Skrevet av: Niels Westphal
Dato: 27.03.2015 15:55
Sigrid Ekran is number one! At 16:33 this afternoon she crossed the finish line in Alta and took a most convincing victory in this year’s World Championship and Finnmark Race 1000 kilometer. With that, she defended her World Champion title from 2011 as well as her FL-1000 Champion title from 2014.
Photo: Geir Stian A. Larsen
With eleven fresh'n'fit dogs in front of her sled, the 35-year old Sparbu woman could take in the applause from about 1,000 spectators in Alta. Sigrid Ekran is the first musher since 2003 to win the long Finnmark Race two consecutive years.
Photo: Steinar Vik
She used 6 days, 3 hours and 21 minutes to cover the 1100 km distance.
Amazing race
All from the start in Alta six days ago, Sigrid has seemed determined and focused. She has had fast running times ever since the outset. She has worked structured and calmly at the checkpoints, and never let her competitors, the media or the people anywhere stress her. She has handled wind, mild weather and challenging trails. Neither lack of sleep nor the extreme physical challenge it is to complete FL-1000, has taken any toll on her.
Photo: Dmitry Sharomov
She has stuck to her own plan all along. Even at the last checkpoint, only 55 kilometers from the finish line, she rested for more than an hour, not allowing herself to be affected by the fact that the competitors were closing in on her from behind.
Photo: Øyvind Nordal Næss
The Finnmark Race expert, Trond Ørslien is impressed with Sigrid Ekrans race, but even more so by her fabulous work with the dogs and their welfare.
- What sets Sigrid apart from the other mushers in this year’s Finnmarks Race can be summarized into two words: Trust and humility in relation to her dogs. They trust that they can do what she asks of them, and she is humble in the way that she treats them, he says.
Even race
Sigrid Ekran crossed the finish line with 11 dogs in her team. It goes to show that she has taken well care of her dogs throughout the race, never having fallen for the temptation to push them too hard. Her running times are remarkably consistent, and it is only in the mid-part of the race, going into the checkpoints in Neiden 1, Kirkenes and Ellentjern, that she allowed the dogs to increase the speed.
Experienced musher
Despite being the youngest winner of the Finnmark Race 1000 km last year, Sigrid Ekran is an experienced musher. She has completed the Finnmark Race four times since 2009, and has always finished top ten. She came in second in 2011, which was her best position until last year’s race. She has also competed three times in the Iditarod in Alaska, where she became “Rookie of the year “ in 2007.
In 2010 she won Femundløpet 600, and thus became Norwegian Champion in long-distance mushing. The following year she won race again, and this time she also became World Champion. Ekran is recognized for her excellent dog care, and received the Best Dog Care Award in 2011 and 2013.
Explorer
Sigrid Ekran is not only a musher, but also an explorer and has been part of several polar expeditions. She has crossed the Greenland ice shelf from east to west together with Bengt Rotmo in 2013. In 2008, she was part of the 60-day long Ellesmere Island expedition with dog sleds on the sea ice. From 2004 to 2008, she lived in Alaska, and it was during this time that she really began mushing. Sigrid has a Bachelor’s Degree from Hedmark University College, and a Master’s Degree from University of Alaska, Fairbanks.
Photo: Dmitry Sharomov