Åre Extreme Challenge 2009 – Sweden

It’s amazing that a month has nearly passed since Elina and I escaped the NZ winter and headed for the northern summer for some training and racing. Finland has been a good base, all be it with a few more chilly days than would have been preferred but for the past week summer has truly arrived.

The race starts at the highest waterfall in Sweden which is a spectacular sight. The teams and women get a 40 minute head start on the individual guys so it was great to watch the chaos and help Elina get sorted and then relax before my race started.

Elina’s race looked like being a tough one with all the top Swedish women on the start line. The favourite for the race was Viktoria Wallin who had won in 2007 & 2008. Last year she won in impressive fashion by over 10 minutes and had also been close to a new race record and also  Kristen Lundgren who had been 3rd in 2008.

In the men’s race I again had competition from John Anden and Andreas Svanebo – 2nd and 3rd respectively last year and as usual there were plenty of others who had been making big improvements from last year.

Seeing as the kayaking has been a bit on the back burner recently I didn’t sprint for all I was worth at the start but I was still surprised at how many people where lined up on the wash. The first few kilometres are completely flat and it wasn’t until we hit the main rapid section until I was able to pull away. I was in a different boat this year, the XOR which is a similar style boat to the Sharp which was maybe a touch slower on the flat but really came into its own in the white water.

At the first portage I still was holding a small gap and feeling quite comfortable. We were already catching up the stragglers from the first start and once through the first portage it isn’t far to the second one. Coming in it was looking like a smooth grassy edge but just before the edge hidden from view was a rock, which I managed to hit at full speed and take a good chunk of the gel Coast off the nose – sorry Martin.

Back in the boat for the final 30 minutes I was suddenly surprised to see a couple of boats pulling up alongside. I hadn’t figured I’d been paddling slowly but apparently I’d lost a bit of time in a route before the first portages and then again in each portage and had been a good carrot for Jens and Johan to bury themselves and bridge up. Jen and Johan have both spent a bit of time in NZ and competed in Coast to Coast and have really been improving their paddling.

The 3 of us stayed together and Johan had a slightly quicker transition to take the fastest kayak of the day.

Onto the run and first part of this run is quite brutal. From the centre of town you climb straight away with almost no break all the way to the peak which is at 1400 metres – almost 1100 metres higher than Åre town. You are quickly off the roads and walkways and head straight up the mountain following ski trails and lift lines for the first 400m of elevation gain. The calf’s are really screaming by the end of this up you are then rewarded with some slightly easier travel and spectacular views.

The weather was really hot this year and with it well into the 20’s at the start of the run it was a relief to get up higher where a small wind was keeping the temperature a bit more comfortable. I was able to keep turning the legs over and arrived at the top about 4 minutes faster than last year which was pleasing. The run down is really fun with a bit of scrambling down through rocks at the top and then on to some big snow fields where you can stride it out and do massive moon jumps like going down a sand dune or a scree slope.

I was now starting to pass some of the better girls and it was a good sign that I hadn’t come across Elina yet. What was even better though was as I came through the MTB transition I passed Viktoria Wallin who we’d expected to be Elina’s biggest competition.

A quick transition and some extra fluids and I was off on the MTB. The first part is on some small double tracks and dirt roads which seem to always climb ever so slightly just to punish the legs further. I had a time check to second at about 10 minutes so wasn’t too stressed but also knew last year the top 3 had all been within a minute or so on this last ride and I’d been giving it everything then. There is a short section of swamp which you can ride the majority of but it is super slow and as usual I managed to get almost completely buried at one point – oh to be 60 kilos and to float over the top of it!

Not long after I passed Kristen Lundgren who I had assumed I must have already passed. I was now much further on than when I passed the women’s leader the year before and still no sign of Elina. I was hoping I hadn’t missed seeing her earlier!

Another time check before the final climb and got news my lead was now about 7 minutes and yes Elina was still in front of me so that was a good thing. The final climb is almost all on twisting single track which is really fun riding and makes the climb fly by. About 2/3 of the way up I finally saw Elina a few turns up and it seemed to take me an age to catch up to her finally. She was looking strong and after a small chat I keep on at my pace, not wanting to lose too much more time to the chasers in case of a puncture or mechanical.

Once at the top it is some really fast tracks back down towards Åre, interspersed with a couple of short climbs. On the last of these a huge Moose and its calf wandered across the track only 50 metres in front. They are massive animals!

Onto the final section which is about 4km back into town there was a stiff headwind blowing now which made progress seem torturous but it wasn’t long before I was in town and heading up the final climb to the finish.

I’d managed to take a few more minutes off my record form last year and within 5 minutes Elina had also made it home, taking 8 minutes off the women’s record.

In the men’s section Andreas Svanebo improved one place from last year to second while Daniel Hansson came home third. John Anden who was second last year had been having a great race, being only a couple of minutes back in the kayak before having to withdraw after chest pains on the run and he was taken to hospital. Hopefully it turns out to be nothing serious and we see John racing again soon.

In the Women’s race Kristen Lundgren came home in 2nd, 9 minutes back but only 1 minute outside the old women’s record to improve a place from last year and Viktoria Wallin came home in 3rd after a hard day at the office.

It sounds as though her day had been going pretty smoothly until the first portage. We had only paddled the first rapid section and so she hadn’t seen the portages which are further down. She’d arrived slightly in front of Viktoria but misjudged the landing and lost some time when we had flipped up and subsequently had to empty her boat.

On the run she’d tagged along with Kristen Lundgren and they caught Viktoria about halfway up the main climb before she was able to make a small break on the downhill section and then kept extending that once she was on the bike.

A huge thanks to Magnus Åkerblad and his team for a really well run race. The level in Sweden is improving rapidly and this year also saw a record number of competitors. There were lots of personal bests with several people improving by over an hour on their times. Also thanks to Martin and Martin for the kayaks and support during the race.

For more information about the race and some photos you can follow the link below to get to race website in English.

http://www.areextremechallenge.se/haec_eng/ENGindex.asp

Up next is the Finnish Xterra Championships this Sunday before we head down to Roth in Germany for the main focus of this trip – the Challenge Roth Ironman on the 12th of July.

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