National team cross-country skiers lead a simple life: eat, train, sleep, repeat.
Canmore’s Russell Kennedy, though, has to find time to lay down some beats.
As if qualifying as the fastest sprinter at the Haywood NorAm in Canmore to earn his debut World Cup wasn’t enough, Kennedy also released his first EP, Nachos and Beats.
“I haven’t started a year this good yet. I’m excited to see what I can get out of it,” Kennedy said.
The 21-year-old, broad-shouldered skier was born in Truckee, Cali., but moved to Canmore and caught the ski bug. He started as a distance skier and took third place in the junior men 30 kilometre skate in 2011 at nationals, but, after a breakthrough last year skiing with Canmore Nordic, Kennedy was invited to train with the Alberta World Cup Academy and blossomed as a skate sprinter.
“Last year I was with Canmore Nordic and it was fun and I loved the kids, but this year it was nice to train with my peer group,” Kennedy said.
Although he failed to qualify for the heats at last week’s Quebec World Cup sprints, he could shake up the field at the Canmore Nordic Centre this Saturday (Dec. 15). Playing the dark horse is what Kennedy does best, and he’ll be firmly planted in that role Saturday for the sprints.
“Russell is a guy who’s really come along this year,” said AWCA coach Stephan Kuhn. “He’s a raw talent with lots of speed.”
Repeating as top qualifier will be a tough feat against a World Cup crowd, but the experience will be valuable, he said.
“(Before the Canmore NorAm), I hadn’t qualified that well yet. I was a little nervous going in, but it turned out OK. I thought I could have made the final.”
As for the new EP, released under the name z3x, it draws from some of his favourite artists and supplies the beats to get him pumped up before the high adrenaline sprints.
“I really like music and am really inspired by some of those guys. It’s fun to do around skiing, because you get to hang out on the computer a bit,” Kennedy said. “I’m just trying to switch it up a bit.”
Kennedy’s EP is available for free at z3xmusic.bandcamp.com
