The organizing committee said that 200 professional and amateur participants from Karelia, adjacent Finland, Sweden and Norway will participate. In the plans are 26- and 52-kilometer races depending on the age.
The international marathon Nordic Ski Masters, uniting Scandinavian sportsmen, is traditionally held in three stages in Finland, Sweden and Norway. One more stage, ski routes in Karelia, was included in the program last year.
The Karelian stage of the marathon is organized by the Petrozavodsk Ski Club Vesport.
Simultaneously, the 2nd International Skidoo Race starts in Karelia on Saturday. It is organized by the North-Western Travel Bureau with support from the Russian National Cycling Federation.
Several dozen sportsmen from Moscow, St.Petersburg and other Russian cities, as well as from Finland, Sweden, Italy, the United States and Australia will participate in the skidoo race. Private skidoo owners may also take part.
On the first day, it will be a circular race on the stadium of Petrozavodsk. On the second day, the competition for the personal cup of the Russian National Cycling Federation in cross-country and skidoo race will be held. On the last day of the competition, February 21, sportsmen will cover outside of general classification 110 kilometers on the ice-covered Lake Onega till the Kizhi Island, famous for its outdoors wooden architecture.
In the idea of the North-Western Travel Bureau, the traditional skidoo race is designed to popularize a healthy way of life, extreme and active sports in Karelia and the north-west of Russia.
