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

I would say. Slim skiiers like Aukland are capable of 29.30-30.00 and the heavier ones 30.45-31.15

gorach wrote:

I would say. Slim skiiers like Aukland are capable of 29.30-30.00 and the heavier ones 30.45-31.15

Aukland I think has a PR faster than 29:30... certainly his 5k and 3k PRs are better equivalents. I'm pretty sure Aukland was Norwegian national champ on the track and in XC before ever winning a title in skiing, even though that is his main sport now. Ivan Batory from Slovakia ran the world mountain trophy and finished about 10th. Ole Einar Bjorndalen was a very good runner too, somewhere around 8 flat 3k. Many top class skiers couldn't come close to 31 flat for 10k on the track because they are simply too big. Upper body power is a big deal in modern skiing.

When living in Cannes (South of France) between 1987-1993 I competed for the local track club - A.C. Cannes.

At the time there was a pretty good Junior athlete in the club, by the name of Rene Rovera - who ran around 1:51/800 and around 3:52/1500. Rene was always 'bigger' than your average athlete - about 1.83/70 kilos - at the time

Around 1990, Rene became a triathlete - within a couple of years showing phenomenal progress in the event, so much so that he finished 8th in the Ironman in Hawaii - with one of the quickest marathon times (sub. 3 hrs)....

It was interesting that Rene had to learn how to swim, because despite living in Cannes (famous for its beaches) - he had never really swum....beyond a few metres....

After switching to the triathlon (training about 5-6 hours a day) Rene would often 'jump' into road races - to keep in shape, and post times like 31:20 for 10km and even winning a hilly half marathon in Digne (France) in 1:08!

The interesting thing is that he still ran well, despite an increase in weight...as a triathlete Rene shifted to weigh between 75-80 kilos of muscle......which did little to slow him down.

In a recent conversation with Rene (now close to 39 years old and still running around 32' for 10km road races), he told me that his 'secret' was to always remember that all running - even long distance running - involves speed - and so he would practice strides and intervals (repeat 1000's in around 3 mins. with 1.30 rest) even as a triathlete.

If Rene had been a better swimmer, he would have finished even higher in Iron Man type events....

A magnificent athlete, and one who carries his present weight (6ft/176 pounds) very well - recently running 32" for 10km road race (Cannes, Feb. 2006) despite weighing the scales at 78 kilos (close to 180 pounds!). He is all muscle and carries no fat.....very low body fat.

According to the norwegian athletics federeations statistics, Aukland has a personla best of 29.45.82. And yes, he is norwegian champ on 10k.

I know this is an old thread, but it's an interesting one. It seems like a lot of top North American skiers (Past and Present) run/ ran something like 31 for the 10k. Ex: Devon Kershaw, Pete Vordenberg, Kris Freeman, Graeme Killick. As for Auckland, the guy had the body of a long-distance runner, and his times show that. There's no way he would be as competitive a skier today as he was in the 90's/ early 2000's.

yes it is but I see your point

Jim Galanes, Olympic cross country skier in 76, 80, and 84, still holds the course record at Anchorage's Arctic Valley Run. 12.6 mile run, 6.3 miles and 2500' climb to the top of the mountain, 6.3 miles down. Set the record of 1:06:44 way back in 1982. Most years nobody even comes remotely close to his time.

A recent grad wrote:

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).

Hehe! I can ensure that Borg never ran a 3000m at 8:06 .........but he was a tremendous all around fit athlete to be a tennis player. There was a TV -show called "Superstars" in Sweden where stars from different sports competed in different sports. Björn Borg won that competition.

The one XC skier who has the highest vo2 max ever recorded has a 30 min 10k pr

Kris Freeman and his brother Justin Freeman have been regular top 10 finishers in the Mt Washington hillclimb runnung race. Justin was in the salt lake olympics and I just read ran a 31:18 at age 38.