MORE REFLECTIONS ON THE CALGARY GAMES

Mickey Kupchyk of Regina sent his perspective on the 16th Masters International Speed Skating Games held in Calgary's Olympic Oval during February 22 - 25, 2007.

Do you remember the first time you did it? Well last week was the first time for a number of us. For some of the lucky ones they’ve done it multiple times, but I’m sure they’ll all admit that the first time was still the best. It’s easy to tell who the first timers are, just look for the people with that goofy contented smile on their face. So what is “it” exactly – skating in your first World Masters competition of course.

To capture the entire essence of the event in one word I’ll have to plagiarize that sage poet Eric Cartman from South Park, “Sweeeeet”!

It would take pages to list all of the accomplishments that were skated at The Olympic Oval last week (besides Ross did that already). Suffice it to say, records were dropping faster then a January thermometer in Winnipeg. Everyone I talked to over the week had at least one PB. So rather then talking about individual accomplishments I’d like to try and capture some of the general feel of the event.

Probably the thing I’ll remember the most is how all the skaters dumped the tank on absolutely every race. The exhaustion and determination on each skater’s face gasping for air as they dug down deep to find the last ounce of energy to finish the final lap. Watching smooth silent powerful strides transform into wobbly scrapping uneven steps as high tech speed skates turned into boots of cement.

Seeing “Brothers of the Wind” standing around the track yelling encouragement, willing their comrades on to the finish, feeling their pain as lactic tolerance thresholds went over the redline, and finally sharing in the joy of personal accomplishment.

Doing a 3 second personal best in the 1500m only to be humbled by a Dutch demigod as he sets a new world record and crushes your best time by 12 seconds. Drawing an American “flyer” for the 3000m right after he sets a new world record in the 500m.

Skating the killer 5000m and making the mistake of looking at the lap counter thinking you only had about 2 laps to go then seeing the number 5 still on the board. Swearing an oath to every deity you can think of if only you’d be granted enough strength to finish the race.
So what else happened all week?

First off we need to thank the Games organizers, everything ran like clockwork. It was a class act from start to finish. Nice bag of goodies and awesome T-shirts. The best part - we didn’t have to skate before noon each day – now that’s what I call knowing the demographics of your clientele. And what about the ice – unbelievably FAST! I actually saw them melt down a piece of ice, take it to the doping center and run tests on it to see if it was juiced. I’m not joking, if you don’t believe me just ask me. Heck even a dead man could have done a PB on that ice.

After the second day of racing Brain Sulzer invited a number of us over to his place for lasagna and beer. Great lasagna and even better salad. I think late in the evening we solved a number of world problems including global warming and hunger but I don’t think anyone took any notes. I guess we’ll have to go back to his place again some time and see if we can reconstruct the solutions. Can you say more beer at Brian’s?

Saturday morning they held a good old fashion pancake breakfast with sausages and frozen juice. Alright so it was a little cold outside in the tents but nobody was complaining. Too bad Bob Irvine was the only one who got the memo to dress like a cowboy.

Saturday night Rejean Lavoie invited us over for spaghetti and beer. Turns out Rejean and Jules went to high school in Gravelbourg Saskatchewan. Aha! Just like I thought, everyone has roots back to Saskatchewan even if they don’t want to admit it. Just a little aside, did you know that the first airport in Canada was opened in 1920 in Regina of all places? Bad news is that they still use the same straw bales to sit on in the waiting lounge.

The wind-up party was at Cowboys, a bar where they play both kinds of music: country and western. It’s the first time I’ve been in a place like that in a long time. The last time I was in a nightclub, a beautiful 20 year old women walked up to me and looked me right in the eyes, wet her lips and said, “excuse me sir, my mom would like to dance with you”. I’ve been in therapy ever since.

As the awards were being handed out that night I turned to my buddy Lyle Dickieson from B.C. and said, “One day it’ll be us up there getting the awards”. A lady overheard us and said, “Those are some pretty awesome skaters”. I had to agree with her but pointed out, “They’re only human like us and you just have to want it more”.

It’s hard to believe that I’ve only been speed skating for 2 years yet I’ve met enough great people to fill a lifetime and still I met more at these Games. It’s ironic that the Academy Awards are on TV as I write this. The band leader would definitely have to play me off the stage if I tried to list all of the wonderful people that I’ve met over the past 2 years. Oh hell I’ll try, there’s Anika, Ann, Bernie, Bob, Bob, Bob, Brett, Brian, Brian, Bruce, Cheryl, Cliff, Dave, Eugene, Lynn, Jean-Francois, Jo-Ann, John, Jules, Karla, Larry, Leela, Lyle, Marco, Mitch, per Grunnar, Randy, Reg, Rejean, Richard, Ron, Ross, Tim, and I’d like to specially thank my coaches Dave, Doug, Brad, Mark, and Bill back in Regina for teaching me how to skate, and Corr Zwaal from The Netherlands for teaching me how to race, and……..hold it, hold it, hold it – my wife Sharon and our two kids….damn it stop the music.

As I sit here in the airport waiting for my plane reminiscing about the week I’m happy to be going home but at the same time I’m sad knowing that it is all over. Looking back I realize that like so many others I spent the better part of a year preparing for my “first time”. I remember some of those summer days when I felt too tired to work out but then I’d say, “What do you think Victor van den Hoff is doing right now?” So I’d slap on the in-lines and do a few km.

Was it all worth it? I think the goofy contented smile on my face says it all. Pity there’ll never be another “first time”. Wait a minute, I could always try another new sport……..