Age no barrier for Iceman veteran Kamstra

For Rudy Kamstra, getting old does not mean getting slow.
At 76, the oldest competitor in Sunday's Prince George Iceman, Kamstra had no trouble whatsoever covering eight kilometres racing for Team 320 in the veteran category.
Kamstra skis every day, sometimes twice a day, for as long into the season as snow conditions at Otway Nordic Centre will allow it.
Even for the youngest, most accomplished skiers in Sunday's race it was tough slog on the slow abrasive snow at Otway for Sunday's race and despite the -16 C cold, Kamstra was sweating by the time he tagged 10 km runner Steve Hooker, who continued the relay.
"It was pretty hard, I had skate skis on and I could (walk) up the track," said Kamstra. "I used my skate skis as classic skis."
Kamstra, who turns 77 in June, tried to stay in the classic tracks as much as he could, popping out when he wanted to pass a slower skier. So how is that 76 1/2-year-old passing gear?
"It's not bad, for an old guy," he said.
Kamstra raced his first Iceman in 1995 and has no intention of stopping.
"When you're this age, it's  a good thing to do, it keeps you fit for whatever you want to do," he said. "If you want to play around with the kids, you can do that. I still come out on Saturday mornings and teach the bunnies here and we play games. That's what it's all about."
In the warm weather months, he jogs three times per week and is an avid hiker.
"Every once in a while you get an ache but then you just figure there's always somebody worse off," he said.
The number 320 represented the combined ages of the five team members (Kamstra, Hooker, skater Gerry Van Caeseele, five km runner Larry Rowe and swimmer Frank Blues). As it turned out, Blues was forced to drop out the day before when he developed a condition which sent his heart racing. and he was replaced by Bill Warner. They won the veteran team category in two hours 46 minutes 56 seconds.
n Nikki Kassel had the fastest ski time of all the Iceman team relay skiers but it almost went for naught. She started the race knowing she'd lost her timing chip. It fell out when she took off her warmup jacket. Kassel told course volunteers during her ski that she'd lost her bracelet and fortunately for her Carrier Sekani Family Services Spirit team (which also included Amy Merritt and Karen Seland) their times were manually entered. They won the open female team category in 1:58:27.
n Harwin elementary school teacher Tom Makowsky was encouraged to see his students racing on  four teams of Warriors, among the 13 teams entered in the community school relay category. Harwin got in on the ground floor when the school/junior team category was added in 2009 and the school has taken part in the Iceman ever since.
"There's a great sense of pride because we were the first to start back in the day, from my understanding, and people take a lot of pride in that tradition," said Makowsky. "They've been practicing hard for the last couple months and they realize they're part of a legacy. We open it up to everybody and quite a few express an interest and at this point these are the ones that have been coming out consistently and working hard and they want to do it."
The 20 students who formed the teams practiced at lunchtime and after school. Makowsky and four other teachers formed the Harwin staff team that competed in the mixed open category.
"Some of the kids skate, some are great runners, some have skied before and some," said Makowsky. "This is the first time they've done any one of the events so we try to mix and match them and balance the teams so everyone is an event they're comfortable with."
n Other team category winners were: Open male - Thighs of Thunder (Josh Van der Meer, Johnny Enemark, Zach Matyas, John Bowes) 1:51:16; Masters women - Scrambled Legs and Achin'  (Tara Klassen, Anita O'Brien) 2:23:02; Grandmasters women - Sunshine & Flowers (Janet Ames, Heidi Evensen, Catherine Hagen) 3:05:43; Masters mixed - We Thought You Said 10K Rum (Holly Workman, Sharla-Ray Olsen, Michelle Sutter, Theresa Shea) 2:50:08; Veteran mixed - Oval Refrigeration Dream Team (Lyle Dickieson, Ken Robinson, Tim Rowe, Greg Anderson, Barbara Anderson) 2:23:11; Grandmasters mixed - His Royal Thighness and His Thighmates (Barry Booth, Gareth Williams, Kathy Shimzu, Gregor Reid, Loraine Lavallee) 2:45:09.
Junior team winners were: Junior boys - Garcon Des Glace (Tommy Brown, Esme Long, Owen McKee, Matthew Rice. Tad Mao and Liam Wilkinson), 1:49:11; Junior mixed - Dumbledore's Army (Dylan Major, Fandrey Lawson, Gracie Moffatt, Alicia Somerville, Ty Winslade, Madeline Rein), 2:04:14; Junior girls - The Ice Bears (Bailey Yearley, Myra Barette, Danika Spata, Ailah Turner, Gabby Hoehn, Iona Cadell) 2:09:09; Community schools relay - Van Bien Ice Blazers 2 (Tahlia McKenzie, Presley Gonu Nelson, Connor Westergard, Orin Stanley, Dominic Basil Lattie, Chloe Witso) 2:20:16