Albertans disappointed with races
Kershaw finishes 17th in 15k race
I was having a hard time seeing. The lactic acid was just polluting my body.
DEVON KERSHAW
Devon Kershaw counts his blessings every morning for waking up in the postcard that is the Canadian Rockies.
But the longtime Canmore resident found himself wanting to teleport to the other side of the world Thursday in the final stretch of the men’s 15-kilometre classic-ski mass start race at the Alberta World Cup.
The stunning majesty of his surroundings aside, Kershaw felt, in a word, brutal as he willed his legs to keep chopping towards the merciful end.
“Canmore, you are beautiful but painful as all get out,” Kershaw later wrote on Twitter. “There was a moment when I didn’t think I’d make the finish line.”
At that particular moment, Kershaw considered packing it in.
“Your whole body is shutting down on you,” said the No. 2 distance racer overall in 2011/12 on the World Cup circuit. “I was having a hard time seeing. The lactic acid was just polluting my body.
“You’re in survival mode. You’re just telling your body, ‘hey man, we only have two kilometres to go. Just get to the finish line.’ “It’s a real battle.” In Kershaw’s mind, he lost the battle Thursday in a rare chance to race at the Canmore Nordic Centre against the very best in the world.
The transplanted Ontarian finished 17th in his signature race with a time of 41 minutes, 59.54 seconds. That put him 44.6 seconds back of the winner, German Tim Tscharnke. The result hardly surprised Kershaw but stung all the same.
“I was dead,” Kershaw said. “I was a mess.
“I gave everything I could. You have to stay positive. I mean, am I happy with 17th? Absolutely not.”
But even though Kershaw badly wanted to hit the podium at home, he realizes the ultimate goal is actually to win in February at the world championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy.
So the Canadian team strategy called for weightlifting this week and two hours of hard altitude training at Elk Lake instead of the usual practice of resting up for a competition.
“The guys were flat today,” said Canadian head coach Justin Wadsworth.
“It’s frustrating. You want to have better results in front of your home fans.
“But at the same time, we know where we are. We just have to keep doing what we’re doing.”
Ranked sixth in the world last season, Alex Harvey proved to be the top Canadian on the day by placing 11th in 41:35.0 for his best individual result of 2012/13.
Showered with attention from adoring fans last weekend at the Quebec City World Cup, Harvey is still trying to (literally) catch his breath.
“Coming from sea level for me, it felt fast,” said Harvey, of St-Ferreol-les-Neiges, Que. “It felt hard. It was really painful the whole way.
“The first time up the big climb I was feeling really tired already.”
The Canmore Nordic Centre is indeed known as one of the most challenging, lung-burning tracks on the World Cup circuit due to the steep grade and volume of the hills.
On this day, home-field advantage proved a myth as Sjur Roethe, of Norway, seized second place in 41:19.6 and Tobias Angerer, of Germany, captured bronze in 41:20.6
Ivan Babikov, of Canmore, rounded out the top-20 in 42:13.9. Len Valjas, of Toronto placed 24th in 42:35.3.
Brittany Webster, of Caledon, Ont., led the Canadian women around a 10-kilometre course and finished 38th.
Chalk it up as an allaround disappointing day for the Canadians on skinny skis.
“You know what? My best race ever in Canmore was 16th,” said Kershaw, who is battling through a foot injury. “It’s my home. I know this course like the back of my hand.
“But man, it smacks me every time I race here.”
He’ll try to reverse that trend this weekend with races Saturday and Sunday to wrap up the Alberta World Cup.