Bates Carnival and EC #2

One down, five to go.

This past weekend, the team traveled to Rumford, ME for the Bates College Carnival and the second Eastern Cup of the season.

This venue is known for hosting some high caliber races, and the competition there was just that. On Friday, we started things off with a 20km Classic Mass Start. Now, if we remember back to last season, I raced in one 20km Classic at Dartmouth, and did not finish. Well, this time went a little differently. I was not (as) sick, and I wasn't alone. 

Definitely not alone. (Silke Hynes/EISA Photo)

The race was tough, as any 20km race is. But this one had the added pleasure of a 10 minute snow squall coming in halfway through the second lap (it was a 4 lap race). 

Remember that sunny start? Me neither. (Silke Hynes/EISA Photo)

This changed things dramatically, and what was once a 2 minute gap between myself and the leaders quickly opened to 4. 5. 6... Eventually I finished somewhere around 6:30 back. And it had warmed up in that time. A lot.

I had ditched my gloves on lap 3. (Silke Hynes/EISA photo)

I ended up 69th overall on the day, with a time of 1:07:02.3.

Day 2 went a bit better. It was a 10km Freestyle, which is more of my race. The catch though was that it had cooled to dangerously cold temps the night before, and the start was delayed so that it could be warm enough. And it was still cold.

Temp went from 0-12 not too quick. (Silke hynes/EISA Photo)

It was a tired race, but i felt that it went better, especially for early season. I ended up placing 51st for the collegiate class, and 86th overall. 27:17.50, 4 minutes behind the winner.

Getting that lunge in. (Silke Hynes/EISA Photo)

Lastly, Sunday. Sunday was the Eastern Cup Classic Sprint, so not my event. It went about as well as expected. After 1.4 km I ended up in 55th overall, 2 seconds out of making the junior heats (3:42.37 vs 3:40.47). On the bright side, it meant that I could get out ahead of the crowds impending doom that was the weather.