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Sprint to the finish wins Payak

Close to 700 skiers take part in third annual Whistler Olympic Park XC races
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POLE POSITIONS

After 50 hard kilometres of soft snow and brutal hill climbs, the marathon Sigge's P'ayakentsut cross-country ski race came down to a head-to-head sprint. Canmore's Phil Villeneuve, a former national level ski racer, versus Elliot Holtham of UBC.

Holtham edged Villeneuve for the $250 prize after the first lap, winning the long climb to start the second. But in the final sprint to the finish, Villeneuve broke first on the way up into the stadium and managed to hold off the younger skier all the way to the finish. In the end they were separated by less than a ski length.

"I just wanted to ski today, I haven't done enough distance this year so I went out conservative and we exchanged the lead a lot," said Villeneuve. "I could tell that he was pretty strong and our skis were pretty much the same the whole way —maybe mine were a little better, but overall I had to ski smart.

"I let him take a few pulls on the latter part, I didn't know I was even going to last the whole way, and yeah, I was lucky at the end that I managed to pull a little more. I thought he had more juice in the tank, so I was a little surprised."

Villeneuve said having someone to ski with actually made the race easier because the two skiers could draft off one another. When you're on your own, he said, it's a lot more work. "It would have been a miserable 50km for me otherwise," he said.

Villeneuve crossed the finish line in 2:27:25.2, while Holtham finished in 2:27:25.9, 0.7 seconds later. Third place went to Dan Packman in 2:35.52.

The top female racer was Sarah Max of Bend, Oregon, a fast American skier who placed sixth overall out of all the 50km skiers. Her online time was incorrect — she finished at least five minutes ahead of the next female racer.

"I guess I was just running scared and trying to keep up with the guys at the start," she said. "But for the most part I was just doing my own thing. I could have used another (energy) gel or something, but it was okay.

"The downhills were definitely a high point for me, I could have used more of them... The whole thing was pretty great. (The course) was amazing, I loved it. It's really hard not to slow down and look at the views."

In the 30km category, the winners were both Whistler locals. Camille Cheskey won the men's event in 1:31:25, building a small lead on the first lap and then extending it.

"The first lap was pretty mellow and I decided to go for the prime, but nobody else came with me so I built a little gap, around 15 seconds on top of the hill, and I built that into a minute by the end on of the race," he said. "I made the right choice (to go), and my skis were great, so that helped a lot. I think the course got a little faster for the second lap."

Olav Stana, racing with the same team as Cheskey, placed second in 1:32:40, while Robert Rogotte was third in 1:33:40.

The women's 30km winner was Sylvie Allen, who was recovering from a torn hamstring and wasn't sure she was going to race until a few days before when she started to feel better. She finished the race in 1:44:38.

"I'm so glad it didn't creep up and haunt me," she said. "I almost fell on a downhill section when I was passing some people and I had a bit of a tweak, but I ignored it."

Allen said she didn't pay too much attention to the rest of the field, and wasn't even sure she won the women's prime. "I just tried to ski fairly smooth and keep up a good pace. I managed to eat a couple of Clif Blocks through the last lap, and almost had a heart attack after the prime hill, but I'm pretty stoked overall. I was limping for six weeks and three days ago I was still limping."

Placing second in the women's 30km event was Megan Wolfe in 1:46:01, followed by Maureen Harriman in 1:46:27.

The Whistler Nordics had a strong day overall, with some of the younger competitors electing to compete in the 15km category.

Nicki Murdoch placed first overall in the women's 15km event. Michael Murdoch was second on the boys 13 to 15 age category and sixth overall for all men. Joe Davies, Fraser Doak, Sam Johnston and Ian Davidson were fourth, fifth, seventh and 10th.

In the girls 13 to 15 group, Lauren Kilfoy McKay placed second overall, with Benita Peiffer fourth, Jila Wittenberg fifth and Julia Long ninth.

Other notable results include Brent Murdoch's first place in the male 50 to 54 category and Maureen Harriman's win in the women's 45 to 59 category in the 30km race.

There was $250 for the prime winners in both the 30km and 50km races, as well as prize money for the top three men and women — $300 for first, $200 for second and $100 for third.

Complete results at www.zone4.ca.

Sigge's P'ayakentsut 2013 Marathon

Men 50km U25

1. Alex Brown — 3:21:09

2. David Cross — 3:31:07

3. Marcus Laube — 4:01:58

Men 50km 25 to 29

1. Elliot Holtham — 2:27:25

2. Jonathan Knight — 3:01:53

3. Sergey Meshkov — 3:08:08

Men 50km 30 to 34

1. Travis Anderson — 3:10:48

2. Chris Halldorson — 3:11:32

3. Nicholas Utting — 3:20:11

Men 50km 35 to 39

1. Phil Villeneuve — 2:27:25

2. Duncan Munro — 2:52:05

3. Darrell Sofield — 2:59:58

Men 50km 40 to 44

1. Joseph Brown — 2:58:23

2. Graham Tutti — 2:59:21

3. Martin Roos — 3:04:45

Men 50km 45 to 49

1. Dan Packman — 2:35:52

2. Max Saenger — 2:39:50

3. Jean-Yves Sauriol —3:02:20

Men 50km 55 to 59

1. Andy Brown — 3:42:49

2. Daniel Gloor — 3:45:16

Men 50km 60 to 64

1. Reidar Zapf-Gilje — 3:21:06

Women 50km U25

1. Selina Meijer — 3:09:49

2. Maya Guttmann — 4:01:58

3. Lucy Smyth — 4:11:22

Women 50km 25 to 29

1. Katie Geale — 3:24:15

2. Lilla Roy — 3:52:43

Women 50km 30 to 34

1. Andrea Bundon — 2:54:37

2. Petra Tlamkova — 2:58:41

3. Anita Holtham — 3:01:30

Women 50km 35 to 39

1. Sarah Max — 2:45:25

Women 50km 40 to 44

1. Colleen Little — 3:10:44

2. Frances Vice — 3:12:31

3. Karen Oppenheimer — 3:14:29

Women 45 to 49

1. Alison Sydor — 3:06:05

2. Heather Adamson — 3:29:18

3. Joan Denroche — 4:09:03

Women 50 to 54

1. Morna Fraser — 4:19:29