Last week I finished my column by saying how excited I was to be going to the NL Ski Marathon in Clarenville. Despite the fact that it rained for the entire weekend, it was indeed a great event and very well organized.
For more than 30 years I taught physical education and have often hosted tournaments where the ambient conditions of the gymnasium could be controlled by the flick of a thermostat and a light switch. In fact, in the later years of my career, a computer program in St. John's actually looked after the weather in the gym. But alas, there was no computer program available that the good folks of Clarenville could call upon to control the weather and course conditions last weekend.
With the advance forecast calling for freezing rain, followed by 40 – 50 miliemetres of rain and NE winds gusting to 50 kilometres on top of the White Hills, the diligent host committee at Clarenville Nordic did not flinch and said, “damn the torpedoes,” the show must go on. As we proceeded through the fog and drizzle to the starting area it was obvious that we would be in for a long day. That being said, Whalebackers are always up for the challenge!
Without a doubt, the most notable Whaleback performance of the day was contributed by Howard Skinner. Howard's very first marathon experience was in Clarenville five years ago when he completed the 24 km course. Howard seemed to catch the marathon bug in 2008 and since that time he has been a regular at Cross Country NL's flagship event. This year, he completed the very soggy 41 km course in a time of 4:12:51, which was good enough for a bronze medal in Masters 4 category. Bravo for Howard who is already preparing for next year's marathon.
Other members of the Whaleback roster included: Elizabeth Chaisson, (24 km), Rosemarie Alexander (24 km), Greg Alexander (41 km), Greg Noonan (41 km), Don Cormier (41 km), Jim Chaisson (41 km), Brian Dunphy (41 km) and Moi (41 km).
It is worthy to note that despite the adverse conditions, Whaleback was the only club that could say, all the club members who registered for the event completed their chosen distance.
While it is not the philosophy at Whaleback to dwell on speed on the course, it is worthy to note that Brian Dunphy's blistering time of 2:18:25 on the 41 km course earned him a gold medal in the very competitive Masters 3 category.
Now that the timed events have all been put bed for another season, it is time to wind down and go exploring in the back of the ski park and off the beaten track. Derrick Mercer just emailed me to invite all-comers to join the Burgeo crowd for a day tour and boilup in Annieopsquotch Mountains on Saturday. Hmmm … sounds like a plan!
