It won’t be your typical triathlon, but then it’s not for just any cause either.
The Muskoka Cup, being held February 23 at Deerhurst Resort, invites people to join a ‘truly canadian’ winter triathlon experience. Instead of the traditional swim, bike, run, racers (and those doing it just for fun) will complete a 4km skate and a 2km snowshoe, followed by beer, dinner and live music. And money raised in part through registration fees as well as pledges will go toward establishing a music therapy fund for Huntsville or Muskoka.
Organizer Scott Rondeau, who bought a cottage in Muskoka in 2017, was standing on the lake last winter, watching a neighbour clear a path for his kids to skate on. That initially sparked the idea for a skating race, says Rondeau, who is an event planner, which quickly morphed into all of the elements of the Muskoka Cup following a meeting with Muskoka Brewery.
He sits on the board of the Canadian Music Therapy Trust Fund and a portion of proceeds from all of the events his company, Drink Inc., creates goes toward the fund. So it was natural to funnel funds raised at the Muskoka Cup to a music therapy fund earmarked for this area.
So what is music therapy?
“Music is a very powerful thing,” explains Rondeau. “There’s a thing called the reward system. In terms of evolution, it’s been there forever in our bodies, and is probably in every sentient being. It’s triggered by three things – food and water which is essential for life, the second thing is sex which releases endorphins and the reason is prolonging the species which is also essential for life, and the third and only thing that triggers it is music.”
So that begs the question: is music essential for life? says Rondeau. He created a documentary for the CBC in which he interviewed a neuroscientist from Montreal who believes it is, though he hasn’t proved it yet. “But that’s got to be some kind of proof in my eyes,” says Rondeau. “We are built this way, we are rhythmic beings. So I find music very powerful and always have. It’s in every society and culture that’s ever been studied in human history.”
Music therapy draws on that human inclination. It’s not so much about learning to create music as it is about using music to achieve other goals, like improvising as a way of expressing thoughts and feelings, playing an instrument to help with fine motor skills, or singing to help dementia patients reminisce and discuss the past.
Rondeau wanted to raise funds for an existing program in Huntsville or Muskoka, but soon discovered there isn’t one. So he says he is reverse engineering a program—funds raised at the Muskoka Cup will be earmarked for this area via the Canadian Music Therapy Trust Fund, and then, once they know how much money has been raised, they’ll look for opportunities to subsidize local programs. That could be a music therapist who visits the area once or twice a week to work with elderly patients or children with autism. Or perhaps a music therapist will apply for funding with another idea.
The Muskoka Cup has space for up to 200 racers, and if each were to raise $100 each in pledges, that would be $20,000 in local funding. “We could subsidize a lot of music therapy programs with that,” says Rondeau. A portion of registration fees will also go to the cause, and Muskoka Brewery is kicking in some funds from their Venture Fund.
If you’ve already got a ticket for the event, or are planning to purchase one, Rondeau says you can expect a fun time. “I always like to say we are going to raise some awareness, some money and some hell for the charity.”
Dinner and beer samples are included in the registration fee. There will also be a raffle for those who gathered pledges, and prizes for the top fundraiser. And everyone will go home with a bottle of Muskoka Brewery’s new Brut IPA.
For more information and to register for the event, visit muskokacup.ca. Registration closes February 21 at 4 p.m.
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