HUMBOLDT — A provincial cross-country ski race hosted by the Carlton Trail Ski Club gave the participants the action they desired after a long cold snap.
“We've missed about two races so far this year because of the cold weather,” said Dave Martinuk, the president of the ski club. “They’re ready to go. They’ve been training hard and they want to get out and race.”
The fifth race of the Saskatchewan Cup Cross Country Ski Races was held at the Carlton Trail Ski Club’s Dixon trails west of Humboldt on Jan. 16. Eighty-three skiers competed, with ages ranging from seven years old in the under eight division to Ken English from Saskatoon at age 74.
Locally, the Carlton Trail Race Team – “Ski Fast,” coached by Troy Gullacher, had one racer participate. Brayden Nivon of Lanigan raced in the Under 18 category and came in second place with a time of 48:21, behind Isaiah Maier of Preeceville who posted a time of 47:56 in their 12 kilometre race.
“Times were fairly fast on Sunday due to the warmer air and snow temperatures which resulted in very good glide conditions for the skis,” said Martinuk, who was also a race official, in an email sent after the races.
Martinuk said something that was of note at the race was the involvement of the Paranordic Ski Team in Saskatchewan, who were represented by four sit-skiers, with one in the youth development category, and three in the adult open category.
“Included in the adult category was Colette Borgonje – a native of Porcupine Plain, who has nine Paralympic medals in her name and is somewhat of a paranordic legend, having ended her racing career only recently,” he said. “She is now devoting her time to developing paranordic sports and particularly skiing in Saskatchewan.”
Due to the pandemic, some changes were made to the race. All races were done with interval starts to minimize contact between competitors, masking and social distancing was required among those present, and the clubhouse was closed to the public.
The fastest men’s time of the day was recorded by Nathan Weiman, 21, of Regina Ski Club, who tore up the trails with a time of 36:40 in his 12 kilometre race. The fastest women’s time of the day was posted by Kathy Butler, 59, of Saskatoon, who completed her nine kilometre race in a time of 33:44 seconds.
“For some of the under 15 racers this race was their first competitive effort , since many sport and culture districts in Saskatchewan were recruiting athletes to fill teams for the Saskatchewan Winter Games which was to be held in February of this year, but unfortunately has been cancelled due to COVID concerns,” Martinuk said.
Martinuk said the race went fantastically and the club was impressed with the turnout.
“They tell you when you're taking your officials classes that if nobody says anything to you during the race, it means you're doing a good job. It means you're being invisible. It means that everybody in the race is having everything happen as it should,” he said the day of the race.
“We're also getting complements. A lot of people are just thrilled about how this is turning out.”
