newsminer.com

FAIRBANKS — Cross-country ski racing is around the corner, as the 13th annual Flint Hills Resources Alaska Town Race Series gets under way with the Fairbanks Youth Sports season opener Nov. 22 at the Birch Hill Recreation Area.

“For 13 years in a row, the tremendous support of our local business community has made it possible for young people to race for free in this series,” Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks President Dan Johnson said in a press release.

The goal of the series is to provide a quality race experience in a low-pressure atmosphere. More than 400 entries are anticipated for the opener.

“This is a race series for everyone from little kids just starting to ski to senior citizens who still like to get out for some exercise and put a number on,” NSCF Competition Program Director John Estle said in the release.

Racing begins at the Jim Whisenhant Ski Trails on Nov. 22 with the kindergarten-second grade class at 11 a.m., followed by grades 3-4, grades 5-6 and grades 7-8.

High school and adult mass starts in the freestyle technique will follow, with women racing 5 kilometers and men going 7.5K. About 10 local and out-of-town high schools are expected to participate.

The race will also serve as the first half of the Alaska Nordic Cup between the Alaska Nanooks and University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves.

Entry is free for all students from kindergarten through high school. School students should sign up through their school club or team. Adults can pick up and drop off entry forms at Beaver Sports and Raven Cross Country. Entry forms are also available at Goldstream Sports, Woolly Rhino and the Birch Hill Warming Hut.

Race entries close at 5 p.m. Nov. 19. There will be no race-day entries.

The other races in the series are the Fairbanks Youth Sports Classic Sprint on Dec. 6; the Woolly Rhino Classic on Jan. 17; and the Auto Service Company Subaru Trophy Skiathlon on Jan. 31.

For more information on the Town Race Series, call the NSCF race program at 474-4242 or contact them at sportalaska@gci.net.

Contact the News-Miner sports department at 459-7581.