Organizers of the Prince George Iceman let it be known back in September the 34thannual multisport endurance race was not going to happen.
The pandemic has kept sporting events mothballed for almost a year now and there was no way such a mammoth undertaking was going to happen to pull off an event that regular attracts more than 600 participants.
There is no race this year but that’s not going to stop Michael Warr. On Wednesday morning the 77-year-old retired school teacher plans to do his own race, with only a ticking clock to try to beat. He’ll start at the Prince George Aquatic Centre for an 800-metre swim, then once he’s dried himself off he’ll get a friend to drive him to Otway Nordic Centre, the usual start of the Iceman, to complete the eight-kilometre cross-country ski segment.
Once he’s done with that he’ll lace on his sneakers for a 10-km run to the outdoor ice oval at Exhibition Park. After five kilometres of skating he’ll get back into his running shoes for a five km run through a nearby residential area on the traditional Iceman path back to the Aquatic Centre, where his race will end.
Warr has had to put the swim segment first in the order due to the limited availability of the pool due to pandemic restrictions which allow no more than 50 swimmers in a one time. Mornings are open to senior-aged swimmers but the afternoon are open to any body and those afternoon sessions are popular and more difficult to book, and that forced Warr to change his Iceman order.
Warr had planned to run his Iceman last week, a few days in advance of the traditional time of year for the race, but the weather last week was too cold to race and Warr wasn’t willing to risk damaging his lungs for his latest Iceman challenge. He still trained in the cold, but it was especially tough slogging on the Otway trails, where the crystallized abrasive snow felt like sand under his skis.
He’s completed the race twice before as a solo competitor, most recently two years ago, when he was 75.
“My times don’t seem to be getting any better,” said Warr, who taught at Blackburn Junior Secondary School. “I’m banking on 3:30 (three hours 30 minutes) or 3:40, depending on how things go.”
Warr has competed several times in the Iceman on the grandmaster men’s team Quo Vadas, with Dick Voneugen and company, and they always seemed to find its way to the medal podium. When the race was canceled he decided it was going to stop him from putting in the training.
“It‘s something to occupy me during the wintertime and I’ve been prepping for it from about November, December, January, ” said Warr. “It keeps me working and active.”
Warr ran his first marathon in 1996 in Victoria and while that was a late start in life he said it probably helped him from getting injured from the cumulate effect of all that running and the wear and tear on his body.
The 2019 Iceman Warr competed in was almost cancelled because of the cold. The race time temperature was hovering around -20C but he manage to finish it.
“I’m sure Shane (Hoehn) was breathing on the thermometer trying to get it up (to the -18 C cutoff temperature),” said Warr. “As it was we only skied 5K because it was so cold and we had to have a mass start because it was getting late.”
Swimming is Warr’s weakest event but at least with him starting Iceman at the pool he won’t have to about leg cramps from all that running when he jumps into the water on Wednesday.
“I’m slow, I know the Barracudas kids can do it in nine minutes and it takes me 32 or more,” he said.
“Last time I did it I didn’t cramp up until about the 14th lap. I just had to keep in the pool and keep my legs going and try not to sink.”
