 If you're in the mood for skiing this weekend, the Finlandia Ski Marathon is the thing to do. The cross-country ski marathon welcomes both beginners and expert skiers and consists of five races. Skiers from all over the country are expected to participate, including Canada for the spectator sport. It can take anywhere from one to three hours to complete the race, and participants go around the course two to three times. This year three, there will be some changes to the course. We decided to shorten the course this year. It's normally a 25-k loop, and we've gone down to 11-k across the road here, or what we call the west side of Buena Vista ski area. Now due to the warm weather, the start times for the race have been moved up by one hour, and we'll now begin at 9am. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.