I can't imagine what it must feel like to ski 90 kilometers. In about 4 hours. To say the least, I am quite "un- athletic." This morning we walked down to the finish line to see the skiers, who began quite early this morning, cross the finish line and allow their bodies to stop the constant moving they had been engaged in for at least 4 hours. How does that feel? How can a body react to this? We saw some skiers collapse immediately upon crossing the line. 90 km is such an incredible distance.
The winners (one man and one woman) were greeted with the victory wreath and a bronze statue of a bust. (Yeah, it looked pretty heavy to me- I can't imagine holding on to something like that after skiing for so long.) Of course they were also given a kiss. From what I can tell each year one man and one woman are chosen as what we might call "Vasaloppet Royalty" in the U.S. They stand there and look cute in traditional folk costumes and get to kiss the victors upon their cross of the finish line. (How do I get picked to do this?!)
I didn't realize that there would be two awards ceremonies- one for the man and one for the woman winners. After the first one, we assumed it was all over. Then we heard on the speakers that Jenny was coming, Jenny was coming! I looked over and say a Swedish flag with the words "Jenny Hansson" written across it. This must have been her friends and family. We decided we should probably stick around a bit, and I'm so glad we did.
I felt a little sorry for the skiers who were finishing as the awards ceremony happened as it seemed like they were forgotten. I can't imagine how very rewarding it must feel to be able to say, "Yeah, I just skied 90 kilometers."
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