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16th World Masters Biathlon Championships Recap

16^th World Master Biathlon Championships 2013 – Kontiolati Finland

This was an amazing trip, filled with ups and downs, but an experience I will not forget.  There were a few slight delays with luggage, but it all worked out and we only lost a day.  We had built in some buffer travel time, so didn’t really affect us, other then $$ and some frustrations.  (Kyle, Dean and Walter ended up buying a new plan ticket from Frankfurt to Helsinki…) We had 3 days to get acclimated, skiing, shooting and getting to know the range and track.  We could feel the extra O2, now that we were at 400ft instead of 9000ft.  Different skiing then at 9k for sure…  Mental note to work on ski speed on / off snow before we head back next year.

The venue is world class, as they do hold a World Cup there each year and will have the IBU World Championships in 2015.   Race organizers are awesome, and the friendliest people you ever meet.  We shared a Wax cabin with Norway, Germany, Latvia, Australia  and changing room with Norway and Aussies.  They all were great people to be around and made some good friends.   The range with 30+ targets was amazing.  Electronic targets that self set after shooting 5 rounds.  We need these.  I thought that I would be disappointed by the track, since we were only doing 2km loops each time.  However, they did not disappoint.  We had two loops totally different.  “A” loop was just this rolling terrain that was balls out V2 the entire way.  Then B loop we drop down near the lake at 40+mph and had this serpentine climb out that was full on  V1, and a step midway that you could slam a couple V2 strokes in to get your speed up before climbing the rest of the way up.  Then multiple short steep bridges we skied over and under.  It was a small section of what the World Cup guy’s ski but good addition.  By no means were we disappointed in the shortness of the loops, especially when a couple of the guy’s would put a 1min per lap on you !  (legal speed ?)

The sprint for me was great.  My ski speed was still a little slow, but I only missed one in Prone,  struggled in standing and missed 2.  After my penalty loops, I held on the last lap to finish in 9^th overall.  I met my trip goal of top 10 !  On top of the World !

The Relay I would rather forget… we put way too much pressure on ourselves, thinking we really could do well.  All that pressure turned into poor shooting, even with the extra relay rounds.  It was some of my worst shooting in the last 3 years.  Walter was skiing fast that day, so he managed to keep us off the bottom.  We had to race with the 35-44 age group, since both Kyle and Walter not yet made the 45 cut off.  So there were some fast 35+ guy’s out there and a couple just off the IBU cup.  We pimped Dean off to the Aussies and the USA National Guard guy that made the trip.  They managed to do quite well in their age grouped relay.  Dean shot really well all week !

Saturday Rest day !  Amazing I normally don’t get tired legs from back to back races or two sprints back to back, but I think due to the extra O2, ability to go faster,  my legs were trashed. We were more limited by our legs then lungs.   I spent an hour 1/2  skiing zone 1 that day, which in Colorado is very had to do at 9k ft.  We all got in some good shooting and our confidence came back from the previous day’s relay.

The Individual was another great race.  Still skiing the same A / B loops, but now we get to do A, B, A, B, A… , consisting of prone, standing, prone, standing.  I was happy with my prone shooting, only missing 1 each time, but really struggled in standing and had to take extra seconds to make my shots.  I missed 2 each time, but they were hard fought and wasted time on the mat.  My legs had seemed to recover, and my ski speeds were up.  I think it was the fastest I had skied the entire trip.  The good shooting and ski speeds landed me in 8^th.  Oh Snap !  Two races meeting my goal of Top 10.  Not bad for having one of the worst Summers for fitness and just never felt good all year.  I managed to pull something together the weeks leading to Finland and had some good races.

After some pictures, quick storage waxing, and good bye, we re-packed all our gear at the venue and headed to the airport.  2hrs early I mind you and only to find out there was only 1 other person at the airport… The café attendant.  We ended up watching the entire Happy Gilmore movie before someone showed up to check us in.  An Overnight in Helsinki and uneventful flights back to Denver.

There really wasn’t much time for us to see or visit, as far as tourism in Joensuu.  Our daily agenda consisted of eating breakfast, rest, drive to range, wax, ski / shoot, change, drive back to Hotel, rest, eat dinner and go to bed.  Uneventful, but living the World Cup life…  Not much to see either as no tourist shops any place and even the museum was closed.  There are about 70K people in Joensuu and I think 30k are from the college.  I would think there may be more open and stuff to see in the summer, but wouldn’t count on it.  Lots of lakes every place so I’m sure they have bird sized mosquitoes and lots of fishing.  Not a tourist destination, but beautiful area for sure.  The trees and forest reminded me a lot of Minnesota.  Only 30km from Russian border, so Russian’s drove and brought their wax techs, fleet of skis, and dedicated coaches…  They take it serious, as you could tell by the round the clock wax tech’s testing the fleet of ski’s.  The food was good, and not the normal Finish food I would think of (Fish).  There was some Reindeer that was eaten (Rudolf I’m sure), potato cakes, pastries and great Bread !  Some cow cheek, and Reindeer liver, but other than that just standard food.  (good quality) Coffee kinda sucked.  Think they forgot to finish roasting it, as it was still green and tasted very sour.  Our hotel was great, with good beds, quite rooms and just overall comfortable.  I’ve been in many place in the US were I wasn’t as comfortable as I was here.

I wasn’t sure if or when I would go back, but now I’m pretty sure I will go back to seek my revenge on the Russian’s and Latvian that placed in front of me.  Between guy's from CO, MT and CA, we should have a very strong group of guy’s going next year.

New Clothing

OK,  Ya'll.  We're going to ROCK this season.  Kirk's new jersey rework is looking Really Hot.  (Less white MIGHT be a bit more 'Cross-friendly as well).  

Get your orders to the man.  Don't be stuck in the "old" kit.  Geeze.

Flying the team colors...literally

Finally, a cyclocross course with jumps!  And I mean actual wooden ramps with a gap in between!
OK, the gap jump was pretty tame, but still technically a gap jump.  Brent S. and I both raced the Mens B race at Cult Cross in Eagle on March 31, and a good time was had by all.  Fun technical course, small field, no timing chips or bureaucracy, and perfect weather.  If there had been a team points classification, we would have taken top honors.  (I think we were the only two racers in the field from the same team.)  Results here.
And of course, highlight video here.

Finland Resuts

The Nordic Boys are Back from the IBU World Masters Biathlon Championships in Finland.  Reports are it was a great trip,  sadly,  few Russians were harmed in the making of said trip.

Some Good to Stellar results,  including podium near-misses by Dean Cahow,  and solid results from Kirk & Kyle.  Good job flying the flag on an international stage,  boys!    Way to ski fast & shoot straight.

Sprint, FINAL RESULTS
21.03.2013

Men 40 - 6,0 km

Rank	No	Name	Nation / Club	Penalty	Time	Diff
1	112	KASHTANKIN Aleksandr	Russia/ulyanovsk	1 4	21.42,9	0,0
2	111	NEIMANIS Gatis	Latvia	0 1	22.23,0	40,1
3	114	PAIVIN Artem	Russia/kontu	1 2	22.45,0	1.02,1
4	119	KLYUKIN Evgeny	Russia	1 3	22.48,6	1.05,7
5	115	SAASTAMOINEN Pasi	Halikon Hakoniskat	0 3	23.01,4	1.18,5
6	125	PEKHTEREV Yury	Russia/moscow	1 2	23.34,6	1.51,7
7	123	SOBOLEV Mikhail	Russia/murmansk	4 3	23.40,1	1.57,2
8	120	CHISTILIN Sergey	Russia/kontu	1 3	24.06,8	2.23,9
9	121	WARWICK Walter	Usa	2 2	24.55,0	3.12,1
10	129	SEREGIN Sergey	Russia/khanty-mansiysk	1 4	25.15,7	3.32,8
11	127	KAZAKOV Sergey	Russia	3 2	25.19,3	3.36,4
12	113	KOLESNIKOV Sergey	Russia/moscow	4 0	25.23,0	3.40,1
13	118	TURTINEN Pauli	Oulun Hiihtoseura	3 4	25.39,1	3.56,2
14	107	ZOLOTUKCHIN Vyacheslav	Russia/st Petersburg	3 1	25.48,4	4.05,5
15	117	BOSCHEN Kyle	Usa	2 3	26.13,5	4.30,6
16	128	FEDORTCOV Kirill	Russia/murmansk	4 4	27.13,7	5.30,8
17	116	ALEKSEEV Evgenii	Russia	2 3	27.52,3	6.09,4
18	122	GRUZDEV Viacheslav	Russia	3 4	28.48,5	7.05,6

Men 45 - 6,0 km

Rank	No	Name	Nation / Club	Penalty	Time	Diff
1	101	TIKHONOV Gennady	Russia/moscow	3 2	22.45,8	0,0
2	104	MIRONYUK Alexander	Russia/kontu	2 1	23.21,2	35,4
3	91	BUTYRIN Mikhail	Russia	1 3	24.23,7	1.37,9
4	93	NEIMANIS Janis	Latvia	3 2	24.42,0	1.56,2
5	109	ALFERYEV Victor	Russia/murmansk	5 4	24.51,6	2.05,8
6	102	LYASHOK Aleksander	Russia/kontu	4 2	24.54,3	2.08,5
7	90	SEMARIN Viktor	Estonia	2 3	24.57,3	2.11,5
8	94	SAVOLAINEN Esa	Iisveden Kiri	3 2	25.20,6	2.34,8
9	106	OLSON Kirk	Usa	1 3	25.48,8	3.03,0
10	133	GORLOVICH Mikhail	Estonia	2 4	25.58,3	3.12,5
11	99	DUDAREV Andrei	Estonia	3 2	26.15,5	3.29,7
12	97	GROTNES Christian	Norway	4 5	26.40,9	3.55,1
13	135	PETELIN Igor	Russia/khanty-mansiysk	3 4	26.55,1	4.09,3
14	96	MOCK Lothar	Switzerland	5 3	27.24,1	4.38,3
15	92	PETUKHOV Vadim	Russia/st Petersburg	3 0	27.29,7	4.43,9
16	108	BALK Jorma	Ähtärin Seudun Ampujat	1 3	29.55,5	7.09,7
17	98	YLI-PYKY Petri	Saloisten Reipas	4 4	30.08,0	7.22,2
18	134	UDOVYCHENKO Valerii	Ukraine	5 5	34.15,4	11.29,6

Men 55 - 6,0 km Rank No Name Nation / Club Penalty Time Diff 1 61 ANTTILA Seppo Hollolan Urheilijat -46 1 2 23.51,7 0,0 2 71 KETTUNEN Esko Hollolan Urheilijat -46 0 0 24.12,2 20,5 3 39 KYUNTIEV Andrey Russia/murmansk 4 2 25.38,7 1.47,0 4 62 CAHOW William Usa 2 1 26.05,9 2.14,2 5 70 PIIRAINEN Tapani Kuhmo Ski 2 4 26.48,5 2.56,8 6 66 KLEMETS Tommy If Fyren 2 3 27.09,9 3.18,2 7 37 SPIRIN Vladimir Russia/khanty-mansiysk 4 3 27.40,4 3.48,7 8 68 KATTELUS Keijo Vehkalahden Veikot 4 2 27.45,2 3.53,5 9 72 TULS Andris Latvia 2 1 27.51,3 3.59,6 10 69 KORJONEN Aimo Vehniän Visa 1 3 28.25,8 4.34,1 11 67 KUVAJA Esa Suomussalmen Rasti 4 3 29.04,6 5.12,9 12 64 BARTSCH Friedrich Australia 0 2 29.26,4 5.34,7 13 38 SEREDA Viktor Russia/khanty-mansiysk 2 3 29.37,4 5.45,7 14 65 NIEMI Markku Ähtärin Seudun Ampujat 2 1 30.21,1 6.29,4 15 73 SÄLLINEN Alpo Kuikan Kisailijat 3 5 31.51,9 8.00,2 16 36 KALASHNIKOV Boris Russia/khanty-mansiysk 5 5 32.49,3 8.57,6 Relay, FINAL RESULTS 22.03.2013 Men 35 - 3x6 km Rank No Name Nation / Club Penalty Time Diff 1 11 Kontiolahden Urheilijat KontU 5 1.04.44,8 0,0 2 5 RUS Ulyanovsk RUS 5 1.06.51,7 2.06,9 3 4 Russia-SPB-KontU MIX 3 1.07.01,4 2.16,6 4 6 RUS Moscov RUS 4 1.07.27,0 2.42,2 5 3 Finland 1 FIN 2 1.09.34,3 4.49,5 6 8 RUS St.Petersburg/Bratsk RUS 5 1.10.00,8 5.16,0 7 2 LAT-GER-ITA MIX 11 1.12.01,1 7.16,3 8 1 Saloisten Reipas FIN SalRe 4 1.12.34,6 7.49,8 9 9 Murmansk RUS 11 1.14.46,8 10.02,0 10 7 Colorado Biathlon Club USA 8 1.16.19,0 11.34,2 11 10 Russia-Tver-Saratov RUS 8 1.16.23,6 11.38,8 Individual, FINAL RESULTS 24.03.2013 Men 40 - 10,0 km Rank No Name Nation / Club Penalty Time Diff 1 110 PULKKINEN Keijo Mikkelin Hiihtäjät 0 2 0 1 38.41,1 0,0 2 112 KASHTANKIN Aleksandr Russia/ulyanovsk 0 2 2 2 39.43,9 1.02,8 3 128 FEDORTCOV Kirill Russia/murmansk 2 1 0 0 41.53,1 3.12,0 4 119 KLYUKIN Evgeny Russia 3 2 2 1 43.18,6 4.37,5 5 125 PEKHTEREV Yury Russia/moscow 1 1 2 1 43.25,2 4.44,1 6 118 TURTINEN Pauli Oulun Hiihtoseura 3 1 2 2 44.14,8 5.33,7 7 114 PAIVIN Artem Russia/kontu 1 2 2 3 44.45,9 6.04,8 8 123 SOBOLEV Mikhail Russia/murmansk 2 2 1 3 45.08,0 6.26,9 9 107 ZOLOTUKCHIN Vyacheslav Russia/st Petersburg 0 3 1 2 45.09,7 6.28,6 10 126 STARODUBTCEV Aleksei Russia/murmansk 2 2 1 1 45.16,5 6.35,4 11 111 NEIMANIS Gatis Latvia 3 1 2 1 45.22,5 6.41,4 12 115 SAASTAMOINEN Pasi Halikon Hakoniskat 1 2 2 4 46.06,5 7.25,4 13 121 WARWICK Walter Usa 0 4 2 2 47.31,0 8.49,9 14 127 KAZAKOV Sergey Russia 3 3 2 2 49.11,1 10.30,0 15 117 BOSCHEN Kyle Usa 1 3 1 4 49.20,8 10.39,7 16 113 KOLESNIKOV Sergey Russia/moscow 3 2 3 2 49.24,7 10.43,6 17 129 SEREGIN Sergey Russia/khanty-mansiysk 2 3 4 5 52.22,9 13.41,8 DNS 116 ALEKSEEV Evgenii Russia DNS 120 CHISTILIN Sergey Russia/kontu DNS 122 GRUZDEV Viacheslav Russia DNS 130 POPOV Sergey Russia/murmansk Men 45 - 10,0 km Rank No Name Nation / Club Penalty Time Diff 1 102 LYASHOK Aleksander Russia/kontu 1 0 1 0 38.47,0 0,0 2 101 TIKHONOV Gennady Russia/moscow 0 3 0 1 39.23,7 36,7 3 109 ALFERYEV Victor Russia/murmansk 1 0 2 1 39.44,3 57,3 4 93 NEIMANIS Janis Latvia 0 3 1 3 44.30,0 5.43,0 5 91 BUTYRIN Mikhail Russia 3 1 1 2 44.48,8 6.01,8 6 96 MOCK Lothar Switzerland 0 2 1 1 44.53,2 6.06,2 7 104 MIRONYUK Alexander Russia/kontu 1 1 1 4 45.25,0 6.38,0 8 106 OLSON Kirk Usa 1 2 1 2 46.06,7 7.19,7 9 105 GORLOVICH Mikhail Estonia 2 2 1 3 47.28,9 8.41,9 10 90 SEMARIN Viktor Estonia 1 4 3 2 47.32,3 8.45,3 11 92 PETUKHOV Vadim Russia/st Petersburg 3 2 1 1 49.34,9 10.47,9 12 94 SAVOLAINEN Esa Iisveden Kiri 2 3 1 4 49.35,2 10.48,2 13 99 DUDAREV Andrei Estonia 2 2 2 3 49.53,1 11.06,1 14 108 BALK Jorma Ähtärin Seudun Ampujat 2 2 0 1 50.03,1 11.16,1 15 97 GROTNES Christian Norway 2 3 1 4 50.10,1 11.23,1 16 135 PETELIN Igor Russia/khanty-mansiysk 2 4 0 3 50.14,0 11.27,0 17 98 YLI-PYKY Petri Saloisten Reipas 4 3 4 3 57.24,3 18.37,3 DNS 100 RYBAKOV Sergey Russia/st Petersburg DNS 134 UDOVYCHENKO Valerii Ukraine Men 55 - 10,0 km Rank No Name Nation / Club Penalty Time Diff 1 61 ANTTILA Seppo Hollolan Urheilijat -46 2 1 1 3 45.36,4 0,0 2 67 KUVAJA Esa Suomussalmen Rasti 1 3 0 2 48.27,0 2.50,6 3 71 KETTUNEN Esko Hollolan Urheilijat -46 2 1 3 2 50.09,9 4.33,5 4 62 CAHOW William Usa 1 4 1 2 50.36,0 4.59,6 5 66 KLEMETS Tommy If Fyren 2 2 2 3 50.54,4 5.18,0 6 69 KORJONEN Aimo Vehniän Visa 1 2 1 3 51.15,2 5.38,8 7 70 PIIRAINEN Tapani Kuhmo Ski 1 4 3 3 51.17,2 5.40,8 8 73 SÄLLINEN Alpo Kuikan Kisailijat 1 4 1 2 51.27,5 5.51,1 9 68 KATTELUS Keijo Vehkalahden Veikot 3 3 2 3 51.58,4 6.22,0 10 39 KYUNTIEV Andrey Russia/murmansk 4 0 3 5 52.09,4 6.33,0 11 72 TULS Andris Latvia 1 3 2 2 52.33,2 6.56,8 12 65 NIEMI Markku Ähtärin Seudun Ampujat 0 1 2 2 54.20,7 8.44,3 13 38 SEREDA Viktor Russia/khanty-mansiysk 1 3 2 4 54.40,9 9.04,5 14 64 BARTSCH Friedrich Australia 1 3 1 2 55.01,5 9.25,1 15 37 SPIRIN Vladimir Russia/khanty-mansiysk 4 4 3 4 56.11,4 10.35,0 DNS 36 KALASHNIKOV Boris Russia/khanty-mansiysk