Arctic Valley June 1

 This is the one I start training for shortly after the New Year. I run this one with intent to win, period. This was my 7th time running this and ended up being my 6th win. In 2021, it was held in October and I took 5 hard diggers on the downhill on the snow and ice fnishing second. That was the year there was just enough snow on the ice to clog my studs and render them near useless when I needed them most. This time Kami showed up again and she does really well at the ultras and trails. She's a downhill runner, I am a climber, so if I'm going to win, I need to pull away over the initial 6 mile climb. She started out strong and stuck with me to the 5 mile turnaround where we both even managed to pass Leonid before the turnaround who would eveltually be 3rd in the 5 miler. He knew I was going to have my work cut out for me as we both flew by. Shortly after, she dropped off a little bt it wasn't until that final 3km before the top where it hits th steepest grade that I was able to open it up. I had just under 2 minutes on her at that point and knew I was going to have to go eyeballs out on that downhill to get the job done. She never crept closer like she did last year on the downhill and finished about a minute and a half behind. I think she may not have fully recovered from the backyard ultra 2 weeks earlier where she ran over 3 hours to win for the women. I had invies to that but sat it out so as to keep my legspeed. That was the right strategy!