Nakkertok Nordic held another extremely successful Eastern Canadian Championships last weekend. The event is so poplar that it has grown larger than the National Cross Country ski championships, this year attracting almost 800 racers from all over Canada.
The volunteer efforts behind such an event are enormous, and range from feeding the racers to getting the trails in impeccable shape. With little snow to work with, the grooming team, led by Dirk Van Wijk (lead groomer for the Vancouver Olympics) did an outstanding job.
The racing included a sprint event Friday, individual start skate races Saturday, and Mass start distance races Sunday. The tricky snow conditions and technical course made for some pretty spectacular wipeouts in the mass start races!
I had a solid weekend of racing, finishing 22nd in the sprints and 15th and 16th in the distance events. If you want to see amazing pictures of some of Canada’s best skiers check out these photo albums of the event (the banner photo of me is by Patrick Haag).
Skiing the Gatineau Loppet for Little Angels
On February 28, 2016, I’ll be competing in the Gatineau Loppet 51 km classic event. I’m looking forward to this spectacular point-to-point race across the beautiful trails and stunning scenery of the Gatineau Park. I’ve done the distance event at the loppet many times – you can read about last year’s event here.
Along with some XC Ottawa teammates, I’m going to use this opportunity to help to raise funds in support of the Little Angels Blood Cancer Fund at the Ottawa Hospital.
What Is Little Angels?
The Little Angels Blood Cancer Fund provides financial support to qualified patients undergoing treatment for blood cancer at the Ottawa Hospital. The fund helps patients experiencing financial difficulty by funding non-medical expenses such as travel, accommodation, child-care, food or hospital parking.
You can help support Little Angels by sponsoring me or my team for the event by making a secure online donation at the Ottawa Hospital site at the links below.
