By Devin L. Ward
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After an all too long (or too short, depending on your perspective) off-season, we’re back in Ruka for the women’s 10-kilometer interval-start classic race. The venue delivered winter wonderland views without the incredibly cold temperatures we’ve seen here in some previous years.
In the lead-up to the 2026 Milan–Cortina Winter Olympics, I’m particularly interested to see how athletes will pace themselves through Period 1. Last season, we saw some athletes, including Frida Karlsson (Sweden) and Ebba Andersson (Sweden), among others, sit out more than a few races, a strategy that seemed to pay off in hardware come World Championships. By contrast, the start list today was full, and the results provide an interesting benchmark for the start of the racing season.
Karlsson hammered this race start to finish, showing a fairly seamless connection to the same form we saw from her last season (I’m thinking in particular here about her performance at the 2025 Les Rousses World Cup 20-kilometre mass start classic race, where she won by nearly 90 seconds).
10.5 seconds behind Karlsson, Heidi Weng (Norway) only got faster through the race, climbing from 16th position at the first timing point steadily up to second. Moa Ilar (Sweden) finished in third (+18.3) on a course that evidently suits her (she finished fourth in the same race in 2023). Although there is no 10-kilometer classic race for the Olympics, I still think this sets us up well for some close racing in the 50-kilometer classic mass start.
The top-finishing American was Jessie Diggins in fifth place. Fifth (+27.6) is a career-best finish in Ruka classic races for Diggins, in spite of skis that didn’t look ideal on one climb.
Keeping a bigger perspective, Diggins told press, “My goals for the whole season are to be happy, healthy and in the present moment. Really soak it in, because this is the last time I get to do this, and that’s really special to me. And so, I was just thinking about going out there and smashing a 10k in Ruka one last time and laying it all out. And, as usual, in a race one of my goals is to cross the finish line with nothing left; and today, I did that. I was really happy with the race.
“There were people out there chanting ‘last one, last one,’ which was so cool because I felt the support and love from so many people from so many countries. For the actual race result, it was super exciting to have my best-ever Ruka Classic 10k. My combo of kick and glide on a tricky day was great. All said and done, I am coming into the season right where I want to be.”
Rosie Brennan was the next-best finisher among the American women, ending up in 24th (+1:21.8). After a challenging season last year, Brennan had the following thoughts about her race today: “I’m trying to keep perspective, it was only August when I didn’t know if I would be able to race at all so I am very happy to be here and be able to try racing. But if I’m honest, I had a little higher expectations for myself today so I’m feeling a bit mixed about it. There were some moments of skiing I was really happy with and some that left me wanting more.
“It’s been a really hard adaptation to Europe with a body that isn’t as resilient as I’m accustomed to so I do have some hope that I can improve as this period goes on but the reality is that this is uncharted territory for me and I just don’t know what will happen. I have to keep trying and experimenting and figure out what will work for me this winter so I’m sure there will be a lot of up and downs in the process.”
Julia Kern finished in 42nd (+2:30.5). I asked her about her strategy through Period 1 of this year, considering the timing of the Olympics in February. She responded, “I’ve always used P1 to race myself into shape, whether it’s intentional or not. I feel like distance racing for me takes some effort to find my form and also helps in sprinting. This season is no different; the goal is to be at my fastest in February and not December, so keep a steady build going and adjust to being on snow. Ironically, today was a personal best for me for the Ruka 10km. I have found this race to be unforgiving and always challenging, so I take it as a good sign to start in a slightly better launching point into the season.”
Sophia Laukli finished in 48th (+2:40.8), with a MHR of 192 per the above Strava embed. Given that, in recent years, she’s balanced both running and skiing, I asked how that fed into her training this year and preparation for Ruka. She indicated a stronger skiing focus in 2025, saying, “I’ve struggled all summer to get back into shape, so I didn’t really pursue running so I could focus on skiing in an Olympic year. I’m not exactly in racing shape currently, so [skiing] races right now are focusing on technique and skiing better than I have in classic previously.”
Kendall Kramer finished 50th (+2:47.1). Leaning on Gavin’s insider knowledge of Alaskan racing, I asked Kramer how the snow in Ruka compared to the (famously dry and cold) Fairbanks snowpack.
She replied, “Ruka was not as cold, unfortunately, but I’ve heard it’s some of the best conditions people have seen here! So that made the course great to ski. It was slower snow today, so that was great that work could actually be done and not just ski speed carrying everything.”
Ward’s editor, a massive dork, had also prodded her to ask Kramer whether the Fairbanks product was still racing in the same pair of white Rossi classic boots that she wore in her breakthrough fourth-place finish in the 15km classic at 2019 World Juniors.
Kramer then told Nordic Insights that she “Did, in fact, bring those classic boots [to Ruka]. I am attached to them, but I ended up using my new classic boots with a cuff on them; they have been a game-changer in my comfort on downhills.” Kramer did not drop the make or model of those boots, so you’ll have to squint extra close at the livestream for those details.
Alayna Sonnesyn finished 54th (+2:54.5). We saw Sonnesyn race a lot last season, leaving me wondering how she leveraged that experience to improve her summer training. She said, “Last year, I made a lot of changes to my training and my overall lifestyle. I switched teams and did a lot more testing on the treadmill to figure out how I could individualize my training plan. Seemed to really work for me last year to take this approach and so a lot of the work I’ve done this year is similar to last year. I’ve only tweaked a few small things like duration of intensity, but really it’s been quite similar to last year, so I’m looking forward to building into the season again and hoping I have another great winter!”
Finally, Kate Oldham finished 73rd (+4:44.5) in her first World Cup as a professional skier and as a Continental Cup leader. She told Nordic Insights, “Firstly, every World Cup I’ve ever started has been as a continental cup leader :).” That’s an editorial correction we’ll allow. “However, I’d say that having multiple starts gives me more opportunity to race into the season and take this first weekend as a chance to build my fitness. Before today, I hadn’t raced at all [this season], and I think that was evident in how I felt and performed. So, I’m looking forward to some improvement as we get into the season!”
That wraps up the women’s performances for Friday. Tomorrow we continue with a classic sprint. The qualification time trial begins at 9:55 a.m. local time (that’s 3:55 a.m. EST and 11:55 p.m. the night before AKST) with six Americans starting: Julia Kern, Jessie Diggins, Rosie Brennan, Alayna Sonnesyn, Kate Oldham, and Erin Bianco.
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