Summary of Event

Every week from Nov 22, 2023 to March 6, 2024, the Regina Ski Club will hold a Wednesday Night Race, weather and snow conditions permitting. This race will be free to Regina Ski Club Members.

We will host 2 longer Saturday races (date TBD based on the SaskCup/Regina Ski club calendar). We will use locations outside of the City for these, such as: White Butte, Qu’Appelle Valley Nordic (Lumsden), and Echo Provincial Park. The same rules will apply to these races as to the Wednesday Night Races.

Objectives

The objectives of the weekly Wednesday Night race will be to:

• Strengthen and grow the local ski community by providing weekly races open to all members.
• Increase fitness for members (in a non-competitive environment)
• Provide weekly races to competitive club members to keep them race sharp

Sandy Bain will coordinate and lead each of the weekly events and ensure that there are timers for each event.

Participant Eligibility

In order to be eligible for the weekly races, the participant must:

• Be a member of the Regina Ski Club
• Sign a waiver form – This is to ensure that the Ski Club or any member is not liable should an issue arise. It is assumed that Regina Ski Club has insurance to protect itself and its members.

The weekly races are free to members.

Locations

The Ski races will be at the following locations:

• Science Centre
• Douglas Park
• Foothills
• Kinsmen Park
• Les Sherman Park
• AE Wilson Park

Race locations will be posted on the Regina Ski Club Facebook page and emails will be sent the day prior to the race.

Event Time/Dates

Sign on for all races will be at 6:15pm race day, followed by a warm up lap of the course and the races starting at 6:30pm. When the participant signs in the timer for the event will verify that the participant is a member of the Regina Ski Club. The timer will then provide the participant with a bib number (which should be returned after the race), and ask whether the participant wants to do the short or long race. The timer will have a clip board and pen to document the results of the race.

The Wednesday Night Races will take place from December 7th 2022 to March 1st 2023. If Conditions are poor on Wednesday, the races will be cancelled. Communication changes will be posted on Facebook and emailed to the email group.

Races will become training sessions (lower intensity group ski) if the static air temperature is below -20 degrees Celsius. If the static air temperature is below -25 degrees Celsius, the event will be cancelled. The race will also be cancelled if there has been a fresh snow fall and the groomers have not had an opportunity to groom the course.

Note: Given the time of the Wednesday Night races, it is recommended that all participants have head lamps for the races.

Race Formats

In addition to different locations, races will have different formats each week. For example:

• Classic style versus skate style – the plan is to alternate the styles each week
• Timed versus mass start
• Different distances

The format of each upcoming race will be communicated along with the location the day before the race. Communication is via Facebook and email.

The race times will be recorded in a single category with respect to age and gender. The results of each race will be posted on Facebook the day after the race.

Grooming

Discussions will be held with the groomers of each location to see if the courses can be groomed before the Wednesday Night Races.

Sponsorship/Prizes

Discussions will be held with Fresh Air Experience and their suppliers to see if they can donate prizes for this event. Prizes will be distributed based on participation rather than results. In order to be eligible for a prize, a participant must attend at least 1/3 of the events and do an act of volunteerism (whether it be helping with grooming, helping time the event, putting the results on Facebook, etc.). For each Wednesday night race that the participant attends, he or she will get an entry for the draw for prizes. For each act of volunteerism,  a volunteer will receive two entries into the draw. The draw for prizes will be done at the end of the year wind up, to be held mid-March.

Communication

The Regina Ski Club Facebook page, as well as an email group, will be used to communicate details about each event. This will include the date and location of the next race, the race format (particularly whether classic or skate style), results of the last race, and whether the next race is cancelled.