection, as was the case for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi and when the 2016 US Ski team nominations rolled out.
While she does not yet consider herself retired as an athlete, this transition to leading the charge and growing Team Birkie does mark a shift in the focus of her overall ski career, as we discuss in this conversation. Caitlin also speaks to the evolution of the concept behind Team Birkie and the structure of the training group for the upcoming season. She is now one of only two female coaches at her level in the US — alongside Pepa Miloucheva of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project — and the only mother. Caitlin discusses the support this requires, and how her career as a whole has provided ample insights that allow her to be a role model for her athletes.
You can find Caitlin on Instagram @Caitlincgregg (with two G’s) and follow along with Team Birkie at @teambirkie. Thanks for listening.
Team Birkie athletes Zak Ketterson (R) and Xavier Mansfield (L) share the rollerski treadmill, while coaches Leo Hipp and Jeremy Hecker provide feedback. (Courtesy photo)
Caitlin Gregg (right), Jazir (left), and Heidi on the lawn. (Photo: Brian Gregg)
Since 2011, Brian and Caitlin Gregg have been residents of north Minneapolis. They added daughter Heidi to the mix a year and a half ago. They are close to Theodore Wirth Park, an urban magnet for cross-country skiing with amenities like snowmaking, homologated trails, and mountain biking in the non-snow months. The Loppet Foundation, a local non-profit, was poised to host the first World Cup in the U.S. since 2001 until concerns and regulations associated with Covid-19 caused the event to be canceled.
Minneapolis has enjoyed a reputation as an arts and culture hub. The city skews left in its politics and serves as a gateway for Midwest winter sports. That image was shattered in the wake of George Floyd’s killing last month.
Like many places, Minneapolis was a reminder of how many cityscapes have historically been racist by design. Since the early 1900s, Minneapolis has segregated with the assistance of racially restrictive deeds called racial covenants. In other words, specific properties included language in their deeds preventing people of color from acquiring them.
In 1917, according to an interactive map titled Mapping Prejudice, we see a single property near the west side of Wirth with a racial covenant. By 1919 blue blobs on the map indicating impacted properties were viral near that location. Then in 1923, another cluster began to propagate adjacent Wirth’s northeast edge. As the map’s timelapse rolls into the postwar year of 1946, those two racial covenant clusters balloon. They defined the area for years.
Double click the images below to enlarge. Theodore Wirth Park is situated in the center of the respective maps.
Where the Greggs reside specifically in north Minneapolis is an area of the city that is predominantly African American. “You mention it to someone that you live in north Minneapolis and it is known as the not as nice part of town which we never really understood,” said Caitlin Gregg.
As they looked for a home to buy in 2010 and 2011, their budget was small. So were their needs. One-bedroom. One-bath. They didn’t require more. And location, location, location was a bellwether. Brian, a 2014 Olympian, and Cailtin a 2010 Olympian, desired close to home skiing. Wirth Park was their place. At the time, Caitlin worked for a nearby Boys and Girls Club and loved the neighborhood.
“’That is a bad area, what are you doing?’” was the often-heard response when informing people of their housing find said Caitlin. “And some of these are friends of ours for a long time. I lived nearby and I felt like it was a great spot for what we were looking for. I was willing to find out what the neighborhood was like for myself.”
Nighttime racing under the lights at Wirth Park. (Photo: David J. Owen Photography.)
Both for Cailtin, who spent the first 10 years of growing up in a diverse section of Manhattan, and Brian, who grew up in the bucolic Methow Valley in Washington, living true to their values is a constant. “We definitely stand out here and I think it is an experience that everybody should have,” said Brian. “In the sense that to walk into a room and be completely different than everyone else. Imagine what it would be like for a person of color to come to a cross-country ski race?”
The Greggs have worked intimately with the Boys and Girls Clubs near rural Hayward and Minneapolis and the Parks and Rec. Department in north Minneapolis. They have also collaborated with the Loppet Foundation to make cross-country skiing, mountain biking, and running accessible to the underserved and underrepresented. Their journey helping others as professional skiers began when they became involved with In The Arena, an organization linking Olympic athletes with empowering youth.
Most training logs serve the purpose of cataloging training hours by specifying items like time in zone, average heart rate, activity, and on and on. We’ve yet to see one with a column accruing time and energy given back. This is not to say many athletes have not found their cause and their voice; be it climate change, literacy, or eating disorders. The good work is out there.
It is a question being asked over and over by many pursuing excellence in nordic sport: “How is my cross-country skiing and my success in cross-country skiing helping? What is [it helping]? And how is that making the world a better place?” posed Brian as he explored how he and Caitlin have attempted to answer that question. “You have an immediate connection with people and in particular kids,” was one grounded response Brian gave.
Living in a community with omnipresent reminders of systemic racism and exclusion, the Greggs have spent significant time ruminating on their value as athletes and why they may be important to communities.
Brian Gregg holds his three-week-old daughter, Heidi, during the flower ceremony after his second place finish at the 2019 Birkie. (Photo: Instagram @goteamgregg)
“One thing that athletics does is that it shows that setting goals and setting big goals, and setting goals that honestly may be the majority of people think are not possible,” Brian said. “You can inspire others to do the same, to define their next goals and best achievements as the ones that are not easy, and probably the majority of people thought you would fail at.”
Still, the constant stress of logging hours and resting adequately, and continuing the cycle, can be a deterrent to service and advocating for change. In the estimation of both Caitlin and Brian, however, their projects in north Minneapolis have made them better athletes.
“Whether or not we are better people I am not sure, but we are better athletes because of it, I think,” Caitlin said. “It gave us perspective and really realizing that we do love skiing and we do love pursuing our goals in skiing and we can do these things simultaneously. It does not have to be one or the other.”
Caitlin recalled the times she first worked with local youth, describing herself as wearing bright colored Lycra and goofy glasses, and some sort of ski hat. We know the look as the slowly evolving concept of cross-country cool as defined by those faster than us. Others know it as something sartorially disastrous.
“I thought, ‘oh my gosh is anybody going to want to listen to us or want to be part of something that we are going to do, we are just so different’? The most incredible thing that I have learned from working with the kids and the program that we aim to do is that it did not matter. That was a huge lesson for me,” Caitlin said. It really didn’t matter to them. The most important thing was that we were there and we were present. They could count on us. They could trust us, and we came again and again and again. And we cared about them and about what they were doing. And that was needed so much and it really gave me a lot of hope.”
None of this is to say the Greggs were not rattled with the recent marches and palpable anger in Minneapolis. Caitlin said it was simply unpredictable. Like others, they were advised to wet their fences to prevent potential fires from spreading and crack their windows at night so as to keep auditory tabs on what was transpiring outdoors. One morning after one of the most tumultuous riots to date in the city, Caitlin woke before 7 AM to the sounds of a small commotion. She went to the window with some anxiety, and saw one of the local kids, Joshua (9), zipping back and forth on his bike. He had asked his reluctant and slightly older sister to watch him – that was the grumbling Caitlin had heard.
“It was one of those moments, as if ok this is cool and good things in the world are still happening and will continue,” said Caitlin.
Joshua had learned recently to ride a bike. As a shy kid, it took him too long to convey to the Greggs that he didn’t know how to ride, but wanted to learn. Caitlin and Brian are known in their neighborhood as go-tos when it comes to how to access play in the outdoors. The Greggs helped secure a bike, and they were one degree separated from being Joshua’s human training wheels. Another neighborhood local, Jazir, who still swings by the Greggs daily, became a mentor to Joshua.
Jazir came into the Gregg’s lives as a gregarious neighborhood kid. Like Joshua after him, the Greggs rallied to help Jazir find a bike. He was eventually connected with the Loppet Foundation’s mountain biking program and his trail riding love affair began. With Joshua’s new prowess on the bike as evidence, Jazir has paid it forward.
Brian says their street near Wirth Park reflects the best of Minneapolis; a spectrum of people from all walks of life in close proximity to an urban jewel in Wirth Park. Caitlin, a trained environmental and city planner, said the city’s master plan called for a light rail system to connect their neighborhood with downtown and amenities on the city’s periphery. The original vision for the light rail would have blocked local access to Wirth. Through her involvement in the neighborhood association, Caitlin advocated for a modified plan allowing for easier park access.
The 2019 Theodore Wirth Regional Park Management Plan Analysis states, “Theodore Wirth Park values the mental and physical well being of their community and visitors and supports this by creating a safe, beautiful and fun environment for all seasons.” We all know it – easy access to open space is vital.
Jazir and Heidi. (Photo: Brian and Caitlin Gregg)
Jazir helping a neighbor learn to ride. (Photo: Brian and Caitlin Gregg)
As the conversation with the Greggs waned, we didn’t touch on training or racing plans. I think we mentioned skiing once as Brian recalled a time deep in Wirth and deep in an interval session when a teenager he knew recognized him and called his name. It was an old neighbor named Quinn who was out skiing and had followed Brian’s 2014 Sochi quest. For the moment the Greggs are immersed in their full life and doing what they can to reflect and help their community.
There’s no doubt Minneapolis needs systemic change. If this moment is a tipping point, there’s optimism the city will be better off. It appears kids like Jazir and Joshua can keep Wirth local: the new light rail plan restores local entry points.
Two hours and twenty minutes after leaving the starting gate in Cable, Caitlin Gregg crossed the finish line on Main Street in Hayward, her eighth journey through Wisconsin’s north woods during the American Birkebeiner. Five of these resulted in the win, but this year, Gregg was the fifth woman across the line. Butt was still a first — her first Birkie as a mom, just over one year after giving birth to her daughter, Heidi, last February.
When I last spoke with Caitlin in mid-summer, she was in the midst of a seemingly effortless return to form postpartum. She had lined up great resources for pelvic floor and core retraining, taken a gradual and conservative approach to increasing her intensity and volume, and she and Brian had found a happy rhythm of using their KidRunner chariot or bringing Heidi to the gym to include her in their afternoon training sessions. She had even won the 25-kilometer skate at the Fossavatn Ski Festival in Iceland in May at roughly three months postpartum.
It was no secret that she was not hoping for fifth at the 2020 Birkie. She wanted to win and, for the most part, her training and racing leading into the race indicated that she was primed to do so.
Smiling through the flu, Caitlin Gregg makes her way to Hayward at the 2020 Birkie. (Photo: Instagram Screenshot @skinnyskipics)
Team Gregg celebrates strong finishes at the 2020 American Birkie. (Photo: Screenshot Instagram @caitlincgregg)
But the path was not linear. There were setbacks — major setbacks. Namely, tearing one of the four muscles in her right hamstring off the bone in late September, which faced her with a decision of whether to undergo a surgery with an 18-month recovery process and results that are not guaranteed. The surgery would also put her in a full-leg cast, unable to sit or drive, let alone carry or play with her baby.
Luckily, after trying five weeks of intensive physical therapy focused on strengthening the remaining three muscles in the group to sufficiently compensate, the surgeons agreed she did not need the surgery. Though she has not been able to run, skiing has felt great, so her training was not inhibited for long.
Then, just before U.S. Nationals in January, Caitlin and Brian’s heads collided while they dressed their wiggly baby, leaving Caitlin with an untimely concussion. Though it was mild, it inhibited her performance at an event that might influence whether she would be nominated for World Cup starts later in the season.
In this conversation, Caitlin discusses these challenges and shares her experience fighting through her illness to finish strong at the Birkie. We also explore the rollercoaster of balancing parenting and life as a professional athlete, and her goals and race plans for the remainder of the winter.
Interview with Caitlin Gregg following the 2020 American Birkie.
Independent of one another, Brian Gregg and Matt Liebsch are always to be feared as they line up for a ski race. Now in their mid-thirties, their lives have transitioned to other responsibilities that include partners, children, and full-time work. Yet, in the highly competitive world of elite-level ski racing, these two have maintained a healthy friendship and are fast and furious training partners.
We could spend time noting their accomplishments on the ski tracks – but that would be another story. They are accomplished. But when speaking to them both, it is clear that each wants the other to succeed and in fact, they understand their friendship and training have made them both faster. Although defining themselves as ‘master-blasters’, Gregg was second overall and Liebsch third in last season’s American Birkebeiner. Gregg lost out by a toe to Akeo Maifeld-Carucci, while Liebsch faded slightly down Main Street in Hayward to place third, 8.5 seconds back. So ‘master-blaster’ or not, these two are still fast and competitive.
Akeo Maifeld-Carucci in green, Brian Gregg (left), and Matt Liebsch (right) down Main Street in Hayward, WI. (Photo: James Netz)
So maybe get inspired, find your own best bud, become a better person and get faster together too.
FasterSkier previously reported on four boldface names, former Winter Olympians all, who were planning on racing the 2019 New York City Marathon: Brian Gregg, Kikkan Randall, Ida Sargent, and Liz Stephen. Gregg had announced plans to run a 2:40 to 2:45 marathon. The three women were all planning to break 3 hours. All four runners met their goal.
In chronological order:
Brian Gregg logged an official time of 2:44:30 (all times discussed in this article are chip times; in a field of 50,000, it takes even top-1,000 finishers some time to reach the starting line, making the gun time somewhat unfair), meeting his goal with 30 seconds to spare. He was 336th among 30,000-plus men, and 360th overall. He went through the halfway mark in 1:19:37 before slowing somewhat over the final miles.
Kikkan Randall crossed the finish line in 2:55:12, good for 51st woman (out of nearly 23,000 women) and just inside the top thousand overall (990th). She exhibited textbook pacing, recording a half-marathon split of 1:29:09 before speeding up over the final miles. Her slowest mile after the 20-mile mark was mile 22, which took her 6:41. She ran mile 26 in 6:21, and the final 0.2 miles at a 6:18 pace.
Liz Stephen ran nearly the entire race with Randall and Sargent; she and Randall had the same time through mile 25. At that point Randall pressed ahead slightly, putting 25 seconds on her friend and teammate by the finish line. Stephen ran mile 26 in “only” 6:35 en route to finishing in 2:55:37. Stephen was 55th among women and 1,031st overall.
Ida Sargent ran with Randall and Stephen through mile 22 before dropping off the pace slightly. She finished less than two minutes back of Stephen in 2:57:22, good for 75th woman and 1,209th overall.
New York Road Runners reports that the average finishing time for the 2018 NYC Marathon was 4:40:22.
Among Randall’s copious media appearances in the days leading up to Sunday’s race, she appeared on Ari Ofsevit’s BirkieGuide.com Podcast, along with Brian Gregg, early last week. Gregg at one point discussed his transition to running for the marathon buildup, then frankly observed, “Running is hard.” Randall concurred, “Amen!”
Statistically speaking, only 2% of people who enter a marathon will finish under three hours. The 2019 TCS New York City Marathon was a bit above average, with nearly 3% (1,563 of 53,508 runners) breaking the elusive three hour barrier. Yesterday, four familiar cross country skiers joined the speedy club of athletes who have achieved this result.
Brian Gregg was first across the line, stopping the clock at 2:44:30 (6:17 per mile average). Next came a trio of Kikkan Randall, Liz Stephen, and Ida Sargent who worked together until the final miles. Randall finished in 2:55:12 (6:41 pace) followed by Stephen who was just 25 seconds behind. Fading behind her former teammates as they cruised through Central Park, Sargent made her way to 67th Street in 2:57:22.
A lot has changed for Randall since the 2018 TCS New York City Marathon where she stood in the crowd watching Stephen run by wishing she were out there too. FasterSkier caught up with Randall shortly before she headed to New York from her home in Penticton, BC to reflect on her experience with cancer treatment, marathon training, and what lies ahead now that she is back to feeling strong and healthy.
Randall was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer in June of 2018 after discovering a lump in her breast on Mother’s day. She underwent six rounds of chemotherapy from July to October, followed by a lumpectomy in November. She continued to receive infusions of the Herceptin infusions every three weeks through July 2019 to stop the proliferation of the cancerous tissue. Though she is now finished with treatment, she will remain on anti-hormone medication for the next five to ten years to reduce the likelihood that the cancer will return.
Kikkan Randall rings the bell marking her final Herceptin infusion in July 2019. (Photo: Instagram @kikkanimal)
In her typical fashion, Randall stayed active and positive all the while. With the support of her medical team, she explored the boundaries of what was possible physically during treatment. She explained that her doctors told her, “If I felt good, go for it.” And she committed to staying active, even if it was just for ten minutes each day or as simple as playing with her son, Breck.
Randall shared her journey openly throughout in order to inspire and encourage others going through similar challenges. She posted daily video updates for the first five months of her treatment on her website and continues to share her experiences through her Instagram and other social media outlets.
“I think back to where I was a year ago and I just feel incredibly grateful for how good I feel and the fact that everything has gone so well,” said Randall. “ Now I’m just staying optimistic that it’s going to stay that way.”
Randall explained that it is difficult to say whether her experience with treatment and how her body responded was what she expected.
“Cancer is something I really never had on my radar until I was getting that diagnosis. So not knowing what to expect, chemo was for sure the hardest part of it. It just knocks you down. It knocked my immune system down and I felt fluish between rounds. Overall, I still think I faired fairly well.”
She continued that she was relieved to be finished with chemo last October. As the lumpectomy was a minimally invasive surgery, she was able to recover quickly and began to feel as though she was getting back on her feet, despite continuing with radiation.
Kikkan Randall models her positivity through cancer treatment, heading into a lumpectomy “with good vibes”. (Photo: Instagram @kikkanimal)
“Some people said, ‘Oh, you’d be surprised how tired you get.’ So I was ready to be heavily fatigued and set up my lifestyle around the fact that if I needed to sleep a lot and not be accountable to too much, I was ready to do that. But I actually had the opposite effect.
“I was getting further from chemo, so feeling better and better as I went through radiation and I was in Anchorage, so I was able to ski a lot which was awesome. I did a 10k ski race the second to last week [of treatment].”
That is not to say Randall was immune to the effects of seven months of cancer treatment.
“I think by the time I got to the Birkie and did that, I didn’t feel awesome in the race. I felt like my legs were just really empty and I didn’t have a lot of power climbing on the hills. I think that was maybe the point where I went, ‘Oh, maybe there is a little bit of lingering fatigue.’ It wasn’t like I could barely make it through the day, it was just when I went to access that gear that I’ve always had, it just wasn’t quite as strong as I was used to.”
Randall finished 12th female in a time of 2:48:19.4.
Her version of retirement has not seemed to involve the change of pace one associates with the word. At the cessation of her treatments, Randall hit the gas, resuming her involvement in organizations like Fast and Female as well as saying “yes” to many speaking opportunities. This has created a busy schedule laden with frequent travel. Randall explained that she is navigating how to balance these opportunities alongside her desire to stay active and also have quality time with her family.
“For so much of the last 20 years, I had to be so in tune to getting enough sleep and rest so that every moment that I was training was effective. Now it’s more about, if I can exercise, it’s a bonus. I ultimately want to keep myself healthy, but that’s kind of a baseline, and there’s a lot of other responsibilities now.”
She continued that since training is no longer her primary focus, she is less concerned about the recovery aspects of her former lifestyle. She does not dwell on staying up late before waking up early if it means creating time for her family or other responsibilities.
“Which I think in some ways has come back to bite me,” Randall laughed. “I appreciate now why we take such good care of ourselves as athletes, why we get enough sleep, and have good nutrition, because it makes you feel so much better. So when I let myself get busy and don’t focus on that as much, after a week or two I start to feel it and snap back around.”
Randall expressed gratitude for the many intriguing opportunities she has been presented, from motivational speaking events to podcasts to traveling to China and hopping into a city sprint event on the streets of Beijing. Case in point: at the time of the call she had recently returned from the U.S. Ski Team Gold Medal Gala in New York City only to return the following week for the marathon. She acknowledged that she does not aspire to always be this busy, but after being somewhat on lockdown through treatment, she was “excited to finally do things again.”
She went on to describe the very relatable experience of fitting in her marathon training around all of this travel. One noteworthy experience took place this summer aboard a Royal Princess cruise ship. Randall was a guest speaker on the cruise from Vancouver to Ketchikan.
Kikkan Randall runs laps around the deck of a Princess Cruise ship to fit in her marathon training while on board as a motivational speaker. (Photo: Instagram @kikkanimal)
“I had to do my two-hour long run on the track around the deck, which wasn’t ideal but it’s the way I fit it in. I’ve been getting up at 5 am to get in workouts before I travel or before a day of appearances. I’ve just been trying to be creative — it hasn’t been ideal, but it’s been good enough.”
The TCS New York City Marathon on behalf of Aktiv Against Cancer has been on Randall’s radar for quite some time. She explained that her affiliation with Aktiv began in 2012 when the U.S. Ski Team was racing in Oslo, Norway. The organization invited Randall to an event and each subsequent year, the USST would go to partner hospitals in Oslo and workout with cancer patients in the exercise rooms that Aktiv funded.
“When I learned about the organization, I really believed in what they’re doing and that’s getting physical activity to be a prescriptive part of treatment, because I’ve learned through several experiences is a great way to deal with challenges… It was always incredibly inspirational and powerful to see the camaraderie [the patients] developed.”
Because of these experiences, she and her teammates, Liz Stephen and Ida Sargent, who were all slated to retire at the end of the 2018 season committed to racing that fall.
“That was the plan last spring when I came out of my career, then the co-founder of Aktiv actually called me and told me that were having an awards luncheon a couple days before the marathon and wanted to honor me with an award for the work that I had done.”
Randall accepted this invitation and expressed that she would be humbled by the award.
“A couple of weeks later, I got my cancer diagnosis, which was completely out of the blue. So I called them back and said, ‘You know what? I think our connection just got a lot deeper. I’m about to start treatment, so I’m not sure what’s going to happen, but I hope to be able to come to the luncheon.’”
Randall entertained the idea of still trying to run the marathon despite being in treatment, but quickly realized after a couple of rounds of chemotherapy that it would not be smart to push herself in that way. She still attended the luncheon and spectated to support Stephen in her run.
“It was so inspirational to see so many people out there running and at that point I had just finished chemotherapy, so it was just a chance to watch the racers come in and think, ‘Okay, next year I want to be back here. I want to be racing. I’m just going to believe that I’m going to be feeling good again.”
This optimism motivated her to raise money for Aktiv throughout her treatment.
“Along the way when I was going through treatment, I was wearing these brightly colored running shoes to remind myself to stay positive and hopeful through the process, and my husband came up with the idea to come up with some happy sock that would capture that same idea and be something we’d be able to pass out to other people going through a challenge.”
Kikkan Randall raised over $10,000 for Aktiv Against Cancer through the sales of her “It’s Going to Be OK” socks, made through a partnership with Darn Tough. (Photo: Instagram @kikkanimal)
The couple came up with the slogan, “It’s going to be OK” with a signature hot pink K. They collaborated with the Vermont based company Darn Tough to design brightly patterned socks and with USST sponsor LL Bean to create blue and pink headbands, which were sold through Randall’s website. $2 from each purchase goes to Aktiv.
“Through that project, we’ve been able to raise over $10,000 for Aktiv. We’ve sold over 5000 pairs of socks. It’s been so cool to see that these socks have been giving people hope.”
Though running often accounts for many hours of a yearly ski training program, Randall had not been spending much time on the roads during her career and consequently entered a marathon training program cautiously.
“I knew that the biggest thing to respect for the marathon was going to be getting enough running in — getting my legs ready to handle the pounding. And I knew that this would be quite a bit of an increase [in running volume] from what I had been doing in ski training.”
She contacted her former high school running coach who wrote her a training plan and began to slowly increase her mileage beginning in April.
“That’s been really helpful because I think it’s built up at an appropriate progression. And because I was able to stay pretty close to that plan all the way through, and I’ve made it through without any injuries — knock on wood.”
Kikkan Randall completed a one mile open water swim across Lake Washington in Seattle to on behalf of Swim Across America. (Photo: Instagram @kikkanimal)
While long runs and track workouts have largely taken the place of the multisport nature of her former regimen, Randall has continued to dabble in other physical challenges throughout her marathon buildup. At the beginning of September, Randall traveled to Seattle for a one mile open swim across Lake Washington with the organization Swim Across America, which raises money for cancer research and clinical trials through the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.
Since this event, Randall has locked eyes on the marathon, even dropping the regular strength training sessions she completed until early October. As a test of her fitness, she ran the Okanagan Half Marathon on October 20th, taking the win for women with a time of 1:23:47.
She has enjoyed the new challenge, but will also be happy to vary her modes of exercise.
“I have to say — I’ve rollerskied three times this summer, and each time, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I love this.’ Because I’ve been prioritizing the running training, I haven’t been on rollerskis as much, I haven’t been on my mountain bike as much, so I miss that and I’m looking forward to getting back to that before the snow flies, then ski a lot this winter.”
What’s next on Randall’s athletic calendar after the marathon? She explained that she is hoping for a few new ski experiences this year, possibly including the Ski to the Sun race in Mazama, Washington, which last year was raved about by winner Liz Stephen. Randall is also interested in returning to the Birkie to see what she could do in good health.
“Then next summer, trying some new things — maybe an off-road triathlon or a mountain bike stage race or something fun. I do love racing, I love preparing for things, and I am loving these events where I get to meet up with teammates and friends and get to go out and hurt so good.”
Kikkan Randall gets out for a ski with her son, Breck. (Photo: Instagram @kikkanimal)
Ski racing aside, what Randall is looking forward to most is spending quality time with her husband and son.
“I’m just excited to be out on the snow with my family this winter. Breck is three and a half, so he’s excited to get out on snow.”
Though Randall could not have predicted the turn of events that unfolded after her retirement, the opportunity to inspire others through her cancer journey is aligned with how she originally envisioned using her gold medal platform.
“Coming off my career, I had hoped to be active in different causes and bringing awareness to the power of positivity and a lot of things that I learned through my athletic career that can be applied to the things we tackle in daily life. I thought it was going to center more on being a mom, training through pregnancy and coming back after, and how to balance being an athletic mom. I also was heavily involved with Fast and Female, so it was going to be focused on keeping girls in sports, and my position with the IOC.
“Now I have this cancer experience thrown into the mix as well. I’ve always enjoyed being able to share my stories of what I’ve learned through my ski career to help motivate and inspire others, so I had hoped to do some public speaking and I’ve had some really cool opportunities since I finished treatment to be out sharing my experiences, both as an Olympic athlete and as a cancer survivor now and as a mom.”
Randall plans to continue accepting motivational speaking positions, remaining involved with the IOC and U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC), and collaborating with her partners.
She also hopes to stay involved in cross country skiing in a more hands on level. This summer she had the opportunity to work with a few junior programs, including the national junior camp in Park City. She is also on the board of the National Nordic Foundation (NNF).
“I’ve got a lot of different balls in the air right now and a lot of fun projects to be involved with, and I’m realizing that there is a limit in what is physically possible, especially with things that involve so much travel. I think over the next couple of years it’s going to be finding which opportunities I can make the most impact in and trying to find the right balance.”
The “First Tracks” series highlights the pregnancy, postpartum, and parenting experiences of noteworthy athletes in cross-country skiing in various stages of their professional careers. The sharing of these experiences can benefit athletes in any stage of their career, whether they are an elite or recreational skier, by demonstrating that it is very possible to return to skiing, competition, and an active lifestyle with a growing family. The series will include the physical challenges of being an athlete during and after pregnancy, balancing family life with skiing, and the joy that starting a family can bring. You can read Part 1 of Caitlin’s story here.
Caitlin and Brian Gregg meet their daughter, Heidi, who was born on February 5th, 2019. (Photo: @caitlincgregg)
Heidi Mowgli Gregg was born February 5th, 2019. Caitlin’s mind did shift toward recovery and getting back to training, but not immediately.
“Honestly, I was so grateful that the delivery went well. I think I had so much fear about delivering on the blood thinners that once that went by I was in such a good place and so excited.”
Brian was only able to take five days off surrounding the delivery, then needed to go back to work full-time, but Caitlin still received plenty of support in her transition to new motherhood.
“I was really lucky because my mother-in-law came and she stayed with us for three weeks in the beginning, which was awesome.”
Brian’s mother helped round the clock, helping Caitlin get the rest and care that she needed. Caitlin recounted that it was particularly special to have her help since her own mother had passed away in the fall of 2017. After her mother-in-law left, Caitlin’s closest friend from high school flew out to offer her continued support for a couple of additional weeks.
She felt further supported by the women in the local ski community.
“All of the moms in our ski community stepped up and everyone brought meals and little tidbits of advice. That was incredible. I feel very lucky that I had such good support and I think that was key.”
As her body healed, Caitlin felt the itch to begin exercising again but did her best to temper her enthusiasm.
“After the blood clot and I felt confident that I could train, I was able to do a lot of activity for the majority of my pregnancy. But after the delivery, I was really, really encouraged by a lot of people – athletes, non-athletes, my strength coach – to be patient in coming back.”
Brian Gregg holds his three-week-old daughter, Heidi, during the flower ceremony after his second place finish at the 2019 Birkie. (Photo: Instagram @goteamgregg)
For the first five weeks, Caitlin only went for short walks and otherwise rested and spent time with Heidi. During that time, they cheered for Brian while he raced to second place in the Birkie. While the weeks passed quickly, she struggled with the change of pace.
“For me, the hardest part about recovery was for sure being patient and sitting still for five weeks. But at the same time, you have a new baby and everything is so exciting.”
During that time, she continued to use her FitSplint, no longer to support her large belly during training, but as the postpartum core is like a deflated balloon, the band helped make up for the loss in stability during her walks and general movement.
“I wore [the FitSplint] for the first couple of weeks walking and I thought it was really helpful to be there when I knew that my abs weren’t quite ready yet to be supporting my body and as things were transitioning and shifting after the delivery.”
As Heidi arrived at the peak of an incredible winter for skiers in the Midwest, it was hard for Caitlin not to test the waters and get back on her skis.
“It was probably the snowiest February we’ve had in Minnesota, so all the natural snow trails were open and the skiing was awesome. I remember Brian said, ‘Oh my gosh, let’s go out for a ski.’”
She was leery of how her newly postpartum hips and loose core would handle skiing but decided the conditions were too good to pass up.
Team Gregg snaps a photo to capture Caitlin’s first ski postpartum. Brian carried their newborn daughter Heidi zipped inside his jacket in an Ergo carrier. (Photo: Instagram @goteamgregg)
“We went out and literally five minutes into the ski, I was like, ‘This is too much. I feel like Jell-O, this is just not fun,’” she laughed. “So we took a bunch of pictures and went home, and I waited another month or more before trying to ski again.”
Before jumping into heavy training, Caitlin prioritized rehabilitating her core and pelvic floor muscles so her body could function and move properly before being under heavy stress. She began following a program from the MUTU System, which focused on pelvic floor stabilization, and reactivating and strengthening her core from the inside outward. As she progressed through the program, she gradually added other types of training back in.
“I started lifting again at about six weeks, and I walked, and then I was able to start skiing again, and the skiing felt so good. Then, I was very patient with the running and would walk-run, so walk for five minutes then run for a minute and gradually increase until I could do a mile, then a couple of miles.”
While advice for high-level training during pregnancy is limited, more information on athletic recovery is becoming available. Caitlin expressed gratitude for the active women and professional athletes who have spoken out about the challenges with postpartum recovery and how to overcome them and was grateful to learn from both their successes and failures.
“I had great advice and resources [for recovery]. From reading about Marit Bjorgen who maybe came back a little bit too quickly when she did start training again and had two pelvic stress fractures, I knew that calcium was super important. And I read that when you’re breastfeeding, you’re more at risk for gestational osteoporosis.”
Overall, Caitlin was happy with the steps she took to return to training and competing and believes that being conservative, patient, and addressing the underlying small insufficiencies that can create larger problems down the road.
“On the flip side, you’re now a mom and you have a lot of things going on. So there were times when I was like, ‘Wow, I feel really good, but I am WAY more busy than I was before.’”
As far as the conversation about goals for the future, Caitlin described an open-minded approach. They are thrilled with their new addition to the family, but finding time to fit in training full-time is a juggling act. In the mornings, a shared nanny comes to their house to take Heidi from 6:30 until 11:30. During that time, Caitlin is working for the Loppet Foundation leading and training with the Loppet Nordic Racing collegiate program.
Caitlin and Brian Gregg demonstrate how they make their afternoon training work with an infant. (Photo: Instagram @goteamgregg)
In the afternoons, Team Gregg tries to include Heidi in their afternoon sessions. Sometimes she is in the gym with them – Caitlin endearingly called her as a “gym rat” – and sometimes she joins them on a run. These sessions look different than before, but she enjoys including Heidi in their lifestyle.
“Maybe you start lifting and she starts fussing. So then you go and take a little break. You hang out with her, and maybe you nurse, or you bounce her around, or you show her the mirror. Or sometimes, she’s your weight and you’re doing goblet squats with Heidi – she thinks it’s hilarious. You find ways to be super creative.
“We took on this concept where we didn’t know what our lives would be like after Heidi came, so we really dove in with trying to make it kind of an adventure with Heidi,” she continued. “Again, following Kikkan and Holly and other moms we saw, they were bringing their kids out for ski adventures or hikes, so that was something that we were looking forward to.”
Brian and Caitlin Gregg tow their daughter both skiing and running with the KidRunner. (Photo: Instagram @goteamgregg)
“One of our favorite things to do has been to go on a big family run or adventure and bring Heidi. She’s done it either on Brian’s chest, or in the KidRunner, and we’ve been able to bring her into the mountains and all over, which has been really fun.”
These sessions look different than before, but Caitlin describes Heidi as an easy-going and happy baby who has so far loved joining them, even for 20 plus mile runs with Brian.
“So we’ve been trying to do what we did before, except we both have jobs and we have Heidi, which means we don’t get nearly enough sleep,” she concluded with a laugh. “But it’s pretty fun.”
In early May, when Heidi was just three months old, the Gregg Family headed to Iceland to race the 25-kilometer freestyle and the 50 k classic two days later at the Fossavatn Ski Festival.
Apart from racing so soon postpartum, Caitlin felt trepidation around the idea of international travel with a three-month-old.
“I was kind of on the fence about Iceland. It seemed like a really fun adventure, but then right before, I got really nervous about what we were about to undertake.”
Because they were trying to accommodate Brian’s work schedule, they had left Minneapolis on a red-eye flight Tuesday night, arriving midday Wednesday in Iceland then racing Thursday.
“I’d say the one thing that I completely didn’t think about was that we had a three-month-old, so we weren’t going to sleep at all the night before the flight, and then I was sort of used to, ‘Okay, maybe you don’t get a great night sleep on the plane.’ But we were entertaining a newborn on the plane, so we had no sleep for two days. We were absolute zombies.”
Unsure of how to navigate the child-care aspect of racing internationally, Caitlin reached out to her family.
“The biggest thing that helped was that we had my sister come.”
Her sister, who lives in southern California, tried skiing for the first time that winter while visiting a pregnant Caitlin in Minneapolis. Caitlin explained that while her sister was excited to try skiing again and to spend time with Heidi while they raced, she also wanted to check out some of the tourist destinations in Iceland, like the Blue Lagoon. The foursome headed to the hot springs shortly after their arrival to Iceland.
“So we went to the Blue Lagoon where Brian and I proceeded to just pass out and fall asleep,” she laughed. “And my sister was like, ‘What is wrong with them?’”
The power nap seemed to be effective as Caitlin went on to win the 25 k skate race the next day.
“I think there is a lot of adrenaline [at races] and I had been skate skiing all winter, so I actually felt really good in the skate race,” she said.
Tongues out for first place at the Fossavatn 25 k in Isafjordur, Iceland. (Photo: Instagram @caitlincgregg)
She also took third in the classic marathon, though she did not feel as strong there. Despite the lack of sleep and stress of international travel with an infant, which she felt they underestimated, she and Brian enjoyed racing with different expectations and tried to laugh about the hilarity of their situation rather than dwell on how exhausting and challenging it was.
“All in all, I thought we did awesome,” she laughed as she thought back on the trip overall. “I will say it changed my entire perspective on sleep before a race or time-management before a race.”
Since the Fossavatn, Caitlin has enjoyed hopping into a few running races and will continue to do so as she trains for the 2020 Birkie.
“I think my attitude has been that everything now is new PR’s. Maybe I’ll never hit the same level as I was at before being a mom, but everything now is like, ‘Oh, it’s my PR as a mom.’ And I think that’s really fun, and a good way for me not to put too much pressure on myself and have an open mind that anything can happen. Sometimes I surprise myself, and sometimes I’m like, ‘Yup. That’s not that good.’”
Caitlin has enjoyed the process of seeking out resources during after pregnancy and learning as much as she can about perinatal exercise. Rather than seeing pregnancy as a setback to her athletic career, she described the overall journey as “an exploration” and focuses on what she can learn from the experience. Her postpartum body is different and responds differently to training than before, but she doesn’t see the changes as negative.
“I think the biggest thing that I’ve noticed is that I maybe need to slow down a bit and be more aware of ‘How’s my body doing? How are my muscle imbalances?’ All of a sudden, all of these smaller details seem more important before. Maybe it’s because of all the talk about pelvic floor health and the core training, and maybe it’s because of having to take a step back and rebuild my fitness from the ground up. I think all of a sudden, the training has taken on a new challenge and a new fun element for me, so I’ve been having a really good time training. I can’t say that I go out every day and think to myself that I’m stronger or more fit than before or going to set PR’s or things like that, but it’s fun to see the subtle differences. I can’t exactly pinpoint what they are, but they’re different.”
Some days, Caitlin feels like she can tap into her “mom strength” and nail a workout, other days that is not the case, especially after a rough night of sleep. As she looks to the future, she wants to continue to enjoy the exploration or her limits, while acknowledging that her priorities are now shifted. The mobile app runs faster than the desktop version, consumes less power, is specially designed for a small smartphone screen, and takes into account the architecture of the mobile gadget. In addition, the mobile parimatch app has extensive functionality with many additional options. The mobile app has a user-friendly interface, high performance, and multilingual support.
“I’m going to be very open-minded. I’m having fun training and the majority of the time, I feel really good. At the end of the day, I want to be the best mom that I can be and lead by example for Heidi. It’s a neat challenge.”
Similar to the way Holly Brooks is becoming certified to offer coaching for expectant parents to help them emotionally prepare for the lifestyle change, Caitlin’s experience has inspired her to continue learning about pre and postnatal training with the hope of offering coaching to other female athletes that want to pursue athletic goals after pregnancy.
“I’m really fascinated about all of the prenatal and postnatal training and exercise and that I’d really like to dive in. I’m going to start doing more coaching and training, and I would really love to specialize in women who are pre and postnatal and help guide them through how I found my path with it so that they can be successful during their pregnancy and afterward and reach their goals. There’s so much out there, but it’s so hard to track it all down. I’d like to become a resource. There’s a whole world of creative solutions for all things revolving around fitness and new moms.”
The “First Tracks” series highlights the pregnancy, postpartum, and parenting experiences of noteworthy athletes in cross-country skiing in various stages of their professional careers. The sharing of these experiences can benefit athletes in any stage of their career, whether they are an elite or recreational skier, by demonstrating that it is very possible to return to skiing, competition, and an active lifestyle with a growing family. The series will include the physical challenges of being an athlete during and after pregnancy, balancing family life with skiing, and the joy that starting a family can bring. So far, this series has highlighted Kikkan Randall (Part 1 | Part 2) and Holly Brooks (Part 1 | Part 2).
In October, 2018, FasterSkier spoke with Caitlin and Brian Gregg, the Olympian husband and wife dyad of Team Gregg, about the transitions in both of their lives following the PyeongChang Olympics. The couple had also recently announced that they were expecting a baby girl in February of 2019.
Caitlin and Brian Gregg announced their pregnancy on social media in August 2018. (Photo: Instagram @caitlincgregg)
At the time of the interview, Caitlin was about 24 weeks pregnant and undergoing treatment for the blood clots that she had experienced early on in the pregnancy. Brian was working full time in finance while completing coursework to become a financial planner, in addition to training. He has since placed second in the 2019 Birkie and passed both the Series 7 and Series 66 exams, certifying him as an investment advisor or securities agent.
In this conversation, Caitlin shared a deeper look into how the blood clots impacted her both physically and emotionally and recounts her training during pregnancy and her recovery postpartum.
For Olympic caliber athletes, conception can include tracking more than just the cycles of mother-to-be; the quadrennial cycle of the Olympics is also taken into account. Caitlin explained that she and Brian had always hoped to have a family of their own. The Greggs have cherished their work as mentors of kids ages 6 – 13 for the In-the-Arena Organization, a nonprofit which connects at-risk youth in their community with elite athlete mentors, as well as their time coaching juniors at the Loppet Foundation. However, before embarking on the journey to create their own family, they wanted to first explore their limits as athletes and also take advantage of the opportunities to race internationally.
“We wanted to see if we could get the training, racing, and travel bug out of our system first,” Caitlin explained in a call. “So after the 2018 Olympics, we decided, ‘Okay, this is when we’re going to try.’”
She elaborated that they were mentally prepared that the conception process might not be simple, based on the experiences of her former Olympic teammate, Holly Brooks, and other friends who had shared their difficulties. While optimistic, the Greggs were open-minded to all possibilities of what “a family” might look like, including adoption or simply continuing to be mentors and role models for lots of children without one of their own.
The Greggs approached the 2018 season with the goal of competing together at the Olympics in PyeongChang and their race performances landed them both on the cusp. However, neither were selected for the team. Caitlin
went on to win her fifth Birkie, then the couple wrapped up their season competing at Canadian Nationals.
While parenting roles can be shared, there is no denying that the creation of a baby takes a much greater role on the mother than the father. In any pregnancy, there are plenty of unknowns, especially in regard to how much training an elite athlete might be able to sustain while gestating. Caitlin explained that while she was eager to have a baby, the idea of being pregnant and putting her athletic goals aside for an indefinite amount of time was daunting.
“Initially, I mentioned to Brian that as soon as we found out about the Olympics [it would be time], meaning if we didn’t make the Olympics, we would start trying. And then I got kind of cold feet and I kept saying, ‘Oh, you know, the Birkie is coming up and I don’t think I want to be pregnant for the Birkie,’ and ‘Oh, there’s Grandma’s Marathon, I’ve always wanted to run a marathon.’”
As she was encroaching on “advanced maternal age”, Brian gently nudged her that they may not want to delay the process for too much longer. They began “trying”, but as the timeline of when she might become pregnant was vague, she continued to train, focusing on marathon-specific road running. Despite not cutting back, Caitlin fell pregnant quickly and the Greggs found out that they were expecting a baby girl just two weeks before the next Birkie.
“We realize that we are really fortunate. I was 37 at the time, training a lot. I had kind of convinced myself it wasn’t going to happen [right away], which maybe then took the pressure off, so that was the caveat to it all.”
Caitlin captioned this photo: “regnancy…from the first couple of weeks to the last couple of weeks!!! I am in awe of what the female body can do! From pushing the limits of physical capacity to growing another human…I am humbled and proud to be a woman! Here’s to many more years of being fearless and spreading my passions to our daughter.” (Photo: Instagram @caitlincgregg)
The Greggs were “super excited” that they were on their way to a family so quickly. As Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, MN was imminent and Caitlin was still feeling like herself, she decided to race but switched to the half, finishing in 1:31:38, an average pace of about 7 minutes per mile. A few weeks later, after a long car ride back from Thunder Bay, Ontario where she had cheered for Brian in a rollerski race, Caitlin felt a sharp pain in her calf, which was later diagnosed as a blood clot.
“What I think I’ve learned about pregnancy is that if it isn’t one thing, there’s another thing. Everyone has good and bad experiences. For us, getting pregnant wasn’t a problem, but then I developed blood clots in my left leg, which was really scary for me.”
During the first trimester of pregnancy, women are in a hypercoagulable state as their blood volume increases by 40 to 50 percent to support the growing baby. This change in blood volume also increases cardiac output — essentially how hard the heart is working — and the likelihood of developing a blood clot. A blood clot poses a threat to both the mother and the baby, as the risks include heart attack, stroke, pulmonary embolism, and miscarriage.
Her doctors started her on anti-clotting medications, which she learned to inject into her belly twice each day throughout the pregnancy and for the first six weeks postpartum. She immediately reached out to the ski community, contacting Holly Brooks about her experiences with high-risk pregnancy and Kikkan Randall, who had experienced a blood clot in 2008. She recounted that their support and advice were essential in helping her through the stressful news.
“[Talking to them] was key for me to have a much better experience overall.”
“I went from feeling great and being able to do everything I was doing before and coaching and having fun, to really scared, like ‘Oh my goodness, what does this blood clot mean? I don’t want it to dislodge or embolize or anything like that.’ And my doctors really couldn’t tell me if I should train, if I shouldn’t train, if activity was good – because, in theory, activity helps circulate the blood, but at what point is the clot stabilized? So there were a couple of weeks that were pretty nerve-wracking where I couldn’t get answers and didn’t know what I was supposed to do.”
Caitlin recalled talking with her doctors and reading as much as possible before coming to the decision to take two weeks completely off, during which the clot would stabilize and the medication she was taking would dissolve the clot, though not fully. It was an abrupt change, but for better or worse, the anxiety she felt about her health kept her mind off the training hours.
“For me, those two weeks were a combination of being very scared and anxious about what the blood clot meant, which overrode the, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m not training.’ Then as I started training again, there were a lot of unknowns going forward as to, ‘Okay, what does this mean with the blood thinners?’ And I kept trying to be optimistic about it and say, ‘Oh, I can probably keep doing things and just be conscientious.’ But what the doctors said, ‘You can’t ride a bike. You can’t rollerski.’ And not because of the pregnancy, but because the risk of falling while on blood thinners was so dangerous.”
She explained that it would not be the road rash or scrapes from a fall that would cause problems. Rather, if she took a hard fall on her abdomen or hit her head, there would be a very high risk of internal bleeding.
Though pregnancy and training while pregnant were shaping up much differently than she envisioned, the need to cut back did not take as much of an emotional toll as she thought. It simply required a change in approach.
“When everything was great at the beginning, I was like, ‘I’m going to have this awesome summer of fun adventures while pregnant.’ And all of a sudden it was like, ‘Whoa, I’m going to have to navigate things differently now.’”
Though biking and rollerskiing were cut out, she continued to run and bound. She also sought out a strength training coach, Andrea Claassen, who specializes in working with prenatal athletes to ensure that she was moving in ways that were safe for her changing body.
She also joined Blooma, a group that offers pilates, yoga, and barre classes for expecting and postpartum women in addition to childbirth education classes and body work. Adding new faces to her support system helped prevent Caitlin from feeling as though she was missing out on the training partners she might otherwise be logging hours with.
“That was awesome because all of a sudden I had a new community that I could exercise with,” she said. “And some of the groups that I had been training with here in the twin cities, I could still run and bound with them. So that helped normalize what I was hoping for in my pregnancy.”
Caitlin Gregg demonstrates a hanging row with her pregnancy “weight vest”. (Photo: Instagram @caitlincgregg)
As her belly grew and her body changed, Caitlin became conscious of her exercise routine in hopes of avoiding diastasis recti, or the separation of the rectus abdominis muscles. Grateful for the professional athletes who have spoken out about this topic, including professional runner Stephanie Bruce and Olympic Gold Medalist in Triathlon Gwen Jorgensen, Caitlin was aware that strategies and devices existed to reduce the strain on these muscles during exercise.
“One of the strategies I used was the FitSplint to help alleviate that expansion, especially when I’m training and trying to really give my body as much support as I could.”
Designed by Celeste Goodson of ReCORE Fitness, a pre and postnatal trainer who experienced diastasis recti herself, the FitSplint band wraps snugly under and around the belly, lifting gently to relieve some pressure on the bladder and strain on the low back. The band also reduces bouncing and offers structural support, relieving the abdominal muscles from some of the work they would otherwise be responsible for.
Caitlin wore the band daily from 17 weeks onward. She especially felt it benefitted her during running or bounding sessions but used it regardless of the activity. She also explained that she changed the types of exercises she was doing while strength training to avoid moves that heavily recruited the core.
“I really worked with my strength coach to really avoid any ab work that would put strain on those muscles and to sort of let the abs that I had disappear so that there wasn’t that extra force there.”
While reducing training did not have much emotional toll, Caitlin did struggle with the lifestyle change from traveling regularly for training and racing to suddenly needing to stay put in Minneapolis.
“One of the things that was really different for me was that I was unable to travel as much as I had envisioned. That was something I was really excited about – being on the road and supporting Brian while he was racing. That was tough, for sure. I missed that part of our life, for the last twelve years what we’ve been doing together. I had to tell myself that I could do it in the future and be patient.”
She recalled missing Brian while he was away and also the experience of being in different places and taking part in events.
As the weeks ticked by and winter approached, running became more and more uncomfortable for Caitlin. Luckily, in early November, temperatures in the Midwest dropped and snow began to fall. To the week, when Caitlin was ready to retire her running shoes, she was able to slip into ski boots and begin skate skiing on a 400 meter loop.
Caitlin Gregg loved being able to skate ski on natural snow during the later months of her pregnancy with her daughter Heidi, born February 2019. (Photo: Instagram @caitlincgregg)
“I was just on cloud nine. It felt so great to skate ski. I was a little nervous to classic ski because I was unsure with my balance with my belly and kicking, and I just didn’t want to mess around with hitting an oak leaf and falling.”
Because she has spent so much of her life skiing, she and her doctors agreed that it was safe so long as she took it easy and remained confident that she wouldn’t fall.
“The motion was just so perfect and it was nice to mix it up again and be back moving how I love to move.”
Caitlin was thankful that both she and her baby were healthy throughout pregnancy, despite being labeled high-risk because of her age and the blood clot. She explained that blood thinners can sometimes cause babies to have a low birth weight, but at each of the regular growth checks, baby Gregg measured perfectly. Because of the medication she was taking, her doctors advised scheduling an induction at 38.5 weeks. This allowed her medical team to gradually wean her off the blood thinners in time for the delivery without prolonging the amount of time she was without the medication.
“I was really scared about the delivery on the blood thinners,” she recalled.
Most women experience some apprehension about delivery, but Caitlin felt especially concerned since if she went into labor earlier than her induction date, the blood thinners would still be in her system, increasing the likelihood of severe bleeding.
“At that point, I had a lot of friends who were pregnant that [delivered] early, and that was what I was most scared about. What if she decides to come a week or two early?”
Though she had confidence in her doctors and in the advice they provided, that remained her biggest fear. However, as the date of the induction drew near, Caitlin felt no signs of impending labor.
Caitlin Gregg seen “nesting” in the nursery in the final days before the birth of her daughter, Heidi, who arrived in February 2019. (Photo: Instagram @caitlincgregg)
“She wasn’t ready,” she laughed. “She had no intention of coming out, so we went in for a scheduled induction, which was kind of different knowing that you are just going to pack your bags and head to the hospital at a specific time to have a baby. For people who like schedules, that’s great.”
One of the many pregnancy resources Caitlin sought out was a doula who helped her and Brian understand their options for pain management during the birth. Caitlin was apprehensive about getting an epidural, as there is a slightly increased risk of needing a c-section among other risks. She was also concerned about simply having a needle placed in her spine. Ultimately, her priority was delivering a healthy baby and remaining healthy herself throughout the birth.
As she thought about her birth plan, Caitlin found herself reading about the birth experiences of other athletes who had shared their stories, eventually finding an article in Runner’s World by pro runner Lauren Fleshman. Here’s an excerpt:
“My goal was to have a natural labor. Not to be on some moral high ground against the use of medical technology, but because I wanted to know what it felt like. Call it old-fashioned curiosity. Part of my job as a pro athlete is believing in my body’s ability to do amazing things, and I wanted to test its limits. Experiencing a natural birth was a challenge and an opportunity to feel a bond to all the women around the world since the beginning of time. But when talking to my doulas, I made one thing clear: I’m not interested in heroics. If I’m having what’s considered an average birth experience, I want to be coached to persevere, but if things move toward the extreme, I’m open to the help of modern medicine.”
Reading this section helped Caitlin to reflect on her own response to pain and helped her become comfortable with the idea of getting an epidural to help her relax during labor.
“As athletes, we have very strong pelvic floors, and that can be really hard to release,” she explained. “So one of the things I thought a lot about is this concept of, ‘When I feel pain, do I tense up or do I relax?’ And I definitely am someone who when I am racing or training hard, when things get tough, I grit my teeth and try to push through it. That’s just my mentality. So what we talked with our doula about is that childbirth is the opposite. As soon as you feel that pain, you need to relax and let it go.”
When she went in for her induction, her plan was to see how her body responded to the pitocin and to labor, then ask for the epidural when she felt that she needed it.
“As soon as I started getting to the point where every contraction I started fighting it, and I was gritting my teeth and trying to be tough, I knew that it wasn’t going to work, I needed the epidural. And I had no qualms requesting it and I think that was the best decision I made.”
However, there was a chance that she would not be able to have the epidural because of the anti-clotting medication. If the concentration of the blood thinners remaining in her body was above a certain level, it would be unsafe for an epidural to be administered since it could cause a spinal epidural hematoma, a bleed inside the spinal canal which can cause an injury to the spinal cord, potentially resulting in paralysis. Luckily, when the doctors tested her before delivery, the concentration was at a safe level.
“So there were a couple of things that had to come together at the right moment. I couldn’t be too far dilated or too far along. I couldn’t be too anticoagulated. So when they came in and said, ‘Alright, you’re in a good spot. Do you want the epidural?’ And I was like, ‘YES!’”
Because she was able to relax and allow her body to progress through labor comfortably, neither she nor the baby showed any signs of distress. She also expressed that the epidural contributed to a positive overall experience.
“It took away so much anxiety. I had anxiety about the needle and the side effects, but in the moment, it helped me be more present.”
Stay tuned for Part 2 of this conversation in which Caitlin discusses her recovery from pregnancy and birth and Team Gregg’s adventures navigating parenthood, travel, and training.
SMS T2 skier Alayna Sonnesyn with the 2019 American Birkebeiner win. (Photo: James Netz)
FasterSkier’s American Birkebeiner coverage is made possible through the generous support of New Moon Ski & Bike in Hayward, Wisconsin. While you are at the Birkie be sure to visit New Moon Ski & Bike for all your local expertise.
Falling snow. Not too frigid temps. And a layer of fresh snow overlaying the 50 kilometers of undulating terrain for the 2019 American Birkebeiner. Perhaps no matter the conditions, it is cross-country ski racing paradise. The event marks a gathering of nordic skiers from across the continent there to partake in an event boasting serious on-the-verge-of-leg-cramp racing and a double dose of Wisconsin culture. Norwegian sweaters and Birkebeiner chotschi aside, the famed point to point race defines head to head tactics and fitness.
Amidst the infamous trail lined with deciduous trees that eventually opens up onto Lake Hayward in the event’s closing kilometers – the 50 k skate saw a new winner in the elite men’s and women’s categories.
In her first year training full time after graduating from the University of Vermont last spring, twenty-two-year-old Alayna Sonnesyn took the overall win in the women’s race. Sonnesyn now trains fulltime with the SMS T2 based at the Stratton Mountain School in Vermont.
But she is to the bone Midwest and understands the import of the win.
“There is definitely so much excitement and enthusiasm in the state of Wisconsin right now for this race and so it is pretty cool to be a part of it,” Sonnesyn said in call after her win. “This was my first time racing up Main Street and to hear those thousands of people cheering was pretty unforgettable and my whole body kind of went numb when I heard that. It is amazing to be part of an event that has so much passion and love for this sport. It was pretty fun.”
For those not partaking in the event but wanting to know how each k went down for the winner. Where the screws were turned. Where the skis felt silky. Where they felt like the wax tech corked in a top coat of 40 grit sandpaper.
In Sonnesyn’s exuberant retelling, the 10 k to go mark was the ah-hah. Until then, a foursome of skiers had broken away to make the elite selection of the elite wave: APU’s Becca Rorabaugh, Katie Feldman (SVSEF Gold Team), Anja Gruber (Salomon), and Sonnesyn. In the midst of the 10 k and 9 k markers, Rorabaugh began to peel little by little off the back. The three remaining skiers kept the strong pull going to separate themselves.
“Anja, Katie and I were definitely picking up the pace and really working hard,” Sonnesyn said. “And I had been taking plenty of feeds the entire race and I still felt really energetic. My muscles were definitely getting pretty tired. but I still felt like I had a lot in me.”
As the k’s began to click past, Sonnesyn passed over route 77 where she took another feed.
“As soon as I crossed 77 I just felt this jolt of energy,” said Sonnesyn. “I think from a coke feed that I got or from some of the cheering there and also just realizing that I have got 5 K left. If I want to go I have got to go.”
2019 American Birkebeiner women’s podium from left to right: Anja Gruber in second, Alayna Sonnesyn in first, and Katie Feldman third. (Photo: Sally Krueger)
In a race like the American Birkie, the mental stamina to stay in it can rattle some and embolden others. With so many K’s to ski, it always seems safe to wait. Wait until a bit closer to the finish to make a move. With 50,000 meters to race, late can never seem too late. That is until the opportunity is abruptly snagged away.
“I thought in the back of my mind, ‘you know I could go for it here and win or I could just be patient and maybe not even make the podium,’” she said. “To me, I thought it was worth it to go for it and take that risk and take the chance to break away.”
The moment was for real. A groomed Hayward main street. A cacophony of cheers. And Sonnesyn, alone amongst her elite wave peers, won in a time of 2:34:01 hours.
“I did keep looking across my shoulder but once I got onto Main Street up and over that bridge it was surreal. All the cheering just hit like my entire body went numb. I was overcome with emotion and definitely by the time I crossed the finish line and realized I had actually done it I broke down.”
Akeo Maifeld-Carucci in green, Brian Gregg (left), and Matt Liebsch (right) down Main Street in Hayward, WI. (Photo: James Netz)
Phonetically, it is a unique name, but a simple one. Say it: “Ahh-key-oh” … Akeo. The first name has Marshall Island roots, the last name possess a Euro core. It’s Akeo Maifeld-Carucci.
The twenty-ski-year Maifeld-Carucci can ski.
But let’s dial the time machine back a bit and be a bit less formal and go with the first name. Akeo skied at Harvard, then spent stints training in Bozeman (his hometown) and Bend before settling in with the Craftsbury Green Racing Project last June.
He is a mechanical engineer. As much as he is an endurance junkie, he is a fastidious analyzer. Not a bad trait in the world of design and build, but on the race course, analyzing can help only to a point. On some occasions, the over-analysis can see the make-your-move-moment lost.
“We were at Double OO, which is 28 k from the finish or so is when Brian Gregg really put in a move,” Maifeld-Carucci said in a phone call. “There is a prime there and he went for the prime. And there is this hard gradual uphill section right after the prime and he maintained, he put a gap on us. No one really chased him and he maintained that gap for a little bit and I was like, ‘Brian is really strong we should probably try and close down on that’. So I just went to the front. Closed down. Then I looked back and saw that Matt Liebsch was on me. So it was the three of us and we had maybe a twenty-meter gap back to the rest of the pack.”
Closing the gap right then and there was the first of several clinching moves. The analysis worked. It was Maifeld-Carucci and two of the American Birkebeiner’s most knowledgeable elders in Liebsch and Gregg. As the trio raced on, according to Maifeld-Carucci, Liebsch went to the front and stated this was the time to separate from the chase.
“And I was sitting there and thinking ‘well, there is a little downhill after this and usually, it is really early to go and usually the pack can close on that downhill stretch because they move faster,’” Maifeld-Carucci said as he reflected on a moment of doubt. “I had heard a couple of guys before the start saying, ‘oh a break at OO never lasts, people always close it on the k-and-a-half of rolling downhill after that. The pack moves faster on that downhill stretch so the gap never lasts at OO.’”
The real-time analysis at OO made Maifeld-Carucci hesitate.
“I was nervous but then when they said, ‘I think we can make it’ and I knew Matt and Gregg are strong and they know the course really well, so I was considering that,” said Maifeld-Carucci.
Considering. Computing. Sensing the energy reserves and the stamina left in his legs. Again, like closing down Gregg’s pulse, Maifeld-Carucci’s endurance calculus told him to trust in Gregg, Liebsch, and himself.
SMS T2 skier Alayna Sonnesyn with the 2019 American Birkebeiner win. (Photo: James Netz)
“It was nerve-wracking,” said Maifeld-Carucci. “I felt my legs starting to tighten up maybe on the edge of cramping even from 20 k out. So I was a little nervous about that, because you know that is a lot of race left. I was trying to flirt with the line of how fast I can go without pushing too hard and using too much power and making the legs cramp. I was dealing with that and it only got worse.”
But not bad enough. Across the lake, and over the American Birkebeiner International Bridge with 400 meters to go the sprint was almost on. Not before the path to victory was thoroughly analyzed did his motor truly rev.
“We dropped into the finishing stretch, 400 meters of just straight away gradual uphill and I kept telling myself, ‘’you don’t want to lead and you don’t want to go too early.’ I was trying to wait. But the crowd was so loud and so explosive I just couldn’t wait any longer I saw the finish line, felt the noise and I was like ‘screw that, we have got to go.’”
As precise a win as can be over 50 k, Maifeld -Carucci won by 0.9 seconds over Gregg in second. Liebsch placed third (+8.5). The winning time was 2:12:34.9 hours.
Between 3.75-kilometers and 4.85 k on Saturday, Norway’s Therese Johaug began to pull away in earnest during the women’s World Championship 15 k skiathlon — by then she had built a near 15 second lead.
The time back to the Norwegian would only grow. Johaug powered into the classic to skate transition zone in control with a lead padded by 26.2 seconds. At the finish, Johaug crossed the line with no other skiers in sight and a winning time of 36:54.5 minutes. It was Johaug’s fourth World Championship medal in the skiathlon.
Ingvild Flugstad Østberg, also of Norway, placed second (+57.6), with Russia’s Natalia Nepryaeva third (+58.7).
Rosie Brennan of the U.S. was the top North American in tenth (+2:01.8). Also for the U.S., Julia Kern placed 19th (+2:55.5), Rosie Frankowski 24th (+3:00.6), and Caitlin Patterson 34th (+3:54.5).
Canada’s Katherine Stewart-Jones skied to 39th (+4:19.8), Cendrine Browne 40th (+4:25.2), and Maya Macisaac-Jones 54th (+8:53.4).
The men’s 30 k skiathlon featured no off the front winner like Johaug. As the pace setting screws tightened well into the men’s race, with Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov often taking charge, the pack was winnowed to five skiers at the 26 k mark. Along with Bolshunov, France’s Clement Parisse, Norway’s Sjur Røthe and Martin Johnsrud Sundby, and Iivo Niskanen of Finland were the skiers vying for the win.
By the final half-k, only Sundby, Bolshunov, and Røthe remained up front. Down the final straight Røthe possessed the strongest reserves as he won in a time of 1:10:21.3 hours. Bolshunov placed second (+0.1), and Sundby third (+0.7).
Canada’s Alex Harvey paced himself to sixth overall (+58.9). Evan Palmer-Charrette placed 45th (+6:12.4), and Scott James Hill 56th (+9:58.8).
For the U.S., Scott Patterson raced to 32nd (+4:40.6), David Norris 38th (+4:54.4), Kyle Bratrud 49th (+6:19.6), and Adam Martin 54th (+7:47.4).
The plotline thickened on Saturday in the elite men’s freestyle 50 k at the American Birkebeiner when Akeo Maifeld-Carucci (CGRP), Brian Gregg (Team Gregg), and Matt Liebsch separated themselves from the field. The three skiers fended off any chasers and charged onto main street three across in their final effort towards the finish line.
Maifeld-Carucci took the win in 2:12:35 hours, with Gregg second (+0.93), and Liebsch third (+8.50).
Alayna Sonnesyn (SMS T2)won the overall women’s 50 k skate in 2:34:01. By the time Sonnesyn passed the time check on Lake Hayward, she had gapped Anja Gruber (Salomon) in second by 29.60 seconds. Gruber took second overall finishing 54.60 seconds back from the winning time. Third place went to Katie Feldman (SVSEF Gold Team) crossing 1:08.63 minutes back.
FasterSkier will be posting race reports on the 2019 American Birkebeiner later today.
(Friday) FIS Nordic World Ski Championships Seefeld, Austria Individual Gundersen 10 k
U.S. athlete Taylor Fletcher on his way to placing 35th overall during Friday’s individual Gundersen 10 k at the Seefeld, Austria World Championships. (Photo: John Lazenby/lazenbyphoto.com)
On Friday in Seefeld, the first nordic combined event, an individual Gundersen 10 k was won by Germany’s Eric Frenzel. The German was the best ranked jumper and won the ski in a time of 24:43 minutes. Jan Schmid of Norway, the day’s third ranked racer after the jump, placed second (+4.3). Austria’s Franz-Josef Rehrl placed third overall (+8.7).
Americans Taylor Fletcher skied to 35th (+4:05.5), Ben Loomis 44th (+5:29.7), Jasper Good 47th (+6:25.1), and Grant Andrews 48th (+6:52.8).
Team Gregg, Brian and Caitlin Gregg, out for an easy recovery ski together. (Courtesy photo)
This week, we’re featuring a workout from the training logs of Team Gregg. These days, husband and wife Brian and Caitlin Gregg are adjusting to life, training and bodily changes as Caitlin is pregnant with their first child (a girl), due in early February. Read the full story here.
Caitlin sent us the following “trailheading” workout, in reference to starting and ending a workout with someone else, which is how they often train together.
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One of the challenges in training and racing is that it is often challenging to find training partners at the same speed and ability as yourself.I would argue that the best training partner is one who is just slightly faster than you.Brian and I have been blessed with opportunity to be a married couple who have both competed in the Olympics.
Here are a few ways we get creative to maximize our workouts and fun:
Every training partner can offer somethingand we enjoy large training groups.If you don’t have a training group, take it upon yourself to organize one.Utilize a loop so that the group can kind of stay together.If you are really searching, our neighbor’s house is for sale and you can join one of the many each cross-country ski groups in the Twin Cities.
Utilize different ski speeds as equalizers.On snow, put the slower person on the fast Redlines.If you are rollerskiing, give the person who is in the best race shape the slow, soft wheels.Using various rollerski wheels is a great way to prepare yourself for various snow conditions.
Brian and Caitlin Gregg enjoying the fruits (and added weight) of their workout during a hike this summer. Brian carried the watermelon in a backpack to slow him down. (Courtesy photo)
Another tool we use is a weight vest.For intervals, Brian will wear a weight vest and we can ski side by side pushing each other.This summer, I had Brian carry a watermelon during a hike so that we could relate, plus it was delicious.
In preparation for the 2015 World Championships, at 9,000 feet in Colorado we would Jetstream bloc my skis so that I could be skiing at speeds more similar to sea level.Plus, Brian and I could do intervals together.
Although Brian and I might have the same duration for an interval, he will start behind me with the goal of trying to catch me by the end while my goal is to try and hold him off. This also works really well for speed sessions.
Sample Workout: Team Gregg Husband/ Wife Intervals
We have a great hill in Afton, Minnesota, that Brian and I try and get out to about once a week in the fall. It’s steep and long (for the Midwest) but you can also safely ski down between repeats.
Warmup: Ski easy for 30 minutes with 15- to 20-second pickups. We usually start our warmup at the same time, but gradually over the 30 minutes, we separate and meet up again to do some pickups. We then do a set of pickups where Brian starts behind me and we try to finish the pickups together.
Intervals: The workout is usually 5-8 x 4-5 minutes (with 3-4 minutes recovery) depending on how we are feeling and what our goal for week is. Brian will either put slower wheels on or wear a weight vest for the session. I will either put faster skis on or start a little before him.
Brian Gregg snaps a selfie during a workout with his wife, Caitlin. (Courtesy photo)
The Game (Goal): If it’s just the two of us, we try and make the intervals more fun and exciting by challenging each other to get to the top first, but also try to maintain or drop our times from the start of the session to the end. For example, getting to the top first on the first interval but then falling back or skiing slower each subsequent interval isn’t the goal.We focus on negative splitting each interval in the set, which requires good discipline early on.
Cool down: We usually ski the cool down together and reflect on the session. Since we are out there together, we don’t always have feedback the way someone watching or filming the entire session from the sidelines would, but we can still be observant of how the other person is moving and offer some technique cues.
After the session: It’s been incredibly fun to travel the world training and racing together as a married couple. We are extremely lucky that we have both been able to follow our dreams. There are still added challenges to this approach, though… One of the hardest parts of finishing a hard race or interval session together is that we are both exhausted at the same time, which means that there has to be some way of deciding who is going to cook or do the dishes at the end of the night. This is where we put high stakes on who executes a workout better or has a better result at a race. The winner gets to relax on the couch while the loser has to wash and dry! Just kidding; we do the dishes together 😉
Brian and Caitlin Gregg (Team Gregg) out for a rollerski. (Courtesy photo)
Caitlin Gregg rocking her baby “bump” while 20 weeks pregnant at the Loppet Foundation’s Trail Loppet, an “urban trail run”, on Sept. 21 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She and her husband Brian are expecting their first child in early February. (Courtesy photo)
The questions started rolling in this spring. How’s training going? Are you going for 2019 World Championships? What’s the plan for next winter?
When you’re Caitlin and Brian Gregg, Olympians and local superstars in the Midwest, it’s hard to keep your athletic profile on the DL. Since buying a house on Theodore Wirth Park seven years ago, the couple has immersed themselves in the greater Minneapolis community — both in and out of skiing. They’ve raced, coached and worked out alongside skiers of all levels. They’ve bolstered the Loppet Foundation and its Loppet Nordic Racing program while chasing their own athletic dreams. And for the most part, they’ve achieved everything they set out for.
But not making the Olympics last winter was a blow for both Caitlin and Brian. They had both been on the edge — the infamous bubble — but didn’t make the 20-person cut for PyeongChang.
And by Brian’s calculations, at least one of them should have.
“The naming of the 2018 Olympic Team was a surprise to me,” Brian wrote in an email to FasterSkier in late September. “After Caitlin made the team in 2010 and myself in 2014 it was our dream to both be competing in 2018. I did not expect to see so many discretionary selections and I had expected to see Eric Packer on the Olympic Team, and I thought I would be as well if they took as many as 20 athletes. I am happy to see that we took a full team of athletes, although it was hard to see us not fill all of our distance men’s starts. I believe the criteria and the selection committee failed our athletes. I still believe we have room to improve our team selection and this year is better than last year, although we still have improvements to make.”
Despite feeling that he and Packer ranked high enough on the U.S. Ski Team’s 2018 Olympic points list to make the cut, Brian wasn’t bitter. And he’s still planning to race this winter. But life for the Greggs is different this year.
Caitlin Gregg (501) winning her fifth American Birkebeiner last February in Hayward, Wisconsin, while skiing alongside her husband Brian Gregg (13), who placed 22nd in the elite men’s skate race. (Photo: ABSF/James Netz)
For one, Brian has been working full time in financial services and taking night classes to become a certified financial planner. In a major step toward that, he passed the six-hour Series 7 exam two weeks ago.
That has meant less training, which he didn’t necessarily see as a detriment. In various running races this spring, summer and fall, Brian won the City Trails Loppet (a 10-mile urban trail run in St. Paul Park, Minnesota), finishing just ahead of his good friend Matt Liebsch, then ran a 1:12:43-hour road half marathon (Grandma’s Marathon) in June in Duluth, Minnesota, won the Loppet Foundation’s Trail Loppet half marathon (in 1:20:34) on Sept. 21, and placed seventh in the Birkie Trail Run Festival’s half marathon (1:24:00) on Sept. 28.
“Now that I’m training a little less on the days where I don’t get out to do a workout, one of my big inspirations is my friend, Matt Liebsch,” Brian said on the phone in late August. “Seeing him not make the [Olympic] team in 2014, that was disappointing, but seeing how much fun he has in the sport, and we still train together four some-odd days a week. … Not all of our times are getting slower; you keep chipping away and pushing yourself.
“It’s good for your general mental health,” Brian added, referring to skiing as a lifestyle more than a job. “I just like it and I think the more people we can get into this sport and doing it, the world’s a better place that way.”
Caitlin agreed.
“We both love the sport and we’re in a really fortunate scenario; it’s pretty neat to have a husband-wife Olympic duo,” she said on the phone while sitting with Brian at his office. “It definitely happens, but the fact that we’ve been able to support each other through that is pretty cool.”
“It’s good for your general mental health. … I think the more people we can get into this sport and doing it, the world’s a better place that way.” — Brian Gregg on cross-country skiing
Caitlin and Brian Gregg are expecting their first child on Feb. 9, two weeks before the 2019 American Birkebeiner. (Courtesy photo)
While the two halves of Team Gregg are used to supporting each other at North American ski races — including an annual assortment of SuperTours and U.S. nationals — Caitlin has been doing more coaching and sideline cheering so far this year. While she had originally planned to keep her pregnancy a secret early on, Caitlin said that it became tough to dodge the training questions.
On Aug. 10, they posted an “expansion of Team Gregg” baby announcement on their Facebook page. During their Aug. 22 interview with FasterSkier, Caitlin was 16 weeks pregnant. And as of this week, now 22 weeks along, she’s past the halfway point. They’re expecting their first child — a girl — on Feb. 9, exactly two weeks before the 2019 American Birkebeiner (a ski marathon Caitlin has won a record-setting five times).
“I told her she has two weeks to get ready and in shape,” Brian jested.
“I was like, ‘Uh, yeah,’ ” Caitlin replied.
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It’s a girl! Brian (r) and Caitlin Gregg (beneath pink confetti/candy) discovered the gender of their baby, due Feb. 9, 2019, at a gender-reveal party in August. (Courtesy photo)
The gender-reveal party (with a piñata filled with pink candy), a baby shower her high-school athletes threw her (with diapers filled with melted chocolate bars), it was all new to Caitlin.
So was the news of a blood clot in her leg in early July. During their six-hour drive home from Thunder Bay, Ontario, where Brian had competed in Canada Day rollerski races while Caitlin cheered him on, Caitlin started feeling pain in her left calf. It worsened and she went to see her doctor, which revealed she had two blood clots in her calf. She was immediately put on blood thinners and instructed not to bike, rollerski or do anything with a heightened risk of falling.
“That was super scary,” she reflected. “… The doctors were like, ‘That’s really weird, you’re the last person we thought this would happen to; you’re so young and active.’ So we haven’t gotten any answers yet as to whether it’s an underlying [condition]. … There are a couple other genetic disorders you can have, inherited blood-clotting disorders that I just never knew about, potentially, [for] my entire career. I’ll get tested for those after the pregnancy, but one of the big bummers is that I have to be on blood thinners for the remainder of the pregnancy.”
She immediately remembered Kikkan Randall’s blood clot scare in 2008 and decided to call her former U.S. teammate, a 2018 Olympic gold medalist.
“She took a good 45 minutes and just talked to me and told me about her scenario and how it was for her and what she had to go through and all of the kind of different aspects of blood clots and the pregnancy and how everything turned out great, so that was super reassuring,” Caitlin said.
While their experiences were different (Randall had two surgeries to remove a recurring blood clot in her leg well before she became pregnant in 2015), Caitlin was comforted by their conversation. Two days after they spoke, Randall announced her breast-cancer diagnosis on July 11 on social media. She had never mentioned it to Caitlin.
“To me, that was the epitome of a class act,” Caitlin said. “She didn’t once change the subject and say, ‘Don’t worry, that’s nothing,’ or belittle my fears or anxieties. She just listened and was super awesome and great mentor and very much present in what I was dealing with, so I immediately wrote her and said that was amazing, thank you so much, and I wished her the best.”
For the duration of her pregnancy, Caitlin will take two shots of blood thinners each day. In addition to her exercise limitations, she’s also been advised not to fly or take long road trips for the time being.
“For me, because the dose is so high … [the doctors are] more worried about internal bleeding and almost not knowing it, is the bigger thing,” she said. “I can still ride a stationary bike, and I can do a lot of exercises. I just have to make sure the risk of that falling — so mountain biking, riding a bike outside, rollerskiing — are kind of the big no-nos. … But I’m really looking forward to skiing on snow, especially on super-soft, powdery stuff. … Honestly other than that, pregnancy has been awesome.”
In June, Caitlin, about six weeks pregnant, ran the same Grandma’s half marathon as Brian, finishing 19 minutes behind him in 1:31:38. In an effort to qualify for the 2019 New York City Marathon, the two had registered for the 13.1-mile road race before discovering that Caitlin was pregnant. Caitlin decided to run in what she called “Level 3” while being mindful of her heart rate and feeds during the race. She said she felt “awesome,” and their finishing times did the trick, qualifying them for next year’s NYC Marathon.
Since then, she’s scaled back the racing, instead entering running races with a goal of “jogging/ walking/ pole hiking them”.
Meanwhile, Brian has been getting out for workouts whenever he has time and plans to race at least the first period of the SuperTour circuit this coming season. In an effort to qualify for his first World Championships, he is focusing on strong performances in the 15-kilometer freestyle at the Sovereign Lake SuperTour/NorAm in December in British Columbia, and the U.S. nationals distance races in early January in Craftsbury, Vermont.
“My training volume is hugely reduced this year, but I have been hitting all of my intensity sessions,” Brian wrote in an email. “My primary focus is on preparing to support my family and my baby girl, but my passion for ski training and racing will never go away.
Coach Caitlin Gregg (r) timing Sarah Olsen, a Loppet Nordic Racing junior skier, during a time trial this past spring. (Courtesy photo)
While Caitlin won’t likely be able to travel to Canada and New England to support Brian at those races, she expects to stay busy at home while working with sponsors, like Madshus, as well as the Loppet Foundation. In addition to coaching 12 college skiers this summer, Caitlin was hired as the Loppet Foundation’s director of adult programming. She’s also an assistant coach with the foundation’s year-round Trail Kids program.
“We’re both staying super busy, which I think is exhausting in a lot of ways, but it’s also really fun because it brings a lot of balance,” she said.
“Sometimes it’s good to not have a lot of time to analyze your training session,” Brian said. “You’re sort of like, ‘I’ve got an hour and a half. I’m going to just try to get everything done in this hour and a half, and then I’m going right to class or school or working with this kids.’ ”
The two are also adjusting to spending less time together. While they didn’t necessarily work out alongside each other, the Greggs frequently start and finish at the same place, which Caitlin described as “trailheading”.
“Basically you drive to the same location and say, ‘All right, I’ll see you in two hours,’ ” she said. “There are some times when [we would] play around with rollerski speed wheels … or Brian uses a weight vest and that works pretty well.”
During a summer hike on the Birkie Trail, Brian wore a backpack with a watermelon inside. Caitlin guessed it weighed 40 pounds.
“It wasn’t that big of a watermelon,” Brian quipped.
But when they’re not exercising, they’re working — which has become more full time for both of them.
“We went from spending 24 hours a day together, 360 days a year or whatever — there was maybe a couple days or weeks where one of us would be somewhere else. Now Brian’s at the office all day or I’m out coaching,” Caitlin said.
“I feel like I haven’t seen her for weeks,” Brian added.
Yet they’re still having fun, and they’re still loving their ski-driven lives in the Twin Cities. Late last month, news broke that Minneapolis will host a 2020 World Cup race at Theodore Wirth Park, right outside their door.
“Caitlin moved to North Minneapolis 10 years ago and the bulk of her training leading up to the 2010 Olympics and her 2015 World Championship medal were on the trails at Wirth,” Brian explained, referring to Caitlin’s bronze medal in the 10 k freestyle at 2015 World Championships. “I won my first Super Tour at Wirth and we strategically purchased our house 7 years ago next to Wirth because of the great training opportunities.
“It has been incredible to be a part of the amazing Midwest ski community and the growth of the Loppet Foundation,” he added. “One of the major goals of the Loppet Foundation is to promote health and wellness with underprivileged youth and families. We share this passion and it is just amazing to see our small community based organization grow … We have a large group of junior skiers and I would love to see those kids representing our home club in the World Cup, but you better believe we will be keeping those kids honest and going for a spot ourselves.”
Brian and Caitlin Gregg with their baby’s first “singlet”. According to Caitlin, TNC Endurance stands for Team Nichole Coaching. “I worked with Nicole Porath for my training plan for Grandma’s marathon (which was going awesome) and then she helped guide me with the switch to the half-marathon and how to run it once I found out I was pregnant! She is an Olympic Marathon Trials competitor and mother of two. It was/ has been really fun working with her on some running training. I am excited to work with her after the baby is born too!” (Courtesy photo)
As of last month, the Greggs are living debt-free in their home. They literally jogged to the bank before work one morning to sign the final paperwork.
In another “Team Gregg style” exercise session, they ran three miles for ice cream, then ran home. They’ve been known to run to farmer’s markets as well.
Brian vouched for Caitlin’s “intense food cravings” in the first trimester, like the ramen noodles she wanted for breakfast one morning.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen her have a bowl of ramen in her life,” he said.
“A couple days later I was like, ‘Please take it out of the house, I can’t look at it,’ ” Caitlin said with a laugh.
While life is busy as usual for the Greggs, they’ve both welcomed the transition from “full-time athlete status” to additional work and soon-to-be parenting responsibilities.
“We’re super psyched, we’re having a lot of fun,” Caitlin said. “It helps when you don’t have so much time to think about where you were this time last year or overanalyze your training and just get out and do what you can and be thankful.”
“I’m excited the ski trail comes by the office so I’ll be able ski to work on a good snow day,” Brian said.
Asked what’s kept them in the sport this long, both were quick to answer. They absolutely love it.
“We both are very goal-oriented, but the bottom line is we have an awesome community here and we have so much fun getting out and having such great company, no matter what the level of the company is,” Caitlin said of skiing with people of all ages and abilities. “We get excited having people to push us and push other people and really kind of show that you can make it a lifestyle and make it fun and continue no matter what you’re doing.”
Erik Bjornsen (2) of Alaska Pacific University and the U.S. Ski Team (USST) leads Simi Hamilton (13), of the Stratton Mountain School T2 Team and USST, and Tad Elliott (12), of Ski Club Vail toward the finish of the men’s 15 k freestyle mass start at 2018 SuperTour Finals in Craftsbury, Vt. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
2018 U.S. SuperTour Finals (Craftsbury, Vermont): 10/15 k freestyle mass starts
Jessie Diggins won her second-straight race in as many days at 2018 SuperTour Finals and Erik Bjornsen pulled out a victory in the men’s 15-kilometer freestyle mass start on Saturday in Craftsbury.
Jessie Diggins (201) and Sadie Bjornsen (202) lead the women’s 10 k freestyle mass start at 2018 SuperTour Finals in Craftsbury, Vt. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
Diggins, of the Stratton Mountain School (SMS) T2 Team and U.S. Ski Team (USST), won the women’s 10 k freestyle mass start in 25:56.0 minutes, just 1.2 seconds ahead of her USST teammate Sadie Bjornsen of Alaska Pacific University (APU) in second. The duo dropped the pack and battled to the line, while Kikkan Randall (APU/USST) skied on her own to third place, 12.6 seconds behind Diggins.
APU took three of the top four with Rosie Frankowski finishing 43.7 seconds back in fourth. Caitlin Patterson of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project (CGRP) followed in fifth (+1:02.2), and Sophie Caldwell (SMST2/USST) took sixth less than one-tenth of a second ahead of her Stratton teammate Katharine Ogden (Dartmouth College/SMS/USST Development Team) in seventh (+1:10.4). US Biathlon’s Susan Dunklee (CGRP) placed eighth (+1:19.4), Julia Kern (SMST2/USST D-team) finished ninth (+1:26.0), and Erika Flowers (SMST2), who competed at last weekend’s Norwegian Birkebeiner, placed 10th (+1:37.0).
In the men’s mass start, Bjornsen (APU/USST) and Simi Hamilton (SMST2/USST) went head to head down the finishing stretch for first, which Bjornsen took in 35:08.1. Hamilton finished 1.5 seconds back in second place, while Tad Elliott (Ski Club Vail) followed three seconds later in third (+4.6).
According to live timing, Paddy Caldwell (SMST2/USST) edged his fellow national-team member Scott Patterson (APU/USST) by less than one-tenth of a second for fourth place (+6.5). Brian Gregg of Central Cross Country (CXC), Team Gregg and Loppet Nordic Racing placed sixth (+30.4), David Norris (APU) finished seventh (+52.1), Jack Hegman of the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation (SVSEF) eighth (+55.3), Adam Martin (CGRP) ninth (+56.2), and Eric Packer (APU) 10th (+59.8).
Spring Series continues Sunday with mixed relays at 9 a.m. EDT at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center.
Jessie Diggins (201) leads her U.S. Ski Team teammate Sadie Bjornsen and the rest of the women’s field in the 10 k freestyle mass start at 2018 SuperTour Finals in Craftsbury, Vt. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
Jessie Diggins (SMST2/U.S. Ski Team) pushing to the line for the win in the women’s 10 k freestyle mass start at 2018 SuperTour Finals in Craftsbury, Vt. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
Jessie Diggins (201) winning the women’s 10 k freestyle mass start, just ahead of Sadie Bjornsen (202) in second, at 2018 SuperTour Finals in Craftsbury, Vt. Kikkan Randall (background) placed third. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
Kikkan Randall (APU/USST) racing to third in the 10 k freestyle mass start at 2018 SuperTour Finals in Craftsbury, Vt. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
Kikkan Randall (l) and Jessie Diggins embrace after the finish of the women’s 10 k freestyle mass start on March 24 at 2018 SuperTour Finals in Craftsbury, Vt. Diggins won and Randall placed third. That was Randall’s second-to-last race before retiring from skiing. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
Liz Stephen (U.S. Ski Team) racing to 12th in the women’s 10 k freestyle mass start at 2018 SuperTour Finals in Craftsbury, Vt. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
Liz Stephen (U.S. Ski Team) having some fun at 2018 SuperTour Finals in Craftsbury, Vt. She finished 12th in the 10 k freestyle mass start. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
U.S. Ski Team member Liz Stephen (yellow bib) during a photo opp at 2018 SuperTour Finals in Craftsbury, Vt. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
Scott Patterson (1) leads his APU and U.S. Ski Team teammate Erik Bjornsen and the rest of the men’s field in Saturday’s 15 k freestyle mass start at 2018 SuperTour Finals in Craftsbury, Vt. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
Scott Patterson (1) leads his APU and U.S. Ski Team teammate Erik Bjornsen and the rest of the men’s field in Saturday’s 15 k freestyle mass start at 2018 SuperTour Finals in Craftsbury, Vt. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
The men’s 15 k freestyle mass start top six at 2018 SuperTour Finals in Craftsbury, Vt., with (from left to right) Brian Gregg in sixth, Paddy Caldwell in fourth, Simi Hamilton in second, Erik Bjornsen in first, Tad Elliott in third, and Scott Patterson in fifth. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
Olympians Sadie Maubet Bjornsen, Jessie Diggins, and Kikkan Randall representing their club teams at the 2018 Super Tour Finals. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
From left to right, Kikkan Randall, Bill Koch and Jessie Diggins, the U.S.A.’s three Olympic medalists in cross-country skiing at 2018 SuperTour Finals in Craftsbury, Vt. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
Kikkan Randall (c) with young fans and her Olympic gold medal after the 10 k freestyle mass start at 2018 SuperTour Finals in Craftsbury, Vt. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
Patrick Stewart-Jones (l), skiing for his club team Nakkertok, and Scott Hill (r) of Barrie Cross Country (BXC) going head to head in the men’s classic team sprint on Saturday at Canadian Ski Nationals in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Nakkertok won and BXC placed second. (Photo: Doug Stephen)
Canadian Ski Nationals (Thunder Bay, Ontario): Team sprints + 5/10 k classic
Canada’s 2018 Ski Nationals opened this past weekend at Lappe Nordic in Thunder Bay, Ontario, with classic team sprints on Saturday followed by 5- and 10-kilometer classic interval starts on Sunday.
Nakkertok topped the podium in both the open men’s and women’s team sprints. In the men’s final, Nakkertok’s Dominique Moncion-Groulx and Patrick Stewart-Jones won by 1.95 seconds over Barrie Cross Country (BXC) in 14:50.79. BXC’s Ryan Jackson and Scott Hill teamed up for second place, and Skibec’s Alexis Morin and Antoine Brand raced to third (+2.57).
Katherine Stewart-Jones (22), skiing for her club team Nakkertok, while leading Annika Richardson (Hollyburn Ski Club) and Mathilde Petitjean (r) of C.N.M.S.A. during the women’s classic team sprint at 2018 Canadian Ski Nationals in Thunder Bay, Ontario. (Photo: Doug Stephen)
The Stewart-Jones family was also a big winner on Saturday, with Nakkertok’s Zoë Williams and Katherine Stewart-Jones (Patrick’s sister) racing to first in the women’s final in 13:04.72. They finished 2.37 seconds ahead of Katie Weaver and Annika Richardson of the Hollyburn Ski Club in second place, and Marie Corriveau and Mathilde Petitjean of Club Nordique Mont-Sainte-Anne (C.N.M.S.A.) raced to third (+7.42).
On Day 2 and the first official day of Canadian Ski Nationals, Hill (BXC) took his second-straight win of the weekend, topping the men’s 10 k classic with a time of 26:45.1 for his first senior national title. He finished 7.2 seconds faster than Alexis Dumas, of the Pierre-Harvey National Training Centre (CNEPH) in second, and an early race leader, Knute Johnsgaard of the Canadian World Cup Team, placed third (+12.0)
Johnsgaard clocked the fastest split at the race’s halfway point, while Hill’s 5 k time was almost 10 seconds slower. But over the final 5 k, Hill’s lap time was nearly 22 seconds faster than Johnsgaard’s. Dumas skied a consistent race, with the fourth-fastest first lap and second-fastest second lap.
Knute Johnsgaard (Canadian World Cup Team) racing to third in the men’s 10 k classic on Sunday at Canadian Ski Nationals in Thunder Bay, Ontario. (Photo: Doug Stephen)
Jackson (BXC) finished fourth (+14.7), and Jess Cockney of the Alberta World Cup Academy (AWCA) and Canadian World Cup Team placed fifth (+22.2). Leading the National Team Development Centre (NTDC) Thunder Bay on its home trails was Evan Palmer-Charrette in sixth (+24.8), and Lappe Nordic’s Michael Somppi (AWCA) placed seventh (+29.1). Gareth Williams of Telemark Nordic and the Canadian U25 Team finished eighth (+39.5), American Brian Gregg (CXC/Team Gregg/Loppet Nordic Racing) was ninth (+44.7), and Jack Carlyle (AWCA) 10th (+49.5).
Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt of Rocky Mountain Racers (RMR) collected her first senior national title with a 13.3-second victory in the women’s 5 k classic. She finished in 15:07.5, ahead of American Caitlin Gregg (CXC/Team Gregg/LNR) in second, while Katherine Stewart-Jones (NTDC Thunder Bay) was the second Canadian and third overall (+17.9).
NTDC Thunder Bay had two in the top four with Alannah Maclean in fourth (+19.8). Annika Hicks (AWCA) followed in fifth (+22.2), Frédérique Vézina (CNEPH) was sixth (+30.8), Sophie Carrier-Laforte (Skinouk) seventh (+33.0), Maya MacIsaac-Jones (RMR/Canadian U25 Team) eighth (+37.4), Laura Leclair (CNEPH) ninth (+58.1), and Williams (Nakkertok) 10th (+1:07.2).
Nationals continue Tuesday with 10/15 k freestyle pursuits, followed by skate sprints on Wednesday and 30/50 k classic mass starts on Saturday.
The SuperTour men’s 20 k freestyle podium on Saturday, Feb. 17 in Ishpeming, Michigan, with David Norris (c) in first, Kevin Bolger (l) in second, and Brian Gregg (r) in third. (Photo: APU)
U.S. SuperTour (Ishpeming, Michigan): Friday, Saturday and Sunday
The SuperTour circuit ventured to the Al Quaal Recreation Area in Ishpeming, Michigan, this past Friday, Saturday and Sunday for three days of racing Feb. 16-19.
Day 1
In Friday’s 1.6-kilometer freestyle sprints, Kevin Bolger of the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation (SVSEF) posted a 2.69-second victory in the men’s final over his teammate Jack Hegman in second and 3.02 seconds ahead of David Norris of Alaska Pacific University (APU) in third.
Bolger started the day by qualifying first in 3:43.04 minutes (2.41 seconds ahead of Hegman in second). Eighteen men entered the race, all of which advanced to four quarterfinals. Bolger went on to win his quarterfinal and semifinal before ultimately winning the final in 3:38.45.
Kris Freeman (Caldwell Sport) finished fourth in the final (+6.4), Forrest Mahlen (APU) took fifth (+10.07), and Eric Packer (APU) was sixth (+10.1).
In the women’s sprint, Northern Michigan University (NMU) sophomore Anikken Gjerde Alnæs edged Erika Flowers of the Stratton Mountain School (SMS) T2 Team by 0.1 seconds for the win in 4:09.87. Alnæs, of Norway, had previously won the qualifier in 4:22.88, 1.72 seconds ahead of Flowers in second.
With 10 women entering the qualifier, all 10 were seeded in two semifinals. Alnæs won the first semi in 4:20.24, and APU’s Chelsea Holmes won the second semi in 4:14.18.
In the final, Alnæs shared the podium with Flowers in second and Kaitlynn Miller of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project (CGRP) in third (+6.75). Holmes placed fourth (+7.49), Liz Guiney (CGRP) was fifth (+2.13), and Canada’s Sophie Carrier-Laforte finished sixth (+7.3).
Day 2
The SuperTour women’s 15 k freestyle podium on Feb. 17 in Ishpeming, Michigan, with Chelsea Holmes (c) in first, Caitlin Gregg (l) in second and Erika Flowers (r) in third. (Photo: APU)
On Saturday, APU reigned, with Holmes winning the women’s 15-kilometer freestyle and Norris topping the men’s 20 k skate.
In the women’s race, Holmes and Caitlin Gregg (CXC Team/Loppet Nordic Racing/Team Gregg) broke away from the field and duked it out for first, with Holmes taking it by 5.9 seconds in 42:37.1. Almost two minutes back, Flowers placed third (+1:58.4) to return to the podium. Kristen Bourne (NMU) placed fourth (+1:59.7), Miller was fifth (+2:01.2), Guiney sixth (+2:01.6), and NMU had two more in the top eight with Nicole Schneider in seventh (+2:02.5) and Alnæs in eighth (+2:07.5), respectively. Carrier-Laforte finished ninth (+2:25.3) and another Canadian Alannah MacLean (NTDC Thunder Bay) was 10th (+2:45.7) out of 43 women.
In the men’s race, the top-eight finishers were separated by less than 10 seconds, with Norris taking the win by 2.9 seconds over Bolger in 50:01.7. Brian Gregg (CXC Team/LNR/Team Gregg) placed third (+5.9), 1 second ahead of Ben Lustgarten (CGRP) in fourth (+6.9). In a photo finish for fifth (+7.2), Tad Elliott (Ski Club Vail) took it by 0.1 seconds over Adam Martin (CGRP) in sixth (+7.3) and Hegman in seventh (+7.3). Ian Torchia (NMU) finished eighth (+9.9), Canada’s Evan Palmer-Charrette (NTDC Thunder Bay) was ninth (+16.0), and Kyle Bratrud (CXC Team/LNR) 10th (+18.1) out of 62 finishers.
Day 3
On Sunday, Norris raced to his second-straight win (and third in as many distance races since winning the 15 k classic pursuit on Feb. 4 at the NorAm/SuperTour in Gatineau, Quebec). With a time of 24:42.7, Norris skied 28.2 seconds faster than Lustgarten in second place, and Freeman joined them on the podium in third (+32.4). Martin followed in fourth (+34.5), Hegman was fifth (+35.9), Bolger sixth (+39.3), Zak Ketterson (NMU) seventh (+42.5), Bratrud eighth (+42.8), Elliott ninth (+1:00.5), and Torchia 10th (+1:02.2).
Miller won the women’s 5 k classic on Sunday in 14:53.9, just 2.7 seconds ahead of her Craftsbury teammate Guiney in second. Holmes returned to the podium in third (+7.8), and was followed by Felicia Gesior (CXC Team/Peak Nordic) in fourth (+32.4), Vivian Hett (NMU) in fifth (+36.5), Flowers in sixth (+46.5), Bourne in seventh (+58.5), MacLean in eighth (+1:00.8), Alnæs in ninth (+1:05.3), and Carrier-Laforte in 10th (+1:05.3).
Rosie Frankowski (APU) racing to a 2-second win in the women’s 10 k classic pursuit on Sunday, the final day of 2018 Eastern Canadian Championships in Gatineau, Quebec. (Photo: Rob Smith)
NorAm Eastern Canadian Championships (Gatineau, Quebec): 10/15 k classic pursuits
Rosie Frankowski defended her lead and tallied her second-straight win on Sunday, the final day of Eastern Canadian Championships, both a NorAm and a SuperTour. Meanwhile, David Norris overcame a 10-second starting deficit to make it all Alaska Pacific University (APU) atop the podium in the classic pursuits.
Frankowski started the women’s 10 k pursuit 47 seconds clear of her APU teammate Becca Rorabaugh in second and held Rorabaugh off by 2 seconds at the finish, crossing the line first in 1:00:32.6 hours on a warmer day around 0 degrees Celsius with heavy snow in Gatineau. Kaitlynn Miller of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project (CGRP) was the third American on the podium, racing up from seventh to third, 21.3 seconds behind Frankowski.
Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt (Rocky Mountain Racers) led the Canadians in fourth (+3:09.2), up from sixth at the start, and Frédérique Vézina, of the Pierre-Harvey National Training Centre (CNEPH), followed in fifth (+3:15.2), after starting fourth.
Another 4.6 seconds back was Liz Guiney (CGRP) in sixth (+3:19.8). Felicia Gesior (CXC Team) finished seventh (+4:05.6), Corey Stock (Bridger Ski Foundation) placed eighth (+4:05.8), Annika Hicks of the Alberta World Cup Academy (AWCA) was ninth (+4:40.8), and Alannah Maclean of the National Team Development Centre (NTDC) Thunder Bay finished 10th (+5:25.9).
Tad Elliott (13) leads Brian Gregg (17) and Jack Hegman (11) up a climb during the men’s 15 k classic pursuit on Sunday at 2018 Eastern Canadian Championships in Gatineau, Quebec. Gregg went on to edge Elliott in a photo finish for third and Hegman followed in fifth. (Photo: Rob Smith)
In the men’s 15 k, Norris started second and caught leader Jack Hegman, of the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation (SVSEF) early then raced alone to the victory in 1:19.26, while Ben Lustgarten (CGRP) followed 1:17.8 minutes later in second. Lustgarten started the race in sixth and Brian Gregg (Team Gregg/Loppet Nordic Racing/CXC) started seventh, with Gregg edging Tad Elliott (Ski Club Vail) by less than a tenth of a second in a photo finish for third (+1:38.5). Elliott had started third.
Hegman finished fifth (+1:42.6), his Sun Valley teammate Kevin Bolger was next across the line in sixth (+1:59.1), Adam Martin (CGRP) finished seventh (+2:01.2), Rogan Brown (SVSEF) was eighth (+2:02.9), Scott Hill (Barrie Cross Country) was the top Canadian in ninths (+2:22.5), and Jack Carlyle (AWCA) finished 10th (+2:44.2).
Nordic Combined World Cup (Hakuba, Japan): Large hill/10 k Gundersen
In the final nordic combined World Cup competition before the Olympics, Norway’s Jan Schmid came from 1:14 minutes behind at the start of Sunday’s 10 k to win the individual large hill/10 k event by 6.6 seconds in 25:36.5.
Schmid started the race in seventh, based on his competition jump, 1:14 behind Estonia’s Kristjan Ilves in first. Ilves had jumped to first and started the race 13 seconds ahead of Japan’s Yuto Nakamura in second, but while Nakamura dropped to 18th (+2:21.2) at the finish, Schmid moved all the way up to first with the fourth-fastest course time.
Japan’s Akito Watabe, who won Saturday’s large hill/10 k competition, took the final spot on the podium after a photo finish with the Czech Republic’s Tomas Portyk. They finished 11.1 and 11.2 seconds behind Schmid in third and fourth, respectively.
American Adam Loomis achieved his best individual result in three years, placing 24th (+3:03.4), after jumping to 30th and starting 3:20 out of first. Loomis skied the eighth-fastest course time.
His USA Nordic teammate Ben Berend placed 31st (+4:28.4) after ranking 28th in the jump.
Nordic Combined Continental Cup (Planica, Slovenia): Saturday and Sunday
Meanwhile on the Nordic Combined Continental Cup, Americans Bryan and Taylor Fletcher reached the podium on both Saturday and Sunday in Planica, Slovenia.
Bryan won back-to-back individual large hill/10 k Gundersen starts, while Taylor placed second on Saturday and third on Sunday.
On Saturday, Bryan jumped to third on the 139-meter large hill and started the 10 k race 22 seconds behind Germany’s Anton Schlüter in first. Taylor jumped to 14th and started 1:35 minutes out of first and posted the fastest course time in the 10 k to finish second to his older brother, 59.4 seconds back.
Bryan skied the third-fastest 10 k to take first in 26:24.1 minutes. About a minute behind Taylor, Austria’s Martin Fritz placed third (+1:58.8). Schlüter ended up 15th (+3:51.5).
Also for the U.S., Jasper Good raced from 26th in the jump to eighth overall (+3:08) with the fifth-fastest course time. Grant Andrews did not finish after posting the 38th-ranked jump.
Canada’s Nathaniel Mah placed 28th (+5:41.5) after starting 27th based on his jump.
On Sunday, Fritz jumped to first and finished between the Fletcher brothers in second place, 39.7 seconds behind Bryan, who repeated in first.
Bryan had jumped to second and started the 10 k just 9 seconds back. He skied the fourth-fastest course time en route to the win in 25:01.6.
Taylor’s jump put him in 15th and 1:40 back at the start of Sunday’s race, and he passed 12 competitors to claim third (+1:25.0) with the second-fastest course time.
Good finished 17th (+3:12), up from 23rd in the jump, with the ninth-fastest 10 k time, and Andrews placed 22nd (+3:38.2), up from 24th.
Mah finished 34th (+5:38.7) after jumping to 21st.
US Biathlon’s Lowell Bailey (l) and Susan Dunklee after teaming up for bronze in the single mixed relay at 2018 IBU Open European Championships on Sunday in Ridnaun, Italy. (Photo: Manzoni/NordicFocus)
IBU Open European Championships (Ridnaun-Val Ridanna, Italy): Single mixed & mixed relays
Susan Dunklee and Lowell Bailey teamed up for the final day of the 2018 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Open European Championships in Ridnaun, Italy, and raced to a bronze medal in the single mixed relay.
The American duo, both of which earned individual medals at last year’s IBU World Championships, finished just 9.1 seconds out of first, which went to Norway’s Thelka Brun-Lie and Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen. The Norwegians won in 35:39.6 with zero penalties and six spares. They took the lead after Brun-Lie’s second leg, where she cleaned both stages without spares.
France placed second, 8.6 seconds back, with Julia Simon and Emilien Jacquelin, who combined for no penalties and 11 spares. They led the first half of the race, but slipped to second behind Norway on Simon’s second leg.
Dunklee put the Americans off in second on her first leg, which she cleaned with a spare in each stage, then they slipped one place to third on Bailey’s first leg, where he cleaned as well and used three spares. In all, they used 10 spares and avoided the penalty loop, and finished half a second out of second place.
“Over Christmas, we trained a little bit with the French athletes, including Jacquelin,” Bailey said, according to a US Biathlon press release. “So I know that he has quite a fast finish, and I thought I am kind of an old man here, I should maybe try to go harder on the first part of the lap. But he stayed with me all the time and had me in the end.”
“It was a good opportunity to tune up the race shape, build some confidence and find that sharp feeling heading into the Olympics,” Dunklee told US Biathlon. “The single mixed relay is one of my favorite race formats and today was a blast!”
Canada’s Sarah Beaudry and Carsen Campbell placed eighth of 24 teams in the single mixed relay, finishing 1:03.6 out of first with just eight spares and zero penalties. In 11th after the first leg, they moved into eighth on Campbell’s first leg, which he cleaned with one spare. Beaudry then cleaned her second leg without any spares, and Campbell anchored them to eighth.
The U.S. entered a team in the mixed relay that followed, with Chloe Levins, Deedra Irwin, Paul Schommer, and Alex Howe placing 17th (+5:55.5) of 19 teams with no penalties and 12 spares.
Ukraine won the mixed relay to conclude the championships, with Yuliia Zhuravok, Iryna Varvynets, Artem Pryma, and Dmytro Pidruchnyi combining for zero penalties and six spares and finishing in 1:11:40.1.
Russia placed second (+11.7) with Victoria Slivko, Anastasia Zagoruiko, Evgeniy Garanichev, and Alexander Loginov combining for zero penalties and nine spares.
Norway followed in third (+33.2) with Emilie Ågheim Kalkenberg, Kaia Wøien Nicolaisen, Håvard Gutuboe Bogetveit, and Fredrik Gjesbakk combing for no penalties and just four spares.
U.S. SuperTour (Craftsbury, Vermont): 5/10 k freestyle
Two Alaska Pacific University (APU) athletes topped the podium on Sunday at the SuperTour in Craftsbury, Vermont, with David Norris winning the men’s 10-kilometer freestyle individual start in 21:54.9 and Becca Rorabaugh topping the women’s 5 k freestyle in 12:06.4.
Norris won the men’s race by 6 seconds over Canada’s Andy Shields (Lappe Nordic) and Kevin Bolger of the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation (SVSEF) placed third (+15.8). Kris Freeman (Caldwell Sport) was the third American in fourth overall (+23.7), and three Canadians took fifth through seventh with Michael Somppi (Lappe Nordic) in fifth (+27.9), Evan Palmer-Charrette (NTDC Thunder Bay) in sixth (+37.5) and Scott Hill (Barrie Cross Country) in seventh (+37.6), ahead of Brian Gregg (Team Gregg/LNR/CXC) in eighth (+39.4), Tad Elliott (Ski Club Vail) in ninth (+44.3) and Jack Hegman in 10th (+50.4).
Rorabaugh won the women’s race by just 2.2 seconds over her APU teammate Rosie Frankowski in second, and Erika Flowers of the Stratton Mountain School (SMS) T2 Team placed third (+4.6). Two Craftsbury Green Racing Project (CGRP) skiers finished fourth and fifth, with Kaitlynn Miller in fourth (+12.1) and Liz Guiney in fifth (+22.5), Kelsey Phinney (SVSEF) was sixth (+25.8), and Canadians Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt (Rocky Mountain Racers) seventh (+26.4) and Frederique Vezina (Pierre-Harvey National Training Centre) eighth (+36.0). Corey Stock, of the Bridger Ski Foundation (BSF) placed ninth (+39.9), and Felicia Geisor (CXC Team) was 10th (+44.4).
On Saturday, the Craftsbury Outdoor Center hosted its 37th annual Craftsbury Marathon, with Nils Koons winning the 48 k men’s race in 2:28:51.0 hours and Hannah Dreissigacker winning the 48 k women’s race in 3:01.48.7.
Hannah Halvorsen of the U.S. Ski Team and APU on the start line in Ulrichen, Switzerland, after finishing fifth in the sprint qualifier. (FIS screencap)
FIS Cross Country World Junior Championships (Ulrichen, Switzerland): Freestyle sprints
World Junior Championships kicked off today with freestyle sprints in Ulrichen, Switzerland. Moa Lundgren of Sweden claimed with women’s title by 1.89 seconds over Kristine Stavås Skistad of Norway in the final, with Sweden’s Frida Karlsson finishing third (+1.89).
Hannah Halvorsen of the United States qualified in fifth place before skiing to second in her quarterfinal heat. Halvorsen hovered around third or fourth place through much of her semifinal and was unable to snipe any spots in the finishing straight, ending up fourth in the heat and eighth on the day.
Fellow Americans Margaret Gellert and Sofia Shomento also made the quarterfinals, finishing 18th and 23rd, and Canada’s Hannah Mehain wound up 29th on the day.
The new men’s junior world champion is Tom Mancini of France, who nipped Norway’s Jørgen Lippert by just 0.10 seconds to take the win. Valerie Grond gave the Swiss crowd a thrill by making it all the way to the final and taking home bronze, despite qualifying in just 21st position. The Swiss junior narrowly edged France’s Vincent Buiatti for the final step on the podium.
Canada’s Graham Ritchie finished second in his quarterfinal after qualifying in 28th position, earning an automatic spot in the semifinals. There he finished sixth (+9.30 behind Mancini), winding up 12th on the day. Teammate Antoine Cyr also made the quarterfinals where he had an impressive crash, slinging off the trail and into the infield, finishing 30th on the day. For the U.S., Gus Schumacher was the lone qualifier for the heats. He finished fourth in his quarterfinal and was just 0.22 seconds away from a “lucky loser” spot in the semifinals. Schumacher finished 19th on the day.
In the junior women’s race, Hannah Rudd of the United States finished 35th in qualification, +18.15. For Canada, Annika Richardson finished 52nd (+24.09), Catherine Reed-Metayer 56th (+28.25), and Alexandra Racine 69th (+37.27).
In the junior men’s sprint, Canada’s Reed Godfrey finished a tough 31st, just 0.21 seconds out of making the quarterfinals. Etienne Hebert rounded out the Canadian finishers in 36th place (+11.81) in the qualifier. Canyon Tobin was 41st in qualification for the U.S. (+13.46), followed by Karl Schulz in 54th (+16.90) and Luke Jager in 60th (+18.15).
FIS Nordic Combined World Cup (Seefeld, Austria): Individual normal hill/15 k
Japan’s Akito Watabe after winning the 2018 Seefeld Triple Nordic Combined World Cup. He is the only athlete besides Germany’s Eric Frenzel to win the event. (Photo: FIS Nordic Combined)
On the final day of the Seefeld Triple, Japan’s Akito Watabe completed his sweep of the three-day weekend and Norway’s Jarl Magnus Riiber reached the podium for the third-straight day, placing second. Germany’s Fabian Rießle placed third for his second podium in the last two days.
Watabe jumped to first on the normal hill and started the 15 k Gundersen 48 seconds ahead of Riiber in second. He went on to win the race by 1:14.9 minutes in 34:58.6, becoming the only man besides Germany’s Eric Frenzel to win the Seefeld Triple in its five-year history.
After jumping to fifth, Rießle won a photo finish for third (+1:57.9), edging Germany’s Vinzenz Geiger by less than a tenth of a second. Geiger moved up from ninth in the jump to fourth overall (+1:57.9).
Norway’s Jørgen Graabak followed in fifth (+2:02.4),Frenzel placed sixth (+2:07.4), Norway’s Jan Schmid was seventh (+2:09.8), Finland’s Eero Hirvonen eighth (+2:13.5), Norway’s Espen Andersen ninth (+2:28.0), and Austria’s Mario Seidl 10th (+2:42.1) out of 28 finishers.
No Americans contested the final day of the Triple, the last World Cup before the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Jessie Diggins of the U.S. Ski Team (center) celebrates after winning the 10 k mass start freestyle in Seefeld, Austria, over Heidi Weng (left) and Ragnhild Haga of Norway. (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)
FIS Cross Country World Cup (Seefeld, Austria): 10/15 k mass start freestyle
In the final World Cup race before the 2018 Olympics, Jessie Diggins achieved the ultimate goal to give herself the utmost confidence heading into PyeongChang — winning the women’s 10-kilometer freestyle mass start at the World Cup in Seefeld, Austria, on Sunday.
The win was her first of the season and fourth individual victory of her career. Diggins, a 26-year-old U.S. Ski Team member, pulled it off by attacking on a long climb and leaving Norway’s Heidi Weng, Ragnhild Haga and Ingvild Flugstad Østberg chasing. While Diggins was several seconds ahead over the top and all alone on the long descent that followed, Weng and Haga worked to close the gap — and nearly did in the finishing stretch. But Diggins held them off, winning by 0.7 seconds over Weng in second place and 1 second ahead of Haga in third, and threw her fists down in celebration as she crossed the line first in 23:08.5 minutes.
“I just put my head down and it wasn’t pretty, but I just hammered,” Diggins told the International Ski Federation (FIS) in a televised post-race interview.
She was the only non-Norwegian in the top five, with Østberg in fourth (+8.7) and Marit Bjørgen in fifth (+16.7). Austria’s Teresa Stadlober placed sixth (+16.9), Norway’s Kari Øyre Slind was seventh (+19.1), and American Sadie Bjornsen placed eighth (+20.5), ahead of Switzerland’s Nathalie von Siebenthal in ninth (+30.3).
The U.S. had three in the top 15 with Kikkan Randall (U.S. Ski Team) in 14th (+48.5), and two more women in the top 30, with Caitlin Patterson (Craftsbury Green Racing Project) in 23rd (+1:00.7) and Liz Stephen (USST) in 29th (+1:18.2). Rosie Brennan (USST) finished 53rd (+2:26.9).
Emily Nishikawa led the Canadians in 35th (+1:36.5), followed closely by teammate Cendrine Browne in 37th (+1:36.6). Dahria Beatty finished 45th (+1:58.9).
Dario Cologna of Switzerland (center) won the men’s 15 k skate mass start in Seefeld, Austria, over Alex Harvey of Canada (left) and Martin Johnsrud Sundby of Norway (right). (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)
The Olympics are nearing and so Switzerland’s Olympic legend Dario Cologna is ramping up: after winning the Tour de Ski, he took another win in the 15 k mass start skate in Seefeld, Austria, on Sunday.
With much of the field staying relatively close together until the finish, Cologna nabbed the win by 1.4 seconds over Canada’s Alex Harvey, who took his second podium of the season in addition to also finishing third in the overall Tour de Ski.
Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby was third (+2.9), then teammate Didrik Tønseth in fourth (+5.9) and France’s Maurice Manificat in sixth (+7.5).
The U.S. Ski Team’s Erik Bjornsen had a breakthrough day finishing ninth (+9.3), followed by Simi Hamilton in 12th (+12.4). Behind them, Scott Patterson placed 27th (+23.4), then Patrick Caldwell 49th (+1:26.2), Ben Lustgarten 55th (+1:42.7), and Tyler Kornfield 77th (+3:00.0).
Canada’s Devon Kershaw and Graeme Killick finished 30th (+26.5) and 31st (+27.4), respectively. Len Valjas placed 58th (+1:53.1), Knute Johnsgaard 82nd (+3:23.1), Bob Thompson 87th (+4:27.5), and Julien Locke 92nd (+4:56.9).
Left to right: Tyler Kornfield (APU), Reese Hanneman (APU) and Ben Saxton (SMS) as the top three finishers in the men’s 1.6 k classic sprint final on Monday, the last day of 2018 U.S. Cross Country Championships in Anchorage, Alaska.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — No two races are exactly alike, the saying goes, and there’s a lot of truth to this cliché. But if you step back just a little bit, two race days can start to look awfully similar to one another.
For example, for the second time this week, a Hanneman brother won the sprint qualifier, Reese Hanneman won the final, and Alaska Pacific University (APU) put three athletes in the final and two on the podium on a perfect day for sprinting at Kincaid Park. That was the story on Monday, when Reese Hanneman led teammate Tyler Kornfield and Ben Saxton of the Stratton Mountain School (SMS) Elite Team across the line in the men’s classic sprint at 2018 U.S. Cross Country Championships. But it was also the case on Friday, when Reese was first and Kornfield was third in the freestyle sprint. It’s been a good week for the Hanneman family.
The classic sprint, the final race of this year’s U.S. nationals, had a slightly more subdued feel than the three that preceded it.
The fields were 50 percent smaller; a combined 160 athletes skied in the qualifier on Monday compared to 337 on Friday, as many juniors opted out of a race whose results did not bear on qualification for international trips and championship teams, and some athletes had already left town. The spectator numbers were smaller, measuring in the dozens rather than the hundreds after three days of packed parking lots and raucous crowds, as the first day of school following winter break sent local students back to the classroom. And the athletes were tired, too, after a full week of racing.
“I was just running on fumes out there, especially after the 30 k yesterday,” fifth-place finisher Kevin Bolger, of the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation (SVSEF) told FasterSkier after the men’s final.
But cross-country skiers are nothing if not resilient, and so, just after 10 a.m., Dakota Blackhorse-von Jess (Bend Endurance Academy) once again led 95 men out onto the qualifying course at 15-second intervals. The temperature was 10 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the display on the stadium scoreboard. The sun had yet to rise and start burning off the morning’s dense fog. It felt cold.
“It’s a very quintessential Alaskan day,” women’s domestic podium bronze medalist Becca Rorabaugh (APU) said after. “It’s like an Alaska temperature, and I feel like a lot of the Alaskan teams have great skis, it’s hard-wax skiing, and it’s just a classic race day. It’s very Alaskan.”
Hanneman Brothers Headline Qualifier
https://www.instagram.com/p/BdsyQTkB945/
APU skiers did very well in the time-trial portion of the morning, which has added, if not exclusive, significance for Olympic qualifying purposes slightly a month before the 2018 Winter Olympics begin in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Reese Hanneman, 28, who grew up in Fairbanks, covered the brand-new, 1.6-kilometer sprint course in 3:21.93, a time good for the fastest qualifying mark on the day. And he did so by nearly three seconds. Next best was his APU teammate and younger brother, Logan Hanneman, 2.84 seconds back. Third was his APU teammate Tyler Kornfield, 4.23 seconds off Reese’s mark.
Alaska Pacific University’s Reese Hanneman during the men’s 1.6-kilometer classic sprint heats on Monday at 2018 U.S. Cross Country Championships in Anchorage, Alaska. Hanneman won the qualifier and eventually, the final for the national title.
In light of the bonus points awarded for U.S. nationals podium performances, FasterSkier’s unofficial calculations put Logan first on the 2018 Olympic Winter Games domestic sprint qualifying list, with 80 points (45 for first at U.S. nationals and 35 for second), and Reese second, with 71 points (45 for first and 26 for third).
In Monday’s classic sprint, Benjamin Ogden (SMS) was fourth in qualifying, 5.12 seconds back. Blackhorse-von Jess was fifth (+5.16), Zak Ketterson of Northern Michigan University sixth (+7.56), Cole Morgan (SVSEF) seventh (+7.61), David Norris of APU eighth (+7.85), Saxton ninth (+7.88), and Bolger tenth (+9.09).
Just like the skate sprint, Brian Gregg, of Central Cross Country (CXC), Loppet Nordic Racing (LNR) and Team Gregg, was the final athlete to make the heats, 16.53 seconds back in 30th.
“I would say all the top sprinting guys, everyone’s focusing kind of on the qualifier, more so than normal,” Reese said on Friday after he had qualified third in the skate sprint. “There’s no margin for error, and you just have to ski it absolutely as fast as possible. It’s definitely different tactics than in the heats… but if you’re fast, you’re fast.”
Reese Hanneman Wins Everything En Route to Final
On Monday, Reese was pretty darn fast. He won his quarterfinal, the first of the day, as well as his semifinal, the first of the day, to make the final with the maximum amount of rest possible. And then, of course, he won the final as well for his fourth national title — and second of 2018 nationals.
In the day’s first quarterfinal, Reese was in the lead by the first turn at 200 meters, followed closely by Bolger. The two of them had a big lead by the time they were coming off Gong Hill. The rest of the field caught up to them somewhat by the finish, but Reese and Bolger still took the top two spots with relative ease.
In the second quarterfinal, U18 skier Ogden led the field into the first turn, with Morgan and Bill Harmeyer, of the University of Vermont, right behind. Ogden was still into the lead coming back into the stadium, but Kris Freeman (Caldwell Sport) had caught up into third. Coming into the finish, Freeman won a four-way lunge for second over Thomas O’Harra (APU), Ben Lustgarten (CGRP), and Harmeyer. O’Harra’s third place in a fast heat was good enough to send him on to the semifinals with the day’s first lucky loser spot.
In the third quarterfinal, Andrew Egger (Colby College) took the lead out of the stadium, but it was Blackhorse-von Jess in the top spot by the time they came back. Blackhorse-von Jess entered the finishing stretch with a 10-meter lead. Ketterson took second, 1.2 seconds back, with Egger another second back by the finish.
From left to right: Logan Hanneman (APU), Like Jager (APU), Ben Saxton (SMS Elite Team) Nick Michaud (BSF), Scott Patterson (APU), and Jack Hegman (SVSEF) at the start of their quarterfinal in the men’s 1.6-kilometer classic sprint on Monday at 2018 U.S. Cross Country Championships in Anchorage, Alaska.
In the fourth quarterfinal, Saxton and Logan Hanneman left the stadium with the early lead, alongside a quick-starting Luke Jager (APU), one of three U18 skiers who made the senior heats. It was Saxton in the lead coming back to the stadium two minutes later, with Logan leading Jager. Saxton came into the finishing stretch with a healthy lead, but Logan made a powerful move to pull around him and come alongside. Saxton won the heat by 0.37 seconds over Logan. Yesterday’s medalist, Eric Packer (APU), was out in third.
The fifth quarterfinal was heavy on local pride, with three APU skiers and a fourth from University of Alaska Anchorage. Erik Axelsson (Montana State University) led Kornfield and Logan Diekmann (University of Utah) into the first uphill. But two minutes later it was all APU, with Kornfield, David Norris and Forrest Mahlen with a sizeable lead on the rest of the field. Kornfield took the win; Mahlen came around Norris for second, but Norris moved on with the day’s other lucky loser spot. Axelsson was nearly five seconds back of Norris in fourth.
In the first semifinal, Blackhorse-von Jess flashed his ski speed and momentum by dropping into a tuck within the first 200-meter straightaway in the stadium, then still led the field over the top of the first, smaller climb. Ogden and Reese Hanneman were nearby. When they returned to the stadium, Reese had a 20-meter lead over Ogden on the downhill. As happened throughout the day, though, that lead shrank to half that size by the time the skiers entered the finishing stretch. But Reese still had the lead, which he held to the finish. Bolger was second, 0.32 seconds back. Ogden was relegated for obstruction.
The second semifinal featured a predominantly blue color scheme, between four suits from APU and the blue accents on Saxton’s SMS suit. Saxton again led out of the stadium, with Ketterson and Kornfield close by. By the time they came off Gong Hill two minutes later, it was Kornfield in the lead, with Ketterson close behind him. Kornfield led into the finishing stretch, but Ketterson overtook him to place first in the heat.
Behind them, Logan Hanneman made a strong push for third. He closed down Saxton, edging him by 0.04 seconds for third behind Ketterson and Kornfield. In practice, both Logan and Saxton advanced to the final as lucky losers; Norris’s fifth place in this heat would have won the day’s first semifinal by nearly a second.
Reese Hanneman Wins Final, Again
Slightly after 2 p.m., six men lined up in the south end of the Kincaid Stadium. From racer’s left to right, it was Logan, Kornfield, Ketterson, Reese, Bolger, and Saxton in the starting blocks. The sun was out, the temperature was in the high teens, and the course was firm and fast. There was no wind. Conditions were once more basically perfect.
The field had a clean start at the sound of the starter’s pistol, double poling in six separate lanes over the first 200 meters slightly downhill through the stadium. As the racers turned right to go up the first hill it was the Hanneman brothers in the lead, with Kornfield immediately behind them and Ketterson to Kornfield’s right. The pack double poled up the first part of the climb, then strode up and over the top of the hill.
A quick descent followed, then a high-speed, double-pole section leading to the start of the course’s main hill. Reese pushed the pace going up the hill, and not everyone was able to respond.
“I basically started at the base of the big climb,” Reese recalled of the 24-meter vertical gain B-climb in the middle of the sprint course. “I just kind of led in the climb and then just threw down the hammer and just tried to drop everyone going up that thing, and just continue to pound it over the top and take it all the way home.”
The largest climb on the course is “tough for classic skiing,” Bolger explained. “That hill definitely adds a different dynamic to your whole approach to every heat you do. To be able to ski up that hill four times, strong, it’s a challenge.” (Bolger added that he didn’t think anyone would have attempted to double pole a hill of that size, saying that “it’s a challenging enough hill to where it’s going to rule out double poling for anyone.” But just to be sure, race organizers placed a no-double-pole technique zone up the entire length of the climb for both the qualifier and the heats.)
By the time the field descended the waterfall downhill back into the stadium, Reese had a substantial gap over Kornfield, who in turn had a sizeable lead over Ketterson.
Kornfield made up some of this gap going down and around the final 180-degree turn, but Reese still entered the final straightaway with a sizeable lead. Saxton had moved into third, ahead of Ketterson, by the time they reached the 100 meters to go mark.
Reese Hanneman (1) of Alaska Pacific University celebrates his second sprint title of the 2018 L.L.Bean U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships on Monday with a win in the classic sprint final, just ahead of teammate Tyler Kornfield (r) in Anchorage, Alaska. Ben Saxton (SMS Elite Team) rounded out the podium in third. (Photo: Michael Dinneen Photography)
Kornfield barreled down the slight uphill of the finishing straight with grace and fury, closing in on Reese with each extension of his lanky frame. But he was still in the same finishing lane as his APU teammate, getting closer to Reese, but still immediately behind him. With roughly 20 meters to go, Kornfield moved one lane to his left, then lunged as he approached the finish. But Reese’s lead was still too much, and he crossed the finish with his second sprint national title of the week.
Reese’s time for the final was 3:20.62. Kornfield was 0.2 seconds back in second.
Some distance behind them, Saxton crossed the finish line in third, 4.78 seconds back of Reese, with a slight lead over Logan and Bolger. Ketterson finished sixth, 6.83 seconds back, in his second sprint final of the week.
“He is obviously on super-good form right now,” Reese continued. “I just have to know that I have a little more speed than he does. … But he’s really cranking right now. He is skiing great, but it definitely motivated me to know to just drive that thing so hard in the final.”
The second national title in as many races was “an answer to a lot of prayers from this morning and in the heats,” Reese said. “I just feel really lucky and stoked that I could put it together and be in such good form right now in January. It was a great day, an amazing day.”
Tyler Kornfield leads his APU teammate Forrest Mahlen in the men’s 1..6 k classic sprint on Monday at 2018 U.S. Cross Country Championships in Anchorage, Alaska.
Although Kornfield was second today, he “probably got the all-around performance of the week for the men,” Reese said of his teammate. Kornfield reached the podium in every race this week save the opening 15 k freestyle individual start, where he was 14th.
Kornfield’s race series was “a dream come true a little bit,” Kornfield told FasterSkier, “a little unexpected, but I knew I had it in me. The start of the season didn’t go as planned, I got sick for a month before it started, I also sprained my wrist for another month and so I was pretty frustrated with the lack of performances, but I knew there was something there and it was just a matter of time.”
“In this sport there are a lot of ups and downs,” he continued, “and it’s really easy to get caught up in the downs and not realize that just because you have a few bad races doesn’t mean you lose your ability to succeed, so just have to keep your head up and keep trying and hoping for the doors to open.”
When it comes to possibilities for potential Olympic selection, “I don’t know anything,” Kornfield said. “I can let you know in a couple weeks.”
Mathematically speaking, Kornfield currently ranks second to APU teammate Scott Patterson on the most recent version of the Olympic selection distance points list, which reflects both distance races from U.S. nationals.
For now, Kornfield plans to leave Alaska on Tuesday (that is, today) for a previously planned trip to Austria. He plans to work out precisely what races he will contest soon; he had planned on racing a Ski Classics marathon, but is currently uncertain where he will be racing next.
While Kornfield’s week at U.S. nationals exceeded his expectations, Monday’s third-place finisher, Saxton, didn’t have the week he was hoping for.
“I came here, like many people, with goals of heading to Korea and representing the country racing in the Games,” Saxton said after the final. “I fell short of that this week and that’s nothing to be ashamed of, but I was really disappointed I wasn’t in the mix as much as I would have hoped to be. This week was difficult because I don’t feel like I put forth a representative effort.”
Saxton was quick to offer sincere congratulations to the skiers who had had more success this week.
“I am incredibly proud to know and am happy for Logan and Scott and Reese and all of the other champions from this week,” he said, “and incredibly happy that those are going to be the skiers going to over to represent us. I think it’s just, from a personal standpoint, people can understand I was disappointed not to feel like I had my absolutely best days out there, but I am really proud to end the day on a podium, representing the hard work that all my teammates and my coach and the program at Stratton have done all year, and to reward them for that work and that effort is a great feeling.”
Saxton also enjoyed the “playground mentality” of the sprint day.
“I think a lot of the times racing we can get lost in the technical aspects of it,” he mused, “but one of the reasons I love racing heats so much is, it just kind of reminds me of being back in elementary school and pointing to something in the far end of the playground, basketball hoop, or whatever it is, and just saying, ‘Let me race you there.’ And there’s no rules, there’s no anything, it’s just the feeling of you and the other person just going all out, and that’s a beautiful way to live and that’s a beautiful way to compete, and sprints are a wonderful thing like that.”
Strong Alaska Performances Throughout the Week
What a difference a year makes. One year ago this week, in the classic sprint at Soldier Hollow, APU didn’t put any athletes into the heats for the first time in at least a decade, done in by a combination of illness, seeding, weather conditions, and wax choice. This time around, head coach Erik Flora’s squad sent eight men through to the heats, six to the semifinal, three to the final, and two to the podium.*
The classic sprint capped a successful week for APU, and for Alaskan skiers more generally. Caitlin Patterson, who skis for CGRP, took all four gold medals for the women. Then APU skiers took all four golds on the men’s side, between Scott Patterson on Wednesday, Reese on Friday and Monday, and Kornfield on Sunday. Chelsea Holmes, Kornfield again, Hannah Halvorsen, Rosie Frankowski, Eric Packer, Becca Rorabaugh, and Kornfield again also stepped on the domestic podium for APU. All told, that’s 15 out of a possible 24 medals going to athletes who hail from or ski in Alaska.
(Although if you slice the data another way, there were also seven out of 12 possible medals in women’s races won by CGRP, between Patterson’s quadfecta and Kaitlynn Miller’s trifecta.)
This week’s results “just show the depth” of the team, Reese told FasterSkier after his race. “It speaks to the hard work of our coaches, especially Erik Flora. That guy will not be outworked, he just puts so much into us. I’m just really happy that we can have a week like this and go four for four in the men’s with APU, just to show that what he is doing works and how hard he works for us. … To get to this point that we can do that and crush all week and just give them a good show is really rewarding.”
“We’re all Alaska born-and-raised,” Reese added of the APU men. “Can’t beat that.”
*(Full disclosure, this reporter skis on the APU Masters team, and receives direct coaching from Flora roughly once a year at Masters Camp.)
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