Sunday’s Lost Nation Roll at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center felt like a reunion, and the start of something good and new.
The lush green, and the hot sun too, set a decidedly different scene than the bundled up, snowy cold most of the nordic community is accustomed to when they set their schedules towards Craftsbury, but the overall feeling created by clubs, volunteers, and a field of over 110 skiers was strikingly, excitedly, the same.
That last number is probably the one to fixate on for a moment. The first rollerski race of the summer in the East saw a field of over 110 skiers! And more than that, the characteristic quality, and variety, of where skiers came from was the kind of field that the East prides itself on in the winter. We had seasoned pros, we had members of our Regional Development Camp (RDG, happening concurrently at the COC), we had local club members and skiers just hop in for the fun of it too. It was really easy to catch an uncanny whisp of winter out on the Craftsbury rollerski loop among the humidity and the heat. From coaches carrying bundles of spare poles (while testing whether a radio harness is a good look over just t-shirt, rather than a big parka) to groups of skiers turning into spectators as soon as their race was done, Craftsbury felt like…well…Craftsbury.
This Lost Nation Roll featured a 10 k individual start that looped in and out and back in again on for four laps on the Craftsbury rollerski loop. A 5 k, two-lap race was held for the U16 skiers as well. The podiums speak for themselves in terms of the competitiveness of the field: In the Men’s 10 k in went 1st) Ben Ogden (SMS T2), 2nd) Jake Brown (Craftsbury), 3rd) Zach Jayne (SMS T2), in the Women’s 10 k, 1st) Julia Kern (SMS T2), 2nd) Margie Freed (Craftsbury), 3rd) Sydney Palmer-Leger (SMS T2). In the Men’s 5 k, 1st) Sam Swartzentruber (BBA Nordic), 2nd) Donovan Van Citters (Ford Sayre), 3rd) James Langan (Mansfield), and in the Women’s 5 k, 1st) Astrid Longstreth (Mansfield), 2nd) Ollie Hanna (Ford Sayre), 3rd)Saskia Sullivan (Club Nordique Mont-Saint-Anne) . Full results can be found below.
The defining feature of the Lost Nation Roll though, wasn’t who was on the podium, but rather the nature of the podium ceremony itself. When we got rolling around noon with awards, it quickly became apparent that most of not just the top skiers, but the field, had gone down to the lake to take a swim. We’re thankful that word got around quick and we got some great podium shots, but there’s a neat little parable in there about why putting together a rollerski event the caliber of the Lost Nation Roll is worth it. The little individual love we all have for skiing, getting us outside, giving us a place to push ourselves together, they don’t just have to be defined to the winter. And in fact, when you come back to those virtues in the summer together, they can be as cool and fresh as a hop in Great Hosmer Pond…
NENSA’s rollerski series kicks back into gear next month, with the Climb to the Castle in Lake Placid, New York. Full details and Registration are HERE!
Lost Nation Roll RESULTS