page_title: Cross-country skiing (sport)
section_title: Ski marathon
hierarchical_section_title: Cross-country skiing (sport) / Events / Ski marathon
caption_attribution_description: Tartu Marathon 2006, Estonia
context_page_description: The sport of cross-country skiing encompasses a variety of formats for cross-country skiing races over courses of varying lengths according to rules sanctioned by the International Ski Federation and by various national organizations, such as the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association and Cross Country Ski Canada. International competitions include the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, the FIS Cross-Country World Cup, and at the Winter Olympic Games. Such races occur over homologated, groomed courses designed to support classic and freestyle events, where the skiers may employ skate skiing. It also encompasses cross-country ski marathon events, sanctioned by the Worldloppet Ski Federation, and cross-country ski orienteering events, sanctioned by the International Orienteering Federation. Related forms of competition are biathlon, where competitors race on cross-country skis and stop to shoot at targets with rifles, and paralympic cross-country skiing that allows athletes with disabilities to compete at cross-country skiing with adaptive equipment.
  Norwegian army units were skiing for sport in the 18th century.
context_section_description: A ski marathon is a long-distance, usually point-to-point race, of more than 40 kilometers; some are held concurrent with shorter races and participation is usually open to the public. In Norwegian, such a race is called turrenn ("ski touring race"). Major events have more than 10,000 participants where mass starts often have a modified starting order by groupings of participants—who have been judged to be of similar ability, beginning with the elite skiers group and ending with a group of the least experienced skiers.  Skiers can use either classic or skate-skiing techniques, depending on the rules of the race. Awards are usually based on overall placement, placement by sex of athlete, and by age category. There are two major series in this category, the Ski Classics and the Worldloppet.
caption: Marathon mass start at the 2006 Tartu Maraton.
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