Mary Spring<\/span><\/a> competed in the prediction skiing race at Arrowhead Provincial Park. Racers had to twice\u2014on two different days\u2014predict how long it would take them to ski the 5km route. Their predictions were compared to their actual times and the athlete with the lowest combined differential was crowned the winner.<\/p>\nSpring is familiar with the park\u2014she skis there often\u2014but didn’t know until race day which of the trails would be used for the competition.<\/p>\n
She learned on the first race day that it would be Arrowhead Lake Trail. That day was one of the coldest days of the winter with a low of -29\u00baC, warming to just -21\u00baC by race time. “There was no question in my mind of which skis I was going to use,” said Spring. “I waxed my skis with a hard wax and it was really fast.”<\/p>\n
Her first prediction was a time of 33:33 and her ski time was roughly 31 minutes, for a two-minute difference.<\/p>\n
The second race day was another brisk one at -20\u00baC, so the athletes again anticipated a quick ski on the trail. Spring predicted a faster time for her second ski run at 32:00, with her actual time coming in at around 31:40. With the two time differentials added together, Spring’s was the lowest, earning her first place.<\/p>\n
“I think that there was eight seconds difference between the gold and silver medals over the two days,” she notes.<\/p>\n
Spring said she appreciated the efforts of all of the organizers and volunteers, including Rob Edmonstone who coordinated the Nordic skiing event and presented the medals to the athletes, and Greystone for sponsoring the Nordic skiers.<\/p>\n
“Overall, I think that the Winter Games 55+ team did a superb job of organizing the events. From the word go, I was well informed of my responsibilities, where I was supposed be for my event and when I should be there. The volunteers were fantastic. Everyone pitched in to make this event so much of a success,” said Spring.<\/p>\n\n\t\t