How fast can cross-country skiiers run a 10k?

I never heard of Koch running, but no doubt he would have been good, especially given his excellent striding result in 1980. I did hear he like to bike train without the saddle on the bike, so he had to stand on the pedals all the time. Lots of roller skiing too, no doubt.

Do you have any recollection of what Aalberg did for 10k and marathon? To be an All-American at running cross country you pretty much have to be in low 29 shape or faster, so he was at least that good. And I'm pretty sure I saw some results where he ran a fast marathon in the mid-late 1980s.

worldrecordtrack wrote:

I'm a norwegian and I know that many of the norwegian CC skiers have run fast on the longer distances. The best norwegian time recorded of a skier is the world and olympic champion Anders Aukland. I think his personal bests are: 1500:3.46, 3000: 8.02, 5000: 13.50 and 10k: 29.30.

Bjørn Dæhlie, the 8 times olympic gold winner has a personal best of 30.31 in the 10k and was also sub 2.00 on the 800 once or twice.

A few others: olympic champion 1968 Grenoble, Ole Ellefsæter ran 3k in 8.21 and Pål G.Mikkelsplass, who I personally know, 8.22, 14.29 as a junior and 29 something in the 10k. He is world champion and also got a silver medal in Calgary 88.

Think this proves that many of the skiers are very fit. Mikkelsplass also told me once that a hard 5k was much harder than a 15k cross country race.

Sidebar:

Bjorn Borg ran an 8:06 3000.

I can't find a link quickly, but I find all over information about Borg's resting heart rate of 35.

Incidentally, I personally watched former NCAA hockey Hobey Baker winner (best player in DI), and decent pro player, Tony Hrkac, run a 4:26 1600 meters during hockey dryland training.

And Stefi Graf was said to be a 2:06 or so 800m runner as a junior.

No way! He was one of my favorite players when I first got into hockey (from San Jose...we didn't have many stars back in 91-92). Good work Tony!

Deutschbag wrote:

Incidentally, I personally watched former NCAA hockey Hobey Baker winner (best player in DI), and decent pro player, Tony Hrkac, run a 4:26 1600 meters during hockey dryland training.

jungleroy59 wrote:

One exception, Margot Hutchins, ran lots of roads last winter and won Whistlestop last fall in 2:57:49.

Margot trains hard running; I'm not sure she skis a whole lot. I never had the ambition to run 70-80 mpw in the winter in Houghton, but she does. I was up for Winter Carnival and we ran up the cog rail from the Tech mine to the Quincy lift house and back. The Tech guys packed it in there but Margot was off for more mileage. I'd be surprised if her marathon doesn't continue to come down.

Ray, did you get my message? Could be time for plan B.

I almost forgot about Jaqueline Gareau. Great runners don't fade away, they become skiers. I think she had a ski background in her earlier years. A few years ago she was mopping up in some Colorado races, racing at a near-elite level at age 45 or so, and also placed pretty well in the Bolder Boulder citizen's race (top 3).

worldrecordtrack wrote:

Mikkelsplass also told me once that a hard 5k was much harder than a 15k cross country race.

????? Did he really say a 5k is easier than a 15k ski race ???!!!??? I disagree.... Go do a 15k ski race and let me know what you think .....

No doubt world class nordic skiers are in insanely great athletes. In the summer and fall, leading up to the race season, running is a big part of training. I talked with some Norwegian national team members a few years ago. Their track workouts were as intense and any elite runners. It was\'nt uncommon for guys to throw up during a workout because it\'s all about going really hard thru the entire session. Long runs were anywhere around 3-5 hrs with a mix of road and trails....

I've done both lots of 15k's on skis and 5ks on the track/roads--the relative discomfort is high on both, but an all out running 5k usually will cause more discomfort. In skiing you get moments or a few minutes of intense agony when climbing, but it passes quickly as you change techniques or glide on the downhills. A 5k is usually quite tough from 2k on, and it's relentless.

Vex wrote:

worldrecordtrack wrote:

Mikkelsplass also told me once that a hard 5k was much harder than a 15k cross country race.

????? Did he really say a 5k is easier than a 15k ski race ???!!!??? I disagree.... Go do a 15k ski race and let me know what you think .....

No doubt world class nordic skiers are in insanely great athletes. In the summer and fall, leading up to the race season, running is a big part of training. I talked with some Norwegian national team members a few years ago. Their track workouts were as intense and any elite runners. It was'nt uncommon for guys to throw up during a workout because it's all about going really hard thru the entire session. Long runs were anywhere around 3-5 hrs with a mix of road and trails....

He told once that a hard 5k was harder than a 15k cc. I do some training in cc during the winter and I know how hard cc skiing is. So I don't actually understand how he could say so.

I can add that many of the norwegian skiers have produced some fine results on 3000m steeple chase as well. Probably because the event is very demanding and mentally tough, quite like a cc race.

Nordic skiing is more similar to cycling and rowing, in that the fatigue is a different kind of fatigue compared with running a 5000 track race, which is intense and produces quite a lot of trauma on the legs and body.

Cross country skiers can race a 15km race, and they will feel tired, but they will recover and then be in shape to ski another race a day or two later....in running it does not work like that - the trauma to the legs is much more devastating.....

So, again, we are talking about different kinds of fatigue.

Nordic skiing, cycling and rowing tax the muscles in the body more than running, and of course, there is little trauma to the body with nordic skiing.....at the end of a race, nordic skiers will push the envelope and go into the 'anaerobic zone' but most of the race is in the 'aerobic zone' which they have developed thanks to training 4-5 hours a day.....which you cannot do with running.

In the 50km 'freestyle' cross country ski even at the recent Torino Winter Olympics, it was interesting to note, that right up till the end, there were around 20 athletes in close contention.....and it was very aerobic, in that these athletes were capable of talking to the coaches on the sides during the event.

Ask a cross country skier how he feels after a race on skis, and he will admit that the recovery is much faster and better after cross country skiing, compared with running, which is a much more destructive sport because of the constant trauma induced by limited repetitive movements on selected body parts....

Deutschbag wrote:

Sidebar:

Bjorn Borg ran an 8:06 3000.

Was Borg also a serious runner? I find this pretty tough to believe. We all hear about so and so stud athlete running a 4:30 mile in practice. Most of the time I think those types of stories are BS, but they are certainly believable, as very talented athletes could run such a time off of just talent and a lot of crossover training. An 8:06 3K though is not fooling around, that equates to about 8:40 for a 2 mile. I cannot believe that a tennis player could run such a time just off of his tennis fitness, and will await some evidence of this claim (assuming he wasnt also a serious runner; I'm not that familiar with him).

Considering when he was playing tennis too, such a time would also suggest that he could have literally become a world class 5K runner within 6 months to a year of training. Not saying its impossible, but it sure is depressing if true. A lot of half-truths and rumors get thrown around on these boards, so some hard proof would be nice (5 or so minutes of googling didnt show any evidence of any type of running from Borg).

Its bullsh*t... He was already representing his country in tennis at age 16. So how he would be a 8:06 3k guy and play 4 hours of tennis a day is beyond me. The fact that it is not mentioned in any literature on Bjorg its most likely someones limited attempt at humour.

Also the comment about Stefi Graf is also cr8p. She started playing tennis when she was 4 years old and her father was a tennis coach so I doubt she was running 2:06 800m's although this claim is more beleivable than Bjorg running 8:06 for 3km.

Borg didn't run 8.06 for sure!!!

I've competed plenty of in running, rowing and cross-country ski races. I agree that the pounding factor in running is painful and destructive. But no way would I agree that any of these sports is harder or easier than the others. It's all about how hard you push yourself ... it's going to hurt plenty if you want to win. The comment about the Oly skiers being able to talk to coaches is off-base. Skiing employs the same drafting tecniques as bike racing, so if you're in the draft you can recover somewhat, but the main factor is simply the length of the event. Any elite marathoner would be capable of blurting out short sentences in the middle of a race, though not in the closing miles.

It really depends on the mechanics, Norways XC Ski super talent Petter Northug was/is only a mediocre runner(~6:10 2k steeple as a junior) because he has very big,muscular legs while i think Anders Auckland ran sub 14min 5ks before concentrating on XC Skiing.

Aukland also ran a 8:50 3k-steeplechase.

And want to add that a 6:10 steeplechase is not bad for a junior but Northug was demolishing the junior competition in XC Skiing world wide at the same time and also has already won some senior world cup races now at the age of 20.