Whats Up Magazine Huntsville Lake of Bays - What's Up Muskoka

Snowshoe race gains footing
By Chris Occhiuzzi
Organizers of the snowshoe races at this year’s Muskoka
Loppet couldn’t be happier after seeing participation
in the event skyrocket since the inaugural races last year.
The event on Jan. 24 grew from just four participants
last year to 43 total runners in this year’s snowshoe competitions.
They came to compete in three types of races:
a nine-kilometre solo run with 16 entries, a three-kilometre
solo run with six people taking part and a ninekilometre
relay with seven teams of two to three people
per team.
Huntsville’s Troy Cox and Kevin Farthing each took
first place in the men’s portion of their respective distances.
Cox ran the nine kilometre in 41 minutes, 43
seconds and Farthing took top spot in the three kilometre
with a time of 18:13.
For the second straight year, 43-year-old Geza Fenyo,
a visually impaired man from Toronto, returned to run
the nine-kilometre race and he loved every minute of it.
He finished ninth overall with a time of 1:04:49.
“They are very nice people,” says Fenyo, who uses a
guide (John Larsen) and tether to run. “And a very nice
ski area, so I have a very good time here.”
The snowshoe event was added to the Muskoka Loppet
ski race because organizer, Huntsville’s Neil Jefferson,
wanted to spread his interest to others.
“I have an interest in snowshoeing myself, both as a
pastime and as a way of cross training for trail running
that I do during the summer,” he says. “It’s another way
to get outdoors in the winter. This gives other people a
chance to try it out as well.”
Jefferson attributes the big jump in numbers at this
year’s race to a number of factors, with timing being the
main one.
“Last year, we approached the Loppet committee in
December (2008) and it wasn’t until after New Year’s
that they said, ‘Yeah, go ahead. Let’s do it,’” says Jefferson.
“So, I think it might have been Jan. 5 (2009) before
we even got started on (promotion). This year we knew
it was coming all year. So, that was a big difference.”
Jefferson promoted the event by sending e-mails out
to 35 running clubs and going to online forums. He also
had some help from Orillia’s Steve Burrows, a participant
in 2009, who brought five of his friends this year.
“I was really pleased with it,” he says of the race. “We
By Chris Occhiuzzi
Huntsville figure skater Jacob Cryderman is set to represent
Muskoka at the Ontario Winter Games.
“I started skating at the age of two and skated until I
was 13,” says 17-year-old Cryderman. “I took a few years
off and came back to skating when I was 16.”
Training at the Mariposa School of Skating, founded
by fellow Huntsville native Doug Leigh, Cryderman currently
attends Innisdale Secondary School, but his love
of skating began in Huntsville.
“My mom put me on the ice when I was two years old
and I just loved spinning and jumping and it just went
on from there,” he says. “I started coming here to Mariposa
when I was about nine or 10 years old until I took
some time off. I came back to Mariposa after I started
skating again in 2008.”
Cryderman placed first at the sectionals in Huntsville
this past October to qualify for the Games.
As for participating in the Winter Games at home,
Cryderman wants the local fans to get excited: “I’m hoping
there will be lots of support.”
Janice Morgan has coached Cryderman since June
2008 and offered her insight into the type of indi-
This year’s snowshoe races at the Muskoka
Loppet attracted 43 competitors.
had decent weather. We used a different course this year.
We used the East River trail area last year, so it was dead
flat. And this year, it was a hilly course.”
Another first for the snowshoe race was the relay portion,
with seven teams of two to three runners each. But,
there was one catch: each team could only use one set of
snowshoes.
“It went over very well. It was a good thing to add,”
says Jefferson. “It was a chance for people to get out there
and try something new.”
The snowshoe race is looking like a permanent fixture
at the Muskoka Loppet, with Jefferson forecasting even
more participants next year.
“It will be an annual event at the same location, with
the same mix of races,” he says. “I would think we’ll go
from about 43 to about 60 runners.”
Muskoka represented at Games
vidual he is.
“Coaching Jacob has been a great pleasure. Jacob is a
very talented, self-motivated, hard-working and determined
young athlete,” says Morgan. “Jacob has had to
overcome many obstacles this year in training, but continues
to remain positive, focused and determined to
succeed as an athlete.”
The figure skating events are being held at the Jack
Bionda Arena in Huntsville from March 5-7.
Two other local representatives will be on the ice during
the Winter Games, but they won’t be competitors.
Huntsville’s Kyle Shirtliff and Milford Bay’s Steve
Cruickshank are among the eight officials for the men’s
hockey tournament being held at the Gravenhurst Centennial
Centre from March 5-7.
Shirtliff and Cruickshank were nominated due to
their abilities and length of duty.
“I’m pretty excited about it. It’s pretty neat we’re hosting
something like this,” said Shirtliff, who has been a
referee for 16 years. “It’s definitely an upbeat moment
out of my reffing career.”
The Ontario Games are being held throughout
Muskoka from March 4-7.
Photograph: Don McCormick
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