This posting is somewhat triggered by  having read Claudia and Dirk VanWijk’s  “Trackside” blog which I linked to through the NCD website.  In their posting they refer to a compulsion to wear some item of “smurf blue” clothing each day.  (Most of the volunteers were fitted with the light blue Olympic wear that is very prominent in any Olympic coverage and near any Olympic or Paralympic venue.  The “smurfs” was the named coined for this wonderful crowd of people)

Although the forerunners were fitted in less prominent navy blue we did have a unique hat in smurf flue colour.  We had to come up with our own moniker, however, and we became the F ‘ ers as distinguished by the large F (for foreruner) on the bibs we wore while on the courses.

I have not felt the same compulsion to wear my Forerunner suit only because it is a race suit and the men’s size large was not quite sized large enough to fit my frame.  I also think may daughters may object if I wore the tights around the house to much.  They are still getting used to me wearing bike shorts in public!!  Of course their sensibilities would even be more offended if I ran around only with my F ‘ er bib.

All good things come to an end eventually, and being a feorrunner at the Paralympics has been the experience of a life time.   Ultimately the Olympics and Paralympics is about the athletes, but more importantly it is about what they represent.  In many respects an Olympian is no different than a  Paralympian;  both have dedicated a tremendous amount of effort, time and energy to reach the highest level of their sport, making many sacrifices along the way.  We can all learn from both the Olympians and Paralympians that with commitment, dedication and sacrifice we can achieve many things in life whether it be athletics or something else.   

Returning full circle to one of our earlier initiatives of this season, the introduction and promotion of Cross Country Canada’s Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) model in all of our programs, or as I prefer to see it “Sport for Life, the Olympics and Paralympics provide a good lesson.  We may see the Training to Train, Learing to Compete,  Competing to Compete and Competing to Win stages of the LTAD as being the exclusive realm of the most gifted and talented athletes, but the Paralympics clearly have demonstrated that despite adversity and challenge we can all find ways to achieve goals that few might have thought were possible.  Somehow these athletes have found a way. and not allowed what might seem to some to be insurmountable barriers , from stopping them from reaching the highest level.  There is a lesson in this for all of us.

Congratulations to all the athletes that have dedicated their lives to reaching this level of competition.

Today is the relay event which I have not quite determined all the rules for yet. As I understand it each country enters three skiers that cannot exceed a total classification of 288?

Every paranordic athlete is given a classification based on their disability.  For example a totally blind skier would have a lower classification than a visually impaired skier with peripherial vision.  Similarly, some sit skiers have some leg mobility and core strength, others may be amputees.  In this example the amputee would have a lower classification.  Classifications (reported as percentages) are multiplied against each athletes time when they compete in the same event; the adjusted time then determines the final standing.

In the relay each country typically has a sit-skier, a standing skier completing classic and a standing skier completing a freestyle course. In some cases a skier may have a different classification in skate than they do for classic.  Some countries used visually impaired for one leg of the relay but not all.

Due to the classification system for the relay the McKeevers could not ski because of their high classification i.e.  Canada did not have a skier with a low enough classification to stay below the 288 maximum combined classification. 

For the women’s race all skiers skied the 2.5 km sit-ski course and completed one loop.  For the men’s race the sit-skiers did two loops of the sit-ski course and the standing skiers did two loops of a more difficult standing course.  The Canadian women included Collette (sit-skier), Robin Weldon (visually impaired), and Jody Barber (standing).  They placed fourth with a valiant effort by Jody to make up time skiing with one arm (her disability).

Forerunning was interesting as we had to preski the skate and classic courses.  Because the snow was very hard first thing, this required continuous skiing for about an hour before the race.  Ordinarily, this would not be an issue but the long ski to the backcountry lodge depleted our energy levels and a cold seems to be creeping through the forerunner ranks.

 The lodge was built for back country skiers that put on skins or whatever necessary and set out up the mountain from the lodge in order that they can climb the mountain and ski back down.  The lodge is at about 1550 metres, and the Callaghan Mountain rises up to 2200 metres.  We will limit our trip to the groomed trails from the Olympic Park up to the lodge.  Three or four kilometres from the Olympic Park we start a climb up into the valley that does not end for 7 kilometres; there is a downhill to Callaghan Lake and then another 4.5 km to the lodge which is a steady climb over rolling hills.  The total climb is approximately 750 metres but well worth the effort with the reward being magnificent views and perfect temperatures.  This is not a climb that I have ever experienced before and the week and a half of skiing everyday except one has definitely helped with this journey.  This is heaven.

The two hour trip up is rewarded by a one hour downhill journey.  This was some of the most interesting skiing as shaded parts of the trail are very fast, and parts of the trail in the sun are soft snow that sucks at the bottom of the ski.  This of course makes for interesting fast down hill tucks into soft snow that causes your forward momentum to want to plant your face into the trail in front.

 Two more days to go, and despite all the fun this has been, I will be happy to head home soon.