Knute Johnsgaard is continuing to gain experience at the senior international level during cross country world championships in Lahti, Finland this week.

The 24-year-old Yukoner finished 56th in today’s 15 kilometre classic race.

“I know it’s a hard course so I know you have to go at a pace you think you can sustain and try not to think of it lap by lap and think of it as one 15K lap,” he told FasterSkier.com. “I felt like I paced it as well as I could.”

The race involved skiing two 7.5K laps on the Lahti world championships course.

The Canadian women got their crack at the classic long-distance race Tuesday.

The 10K course challenged skiers as the temperature was 3 C for the start of the race.

Emily Nishikawa, Team Canada’s veteran female presence, finished her favourite race in 37th.

Nishikawa started fast and then faded in the middle before picking up the pace again near the end.

“I’m glad I took a risk and started fast,” she told FasterSkier.com.

“Some days it pays off and other days you can’t quite hold the pace.”

Her teammate, Dahria Beatty finished two spots behind in 39th.

“It was definitely the most fun I’ve had out there this week,” said Beatty. “I just really enjoyed the atmosphere.”

The 10K was only Nishikawa’s second race of world championships.

She was 38th in Saturday’s skiathlon – a race that employs both skate and classic techniques.

Johnsgaard joined her on the course, finishing 55th.

“Classic was really good,” he said. “I managed to stay out of trouble.”

Beatty has had a busy week of racing. She skipped the skiathlon, but suited up with Cendrine Browne to race the classic team sprint on Feb. 26.

The duo finished 7th in their semifinal, good for 13th overall. That result matches the 2013 world championship result of Perianne Jones and Dasha Gaiazova.

Racing continues on Friday with the team relays.