THUNDER BAY – Michael Somppi says Saturday’s Canada 150 Roller Ski Race is a great tune-up for the upcoming cross-country season, which the Thunder Bay athlete hopes will culminate with a spot on Canada’s Winter Olympic team.
The 29-year-old was one of about 45 athletes taking place in Saturday’s downtown north core race, a first-of-its-kind for Thunder Bay, an event that brought together some of the country’s top skiers.
“It’s fun, it’s good to practice some strategy for the head-to-head race later,” said Somppi, who coasted to a seventh-place finish in the time trials, won by Thunder Bay’s Evan Palmer-Charette in a time of 3:03.31.
“It’s practicing the race-day rituals, going through the motions. It’s different when you have a bib on. When you go out and train on your own or in a group without a bib on, it’s never quite the same as when you have the bib on. It’s game day, you’ve got to really go and having that mentality, you just can’t do it without a bib.”
Racing on pavement is something different, but a great way to train in what’s traditionally the offseason in Canada. Athletes in Europe have been doing it for some time, and introducing more of these types of events in North America is a way for skiers from this side of the Atlantic to play catch-up.
Somppi said it’s fantastic to see it happening in his own hometown.
“This is the second one they’ve done in Canada with actual points. It’s awesome to have everyone here. It’s a little bit different, but because the season is only so long, it’s good to practice the race-day rituals in a different format,” he said.
The races also attracted a pair of former Olympians, Minnesotans Brian and Caitlin Gregg, who said the chance to compete against high-level athletes in the summertime to was too much to resist a trip north of the border.
“What a wonderful chance to get a great race in during the season,” Brian Gregg said. “We’re training for the 2018 Winter Olympics, so it’s a chance to have some international competition against our Canadian friends and help them celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday.”
His wife, who competed at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, wholeheartedly agreed.
“It’s a pretty awesome opportunity. We live six hours away, so it’s the closest high-calibre training centre that we can come to and get a good competition in,” said Caitlin Gregg, who took top spot in the women’s time trials, winning in a time of 3:28.21.
“Roller ski racing is the closest we can get to on-snow racing. We spend a lot of hours training for the wintertime, and anytime we can put on a big and go head to head, the better we’ll be prepared for the wintertime.”
Longtime National Development Centre-Thunder Bay skier Alannah MacLean could only sit and watch, still recovering from a herniated disc that kept her off the race circuit most of last year.
It was tough to not compete, she said, but she’s glad to see the sport finally arrive in North America.
“Now that we’re introducing roller ski racing, and hopefully making it an annual event here in Thunder Bay, we hope to continue to develop throughout the season, not just have world-class events in the winter, but also have world-class events in the summer,” MacLean said.
