King Boreas 10 km Freestyle race summary 1/8/12

The King Boreas ski race, which is part of the St. Paul Winter Carnival, is typically held at Phalen park. This year it was moved to Green Acres Recreation, like many other races, due to the lack of natural snow. The chilly morning race was very fitting for the King Boreas name sake. For most of the first lap, several of us stuck together in a lead pack. No one wanted to go out too fast, me included; the race included four tough climbs up Pers Plunge. Half way through the first lap, me and another skier fell trying to get around a slower skier from the men’s race. After picking myself up I managed to catch back up to the leaders by the second lap. My good friend, Jan Gunther, and I skied together for some time. Jan even had the energy to crack a joke about the farm smells and the possibility of me being the cause of them. During the last lap I managed to pull away for a win. It was great being out and skiing with some fun and really good friends, but I still missed racing this one at Phalen.