Don’t worry about the pandemic.
There’s even a contingency plan to deal with cold weather… you just have to wait until it warms up.
This year, the Prince George Iceman is virtually bullet-proof.
That’s because it will be a virtual event that goes on for the entire month of February.
Although health restrictions and the rules against large crowd gatherings in tight spaces once again have ruled out the conventional one-day, one-race format for the city’s largest multisport event, the Iceman is going ahead, but this time it’s based totally on the honour system.
There won’t be anybody watching to make sure you don’t cut corners to find a shorter and quicker route on the ski trails at Otway Nordic Centre. No judges will be in place to watch for runners catching rides on the backs of car bumpers as they go for a slide along the running routes to and from Exhibition Park. Nobody except each skater will be counting their 12 laps around the ice oval and there will be no witnesses to keep swimmers from motoring in the pool with flippers on their feet when they get to the final stage at the Aquatic Centre.
It all comes down to honesty to determine this year’s Iceman champions. In 2022, the 35th year of the event, it’s totally up to each participant to submit their times from each stage of the race to a virtual website.
Each week in February a different segment of the race will be featured (eight kilometres of skiing, 10 and five km of running, five km of skating and 800 metres of swimming). Participants have the option of submitting their times for each event each week to be eligible for the weekly draws, or they can go for the one-day race option and complete all five stages without stopping, as they would in a typical Iceman race.
“It’s going to be more of a fun event, it’s obviously not the full-blown PG Iceman with the banquet and medals (presentations) but we just wanted to keep it going,” said Iceman organizing committee member Bruce Siddall.
“We had to cancel it completely last year.”
The first segment starts on Jan. 31st. Go to www.strideandglide.ca to register.
“We’re hoping next year it will be back to normal,” said Siddall.
Registration deadline is Feb. 4. Early-bird registration rates are in effect until Sunday at 11:59 p.m. The fee for individuals/team members is $45, while junior (15-and-younger) team members will pay $30. After Jan. 9, the cost jumps to $50 for solo/adult team member and $35 for junior team competitors.
Junior participants ski four km, run the 10 km route in into two segments of five km for each runner, skate three km and swim 400 m.
For more information, send an email to [email protected] or [email protected]. You can also mail your request to P.O. Box 944, Prince George, V2L 4V1.
