Weekly supplement squad of "hopeless skiers" takes on the Finlandia Ski Marathon - and wins

Unofficial star of the entire event was Poo from Thailand

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By Sami Sykkö in Lahti
     
      It is 9:40 on the morning of Saturday February 25th. The location is the ski-stadium of the Lahti Sports Centre, site of the 2001 Nordic Skiing World Championships and of an annual international winter sports competition each March.
      Skiers with bib-numbers from 2500 to 3300 assemble in their pen to await the signal to start the 2006 Finlandia Ski Marathon.
      Close to the grandstand, a large yellow canvas advertises a "skiing for dummies" school, with a picture of a stumbling Thai skier, a woman who goes by the nickname of "Poo".
     
Poo is one of the Skiing for Dummies students.
      Last August, Helsingin Sanomat's weekly supplement Nyt and Radio Helsinki got together on a project to find the most absolutely hopeless skiers in Finland, a country where the skill of cross-country skiing is traditionally passed on in mother's milk.
      Those who were selected for the intensive course faced a tough final exam: participation in the Finlandia Ski Marathon, 62 kilometres from start to finish.
      The quintet chosen for the test was composed of remedial teacher Tuire Sipilä, former airline stewardess and current student Chadsuda Achavasmit, a.k.a. Poo, DJ Veikko Nurmi, lawyer Jalmari Sasi, and radio personality "General" Njassa, also known as Jyrki Jantunen.
     
None of them could put one ski in front of the other to save their lives.
      The 28-year-old Poo had never even been on skis before.
      However the students did get themselves a coach from out of the top drawer: the skiing dummies were taken under the wing of Harri Kirvesniemi, a six-time Olympic medallist and former World Champion.
      During the autumn and winter months, the physical condition of the five ski-students has been tested three times at the Vierumäki Sports Institute, they have tried out training on roller-skis, attended the Ski Expo at the Helsinki Fair Centre, and one thigh muscle has terminated its contract.
      The thigh problem befell Tuire Sipilä on Christmas Eve, and hence she is in the stands rather than on the track for the Finlandia Marathon. She is hobbling around with the aid of a stick. One look at her face tells you she is not best pleased.
     
By February, all the skiing neophytes know how it is done. Coach Kirvesniemi says that each and every one of them is in good enough shape to make it through the 62-kilometre endurance test.
      Getting there is all about technique and having the patience to listen to your body. Just before the off, Kirvesniemi stresses once again to his charges the importance of not going off too fast.
      "Just let the engine warm up, nice and steady."
     
Poo explains her game-plan: "I'll take it easy at the beginning and try to conserve energy. When I get onto the flat, then I can start to pick up the pace."
      The starting gun goes.
      Just over three hours later, at around 13:00, the pupils reach Hollola Church. Twenty-five kilometres under their belts. Poo smiles brightly as she skis past. A dozen or so supporters have arrived to cheer her on.
     
At roughly the same time, the winners of the race (for some it IS a race) are stepping up onto the podium in the stadium back in Lahti.
      Out of the 5,366 taking part, victory in the men's event goes to Andrus Veerpalu from Estonia. The same man who collected the Olympic gold medal from Torino in the 15 km Classic event. His time in Lahti is 2:54:37.
      The women's title goes to Satu Salonen in a time of just over three and a half hours.
     
As the winners troop out of the stadium, the news filters through that the skiing school members are having trouble with their waxing. They are not getting enough glide. "It's very difficult going out there", says Kirvesniemi, shaking his head.
      The sun is already beginning to set, and around 3,200 skiers have arrived back in the stadium to cross the finish line. The time is just after 4 p.m. when Jalmari, the first of the four skiing duffers appears down the steep hill leading to the stadium. A couple of minutes later and he is followed by Veikko, Poo, and Njassa.
      Excellent! All four have made it.
      Poo's sister has come over from London to provide moral support, and a clutch of other Thai friends appear by magic at the side of the track. Cowbells ring as the skiers come up the finishing straight.
      The MC announces over the loudspeakers: "Thailand is not known as a great cross-country skiing nation, but who knows what the future holds. Let's hope that this effort crosses the news threshold back in Thailand, too."
     
When Poo crosses the line, the clock is stopped at just under six hours and forty minutes from when she set off.
      She had loads of time to spare: the timekeepers are on duty until 7 p.m., and that is still more than two hours away. Her precise time is 6:38:42, and she places 3,296th.
      "Back in the autumn, I wouldn't have believed I'd see this", says a delighted Kirvesniemi about his protégés, who have all arrived within a couple of minutes of each other.
      At the finish, in true Olympic style Poo gets a Thai flag thrust into her hands. She is lifted into the air. The TV cameras roll. Someone offers a glass of bubbly.
      I suppose it's pointless to ask the clichéd ‘How do you feel now?'
     
A little later, and someone is boasting that next year Poo is going to do the trip in under five hours.
      Poo, learn to live with it. This is the sort of nutty skiing country you have landed up in.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 26.2.2006


Links:
  Finlandia Ski Marathon 2006
  Radio Helsinki: Chadsuda Achavasmit

SAMI SYKKÖ / Helsingin Sanomat
sami.sykko@hs.fi