Over 600 competitors gathered to compete in the 29th annual Iceman competition!
The Pattison media group put together two teams, the Media Marvels, and the Snooze Team (get it, snooze… news team, ok I thought it was funny!) Dave Branco was a part of the Snooze Team and he has competed in over 15 Iceman’s and the Media Marvels had 2 of 4 competitors, including myself, taking it on for the first time! Quite a difference between friendly foes!
The Iceman is made up of the 8 km cross country ski, 10 km run, a skate at the ice oval, a 5 km run and an 800 metre swim. This year due to poor weather the skate had to unfortunately be cancelled.
It was incredible watching how many kids decided to take on this event. There was a handful of kids who would be able to run circles around because of how great of shape they are in.
Here you can check out the beginning of the team competitors take off at Otway here:
As the skiers plowed through the snow at Otway, the 10 km runners got prepped for their team to cross the line. some of the runners even decided to do a little dance in the lobby to spruce up the legs!
After our skier crossed the line and off went our runner, we drove along Foothills and cheered and honked for the competitors! Some of them smiled, some of them clapped, and one kid in particular who we were trying to pump up was scared right out of his pants. I hope it gave him the proper motivation to keep trucking along towards the ice oval!
As the 10 km runners came in to the ice oval, they handed the timing belt off to the 5 km runner who then made their way through the Pinewood subdivision back to the Aquatic Centre! I was happy to see all of the volunteers out there braving the chilly weather and although they were there to cheer the runners and guide them, I made sure that when I ran to a volunteer to thank them for their hard work because without them the event would not run as smooth!
For the friendly competition between the Media Marvels and the Snooze Team it came down to the swim as the Marvels were only behind by a few minutes! What a way to finish the competition as it came right down to the wire with the Media Marvels making up the time in the pool and passing the Snooze Team for the win. Some people at the station decided to do the competition because they simply wanted to be a part of it and that included me. I was super happy with everyone’s performance and very glad I got to be a part of the competition, and yes the winning team. Now, I say winning but we were way behind all the super athletes here in Prince George who took on the event as a kid, as a senior, as a soloist, making Prince George proud!
After the event finished, there was a banquet for the competitors at the Civic Centre! The cooks prepared some delicious food for the hungry athletes, there were tonnes of prizes given away either for top solo competitors, mid pack competitors, best times, and even door prizes for those who were just there to compete and take part.
Iceman was a great time, a good team bonding experience, but my legs are extremely sore. The pain is worth it, and definitely drives motivation for Iceman 2017!