THUNDER BAY – Alannah MacLean and Andy Shields have won a lot of ski races in their day.
But until Saturday, they had never captured the marquee 50-kilometre freestyle race at the Sleeping Giant Loppett.
It was a title that had escaped the duo, who each captured gold at the recent OUA Nordic championships, skiing for Lakehead University and who have each represented Canada on the international stage.
The wait is over.
Shields led all skiers, finishing with a time of 2:18:18, while MacLean was the top female skier in the race, crossing in 2:44:57, the 11th best overall time.
“I’ve been on the podium the last two years, but I’ve never taken the win. So I was really hoping that I was going to be able to do it this year,” said MacLean, a former member of the National Training and Development Centre-Thunder Bay team who is attending medical school at Lakehead University.
“The race couldn’t have gone better than it did out there.”
MacLean, who later this month plans to compete on the World Cup circuit in Quebec, said she’s not sure how she finds the time as she continues her studies to become a doctor.
“I have no idea how I keep skiing at the level I keep skiing at. I think the biggest thing is I love the sport. I love to be out here, I love to be competitive, that’s what keeps fuelling me,” she said. “And there’s no pressure for me to do well – but it seems to me I still have some speed left in my legs.”
Shields is in a similar boat.
At 28, he’s a rookie with the Thunderwolves program, he won gold, silver and bronze and will lead LU’s second-place men’s team into nationals in Silver Star, B.C. later this month.
The Loppet was a bit of a tune-up, and a chance to scratch the title off his skiing bucket list.
Shields said he pulled away fairly early and held on, as the sun burst through the Northern Ontario winter sky and slowed the course down considerably as the race went on.
“It was a little bit of a lonely ski,” Shields said. “I kind of pulled ahead of the rest of the guys 15 K into the race and then had a pretty good section for a while there. I felt really good, had a lot of energy. But I ran on empty with 10 K to go.
“So it was a scary win at the finish. I thought the guys were going to be coming up behind me. I managed to stay ahead right to the end and I’m pretty happy with that. Finally, I think this is my first Sleeping Giant Loppet win.”
Brothers Angus and Fergus Foster of Murillo were second and third respectively, while Lakehead’s Taij Mann took fourth and veteran Werner Schwar rounded out the top five.
Kim Rudd, of Plymouth, Minn. was second in the women’s race, with Kaministiquia’s Peters took third.
Paul Inkila took the men’s title in the 50-kilometre classic race, posting a time of 2:56:10, while Kerrie Berg of Bemidji, Minn. was the female winner in 3:08:50.
A total of 892 skiers took part in Saturday’s races, which also featured a family-friendly eight-kilometre event, 20- and 35-kilometre races and a 50-kilometre skiathalon, which was won by Ely, Minn.’s Tyler Fish.
