Thomas Hardy likes to push himself.
That’s part of the reason the Salmon Arm native took on the 30-kilometre distance of Nickel Plate Nordic Centre’s annual Loppet on Feb.6.
It was Hardy’s first time skiing at Nickel Plate and he said it was a good course.
“I had fun doing it. Felt good to come in first,” said Hardy, competing in the 18-29 age group, clocking in at one hour, 40 minutes and 24 seconds. “It felt like the training was paying off. It’s nice to get back into it.”
Hardy, one of 93 skiers aged six to 76 competing on Saturday, wanted to ski hard and feel good about what he did.
“I just wanted to see how it felt to ski a higher elevation,” said Hardy, who is trying to do as many Loppet series races as possible.
Franziska Plummer (40-49 age group) clocked the fastest women’s time of 1:57 in the 30-km distance.
Penticton’s Tom Evans, competing in the 40-49 age group, took first in the 30-km distance at 1:46:13. He was the first Nickel Plate racer on the men’s side to finish. He was battling with Tim Bell, who won the 30-39 age group.
“Tim Bell was right on my heels for most of the race. Him and I are usually pretty close,” said Evans. “It was a tough race. It’s always really close.”
Evans was happy with his performance, but describes himself as a “weekend warrior” now.
“I don’t put too much emphasis on the racing,” said Evans, who was joined by his young daughters, who did the 3.5-km distance. “It’s just for fun.”
Nickel Plate had 11 of its junior racers compete and some of their parents. Among them was Sol Jacques and Sarah Broder.
Jacques competed in the 7.5-km distance finishing in 35:18.
“It was a good race, I really liked it,” said Jacques, who then competed in a B.C. Cup race in Kamloops the next day. “It’s a pretty easy course. Not too many hills. It’s really fast too.”
Broder hit the trails because she said if she is putting kids on the line, she should as well. Broder completed the 15-km distance in 1:19:42, which she said was an improvement. She said the course was fantastic and the conditions were perfect.
“It was a great race today,” said Broder, who was inspired by the older athletes. “I can just keep on getting better.”
Fred Albrechtson, the club’s lone representative in the upcoming BC Winter Games in Penticton, Feb.25-28, was fourth with a time of 1:02:25. He used the race as training as he also competed in Kamloops the next day.
“It was pretty good,” said Albrechtson. “I think I did okay. I tried my best for just a training day.”
The Nickel Plate Nordic Centre thanked its many sponsors for their support as it wouldn’t be possible to hold the event without them.
Full results of the Loppet can be found at www.zone4.ca.