I've been told Vancouver is hosting some sort of major sporting event right now...all I know for sure, is this past Sunday afternoon, I had the privilege of shaking hands with a world champion!
The Inaugural Spears and 'Shoes Biathlon - a multi-sport event featuring atlatl accuracy competition (spears) combined with a 2.4km snowshoe race ('shoes) - saw 14 hearty racers have a blast, test out some traditional technologies, and compete in a fun new race.
The winner of the event was Lane Coulter, of Virden, MB, who posted a score of 9 minutes, 21 seconds, to claim first place. Scoring was simple: each racer's snowshoe race time had 90 seconds shaved off for each successful atlatl hit on the range - four shots each, for a combined possible bonus of 6 minutes.
Lane, a young man who came to the race with his Cadet group, ran a solid snowshoe race, and was the most successful atlathlete (officially a word now!) of all the racers. Lane was quite a bit younger than most racers, and had never seen an atlatl before the race.
When asked about his performance, the world's first champion said, "I mess around with a bow and arrow a little bit, but this is new...I guess I'm good!" the young Mr. Coulter will have a good chance to get even better, as his prize is a hand-made atlatl set!
Another racer came up to me after the race, smiling. "I thought I was the only one who would be interested in this type of event - now, I see there are more like me!" She added, "When's the next one?"
The next one is in the works! No date, or details...yet...but the next, similarly-inspired race/challenge is in the first stages of planning. It's still a long way off, but early indications are Spears and 'Shoes will happen again next winter, as well - 9:21 is the score to beat!
As with all FortWhyte Alive programs, a big thank-you goes to the volunteers who helped with this race. Another HUGE thank-you goes to all participants, spectators, and well-wishers. A few months ago, this race was an off-beat idea. Now, it is in the history books as an awesome event - mixing fun, fitness, cultural education, and...FUN.
No big TV contracts. No performance-enhancers. No multi-million sponsorship deals. Just good, old-fashioned (like paleolithic-fashioned!) fun. This event, for me, reflected human spirit at its best!
The final racers coming toward the finish line
(A big thank-you to all who contributed photos to this post!)
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