Features - 29/1/8
Ski marathon first time accounts

Here are some accounts from first-time ski marathon-ers -

JIZERSKÁ PADESÁTKA 50, CZECH REPUBLIC, JANUARY 2008

Back from the Loppet and all in one piece. It was great fun, just getting there was an adventure and a great part of the event. I managed to do it all by public transport which was amazingly cheap. The event had a great atmoshpere and the weather on the day was perfect minus 3 blue sunny sky. I must admit to having a bit of a panic attack on the day before as I went to the start for a rece and quick ski and couldn't get any hard wax to work, I didn't want to try Klister although it was quite clear that it was the only thing that was going to work. So I handed my skis to the service engineers and paid £20 for the works ( floura carbon). They seemed very confident that they knew what conditions were going to be like on the race, even to the extent where they predicted the tempreature at certain times of the day. So I went for it not wanting to compete with 4000 plus othere skiers in the morning. Loads of others where doing the same and it was one of the top tips that others said was worth doing. So I spent an evening rather worried about not having been able to ski on snow having aborted my attempt earlier. Plus having to sort the skis out if the wax wasn't correct for the morning. ( perhaps in the future another pair of skis, so that one can be handed in whilst the others can be used for sking practice)

On the day of the race I got there in time to try them out but it was ever so hard to find anywhere to ski as the race loipe was closed. In the end I mangaged to find a small section and they were spot on. I also adjusted really quickly from roller sking to real skiing, which was just as well as I only had 10 mins worth.

As I didn't have a previous Worldloppet time they put me in the last wave to go off which meant I got held up quite alot and didn't have anyone overtake me all the way to the end! The course was quite hilly but nothing too desperate and the decents fun with a few good crashes which I managed to avoid. At 40km I felt quite tired but the last 10km went quickly. My feeding regime worked well and I only used the last two feed stations which were quite manic earlier on, so it was worth taking my own bottle and gels. The loipe was very scenic and had lots of trees.

Everyone was very friendly and the atmoshphere at the end great.

I've ordered my Worldloppet passport and I shall be looking to do other events in the future.

Great fun I recommend it. They have shorter distances too. The only strange thing I found was how difficult it was to ski before or around the event due to all the events that were taking place. Next time I may stay for the following week to ski a bit more and explore the area.

All that time spent on roller skis paid off and shows you can do an event just by land training, certainly clasic technique. Off to Austria at the weekend for the Ski Champs.

A.L., SKARVERENNET, GEILO, NORWAY, APRIL 2007

We had an absolute ball and felt such a sense of achievement having completed the course. Dave and John did the full 38kms. Angela, Sheri, Pip and I did the 24kms.

All the Norwegians thought we were mad event contemplating it considering we hadn't ever trained on snow before - but we assured them our training in Hyde Park set us up perfectly well for the day!

MC, LA SGAMBEDA, LIVIGNO, ITALY, DECEMBER 2007 (LRNSC TRIP)

Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would ever take part in such an event. Somehow Paddy talke Alan, Penny and I into taking part. 22kms seemed unachievable, even trying to classic it. However we survived, but any technique I had been taught during the week went out of the window! It felt more like trudging on skis rather than gliding but the sense of achievement at finishing was worth the ffort, even through it took us most of the allotted time to do half the circuit.

Ski marathon calendar