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Posted on Monday December 28th at 11:21 a.m.
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Ben Koons Celebrates the Win. Photo: FlyingPointRoad.com
From the beginning it was clear that Koons had his eye on winning this race. He skied at or near the front for the entire race and won the men's race with a 13 second victory over Dylan McGuffin (University of New Hampshire). Sam Tarling (Darmouth) was third, 30 seconds back from Koons.
"I haven't raced since the race in Finland," said Koons. "For the last month I have been focusing on high volume training to build an endurance base. I just got back from a week at 2450 meters."
"It felt good to get back into racing, I am as fit as I've ever been and now need to concentrate more on speed work and fine tuning."
With overcast skies and temperatures at about -6, it was a perfect day for a classic race. The mass start races began in a long, wide field that climbed for a while before turning into the woods, a set-up that allowed for relatively clean starts.
The track held up well, an impressive fact given the minimal amount of snow and large number of skiers. The course was incredibly skiable with challenging downhills and lots of long striding sections.