Elisabeth Edland (52) vant Finnmarksløpet 500 km foran Marianne Skjøthaug, med Bernd Hilmich og Jørn Sødahl Kvam på de neste plassene
Skrevet av: Niels Westphal / Vanessa Quinche (transl.)
Foto: Sten Tony Hansen og Anita B. Svaler
Dato: 15.03.2011 06:30
Elisabeth Edland (52) is Norwegian Champion in long distance sled dog racing 8-dog class.
After an extremely tough fight with Marianne Skjøthaug during the last 118 kilometers to Alta, she crossed the finish line in Alta at 3.11 pm as the winner of the 2011 Finnmarksløpet 500km. A wonderful revenge for Edland after having taken second place at the World Championship behind Skjøthaug.
- I worked soo hard the whole way and did not realize until before I got to the high school, minutes before the finish line, that I could win, says a smilling and happy Elisabeth Edland. In the end she pulled ahead and won with a 40 minute difference in front of Skjøthaug.
The male competitors followed
Behind the two ladies several male mushers followed. Nearest was Bernd Helmich. He crossed the finish line in 3rd position one and a half hours after Edland and Jørn Sødahl Kvam took 4th place just half an hour after Helmich.
Never been tighter
After the four first, the mushers streamed in one after the other. It has never been tighter between the FL-500 mushers. 28 teams had crossed the finish line 7 hours after the winner. The level of competition in the FL-500 is sky high with lots of incredibly talented mushers.
Tough fight for rookie of the year
Many first time participants, or rookies, also asserted themselves very well this year. Rookie of the year is a woman. Eline Lihagen took 14th place, just 3 hours and 35 minutes after the winner.