Local cross country skiing legend Dahria Beatty hosted a workshop recently.

The presentation on Feb. 28 was in preparation for the Yukon Ski Marathon, which took place Saturday.

Beatty didn’t race in the event. Instead, she was at one of the aid stations.

“I still feel like I’m at the point where having just stopped racing, I’m happy to be out enjoying skiing every every day or every other day but haven’t quite regained the race bug. I’m enjoying not having to put on that competitive aspect in skiing itself.”

Tom Ullyett took part in the workshop.

When asked what he learned, Ullyett replied, “So much.”

Of Beatty, Ullyett said, “She’s a guru. She’s a god of skiing, really. She’s done so much racing in her short lifetime, right from Jackrabbits to World Cup racing and the Olympics and she’s fresh into her retirement and she’s just got so much experience.

“But the great thing about Dahria is that she can put it to you in a way you understand it. It’s not so technical. It’s not so up in the clouds that you don’t know what to do with the information. She’s very good at giving lots of practical advice that’s grounded on real experience.”

Ullyett said he thought the presentation was “superb. It’s just terrific. I certainly learned a whole bunch of things in terms of preparing for a race and the day of the race and 20 minutes before the race and then the different components of the race course and how to try to stay positive.

“It never gets old. There’s a four-time Olympian (Colin Abbott) in the room and he’s sitting there listening to this. So that tells you that there’s always something you can learn, whether it’s more general about racing or very sport-specific, as today’s presentation was.”

The forecast for the race last Saturday was cold. At the start, it was -22.5º C.

“I’m not really looking forward to the conditions,” related Ullyett. “I’m not a big fan of racing in the -20s and I may decide to do a DNS (Did Not Start). But this is part of my mental preparation.”

Ullyett said he’s done the race several times. He said there’s been quite a variety of course and races over the years.

Ullyett added, “I’m just looking forward to it. I’m going into this with some trepidation. I’ve done a lot of racing in my adult years, different types of racing – running and biking and skiing, but every race is different and you’ve got to respect the race, so I’m going into it feeling a little on edge, but that’s not a bad thing.”

As it turned out, Ullyett’s trepidation was dead on, as he started the 25 km distance but didn’t finish it.

Lois Johnston was also at the presentation. The Star spoke with her after the race and she confirmed that the workshop helped her on race day.

“I always love listening to Dahria. She has so much experience. No matter how many races you’re in, you always learn something from her.”

Johnston finished ninth in the 12 km.

Beatty explained the workshop was designed for people who were looking to make the marathon “a bit of a race” and to give them “helpful tools and tips that they can use to get to the start line prepared, make sure they feel confident in the race course itself, and make sure that they have a strategy to be fuelled and give their best performance.

“And feel like when they get to the finish line, they can say ‘Yeah, I did all the right steps so that I’m really happy with how my race went today and I didn’t end up running low on energy and not being able to perform the way I wanted to. I skied with the right tactics and strategy to really feel like I could push all the way to the end.’

“And so I just provide an overview of those sort of tools and the concepts that are worth thinking about.”

Beatty said the concepts can be applied to any ski race.

“When you’re approaching ski racing, at any level, at any distance, that can be specifically applied to this course. We went over the course maps and stuff, but you can also take all these points and apply them to any other race you’re going to be doing in the future.”

Beatty thought the presentation went really well.

“I had some really good questions from the group. A lot of them have had experience racing, either cross country skiing or in other sports. So it was cool to see the questions from athletes who have quite a bit of experience in different sports and seeing how that ties in.

“I think it was a good mix of being able to share some presentation and have some group discussion as well.”

Beatty said the presentation seemed to be effective.

“They seem like they are a bit more confident going in to this weekend and feeling prepared for this course.”