Erica Blake skated the virtual 30 km Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot in 2:44.
She writes: “Snow was slower than expected and my skis were not waxed for the cold slow snow, but completed the 30k course under glorious sunshine, and finished smiling.”
Eric Troyer, head media volunteer for the Sonot Kkaazoot, skate skied his 50+ km virtual Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot on Sunday in corrected time of 4:40.22.
Eric writes (at 4:53 p.m.): “I did my 50k Sonot today, completing the Sonot Hat Trick (10, 30 and 50k versions). My time was 5:14:22. That has got to be one of the toughest just-shy-of-50 50k races out there! I was darn happy to see the 48, 49, and 50k signs right there at the Timing Building. Another 3k, especially if it had gone down into the Black Loops would have killed me. I tried to convince myself that the last 10k was flat, just like in the original Sonot, but my legs and lungs argued otherwise. Thanks to everyone for putting this on, especially to those awesome groomers (tracks and trails were outstanding!)!”
At 5:53 p.m. Eric adds: “Whoops. Corrine pointed out that I screwed up. I did the Black Loops twice! I just checked and I actually did 53.5 kilometers. Corrine checked my stats and says I spent 34 minutes in the Black Loops on the second round, so I guess I’ll take that off my time.”
Eric never responded in my request that he submit his final official 50 km time so this current English major will do the math for him getting a final adjusted time of 4:40:22.
David Prusak submitted what may be the shortest report for the 30 km virtual Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot.
Dave writes: “David Prusak Age 63 30K 3 hours 2 minutes Skate Ski”
Curtis Henry skate skied the virtual 50 km Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot in 3:19:03.
He writes:
“I skated the 50k course in 3:19:03 then added one lap around the stadium to get over 30 miles. Conditions were great and fortunately I didn’t have any issues with the bull moose who I crossed paths with three times.”
GPX:
Tom Dale skate skied the virtual 10 and 30 km Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot courses in times of 47:09 and 2:38:23, respectively.
He reports:
Skated the 10k mapped route 3/15/21 47:09
Skated the mapped 30k route 3/17/21 2:38:23
Lots of new ungroomed snow both times, but I appreciated the ability to do the routes virtually. I really enjoy skiing the non lighted tracks at Birch, although “enjoying” the black loops might be overstating things. 🙂
Tom Dale
Age 63
Report submitted by Benjamin Bagonier:
A handful of FXC comp skiers went out on the Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot course on the final Sunday of the event. Some athletes threw themselves at the work while others were happy to take a lighter-duty approach to the end of race season.
Elias Engman, Nelson Hays, Ian Tragis, and PJ Bragonier put on their game faces and raced the course. They reported a glaring mismatch between their prior evening’s waxing for warm temperatures and the race-day snow thermometer needle pegged at -13 C.
In stark contrast to the aforementioned racers, Eli Merrill started his race by double-polling backwards and then performed a signature 180 once he was up to speed. Caleb Peterson sported mismatched boots and rode on his “game” skis — most likely in regular use when he was under the tutelage of Coach Pam in Jr. Nordics. Zarah Laker-Morris was kind enough to slow things down and chaperone her male high school peers around the course. (It’s so sad when they get off course.) As with other FXCers, Josh Baurick has distinguished himself many times this ski season, but the low-key Kkaazoot inspired a mellow pace where fun in the sun was his order of business.
Riley Whisler was the only known FXCer to select the 30 KM course. The fleets of 50-somethings and 60-somethings out on the longer courses appreciated that Riley feigned being visibly taxed as she skied by them. There’s no doubt in this writer’s mind that she could have manageably tacked on a subsequent 50 KM — you know, in an effort to finally work up a sweat.
Last, FXC Coach Asne graced the 10 KM course. We all know that she could have broken thirty-minutes, but then again, she might have risked forfeiting her infectious ear-to-ear smile.
U16 GIRLS – 10 KM
Zarah Laker-Morris (skate) 45:44
U18 GIRLS – 30 KM
Riley Wisler (classic) 3:01:28
U16 BOYS – 10 KM
PJ Bragonier (skate) 31:27
Elias Engman (skate) 32:01
Nelson Hays (skate) 34:20
Ian Tragis (skate) 35:20
U18 BOYS – 10 KM
Caleb Petersen (skate) 45:42
Josh Baurick (classic) 45:44
Eli Merrill (classic) 45:45
FXC COACHES – 10 KM
Åsne Honerød Hoveid (classic) 41:22
The Sonot blogger thanks Ben for the interesting and thorough report on the FXC participation in the 2021 Virtual Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot. I’m recommending you to Bad Bob to supply future reports.
Paula Hicks skate skied the virtual 10 km Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot in 47:44 on Sunday.
She writes:
“Awesome trails. Thank you!I
The conversation going on in my head.
Happy Heart “Wow the snow is fast today, I love these new skis!”
Healthy Heart “Did you train at all for this? Did that sign just say coronary bypass?”“
Yes, Paula, the sign did say Coronary Bypass. Come back next year and ski the 30 km so you can keep skiing up Heartrate Hill.
Luke Langhorst skate skied the virtual 30 km Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot in 1:36:36.
Luke writes: “It was another great Sunday out at birch. Lots of people were out and about enjoying the weather and snow. Unfortunately my heart rate on my phone didn’t seem to be recording things accurately as it had my HR much lower than it certainly felt like! Thanks again for all that you have done with the event and to everyone else. The face masks are great! Looking forward to the real deal next year.”
Anna Rix skied all three official courses for the Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot on Sunday.
She writes: “I decided to wait till the last day and ski all 3 courses back to back.
50k course classic 4:43:37
30k course skate 2:38:57
10k course classic 1:02:04
Total elapsed time was 8:57:57 including my ski to and from the start and finish lines. 54.27 miles according to my Garmin which includes one turnaround since I was not sure which turn on North Forty I was taking.
Nice day skiing!”
Tom O’Clair skated the virtual 50 km Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot in 4:06 on Sunday.
Tom writes: “I skied the 50k course today. Started at 10:30 in the cold with the FXC Masters folks that had various objectives. I skied with some of them the first half of the race and then skied on my own coming across several folks as it warmed up during the day. At the end of the course, I was confused about the 48-49-50k so I skied two more k. Time: 4:06 on cold styrofoam snow. Fun!”
Tom wanted to make sure he got his full workout even though Bad Bob’s course was short.
Sonot Kkaazoot 