Can you beat the equipment? Portland, Ont. puts out unique challenge to residents after annual event cancelled

Skate the Lake challenge Portland's Skate the Lake has a new twist this year. CTV's Nate Vandermeer explains.

Hundreds of skaters would usually descend on Portland, Ont. to participate in Skate the Lake, racing on a one kilometre oval on Big Rideau Lake the last weekend in January.

But with COVID-19 restrictions cancelling the event for the second year in a row, organizers have challenged residents in a different way.

"Skate the Lake is a two-day event, a Saturday-Sunday, and we normally have several races each day like a 10 km, a 25 km, even a 100 km," said John Bongers, Skate the Lake president.

"The last two years, given the restrictions we had to work within, we decided to create a challenge that people could do on their own time and just link on an app," Bongers said. "Strava is the app we use and people just come out and skate whenever they'd like and they submit their laps, we keep track of them."

Already this year some participants are up to 90 laps around the oval. In 2021, skaters compiled a whopping 1,433 kilometres. That's like driving from Portland to Thunder Bay.

"Last year we kept it quite simple. The top person had I think 240 laps but this year people are a lot more into it, the word got out basically," Bongers added.

"So what we had fun with this year is the skaters are competing with our equipment, and so far our equipment is winning," he said with a laugh.

With all the recent snowfall, the snowplow, brush tractor and Olympia Ice Resurfacer have been out doing laps of their own.

As of Feb. 1, the Olympia has gone around 147 times.

"I think the plow truck had to do 50 laps the last couple days," Bongers said. "The ice is so thick this year, and the snow is so heavy that it takes a lot of work to keep a good skating surface."

On this cold Saturday morning, not many skaters were on the ice, but the brave ones who came out, while not participating in the challenge enjoyed their skate.

"I think it's pretty unique. No one else in the area has one, and it's safe, we're outdoors and we don't need masks!" said Terry Graydon and Laurie Anne Brennan from Smiths Falls.

"They do a good job keeping it skateable. It's all volunteer, the community really pulls together and they are very welcoming to people," the women said.

Nearby resident, Pat Clark was also out for a brisk skate, quickly doing three laps on the oval.

"It's really pleasant. It's just so nice on a bright day like this with no clouds, really great to be out on the ice," Clark said.

"Come down and just enjoy it. Get out and see other people it's just great during these times where we've been stuck inside," he added.

Bongers is out on the ice regularly, updating ice conditions to the Skate the Lake Facebook page.

"The ice is two feet thick here and the pressure is just making new cracks every day so you need to tell people what to expect," he said. "I did some laps this morning to check out how our volunteers are doing and see how the ice was."

"We've had little kids that are doing two, three laps a day and up to 70-80-year-olds that can blow by me without even breathing hard so we have a real, very large range of people enjoying this oval and that's what it's all about," Bongers said.

With the two cancelled events, Bongers said donations have helped keep the ice surface in shape along with volunteers.

"We haven't had an event to raise money," Bongers said. "It's the businesses and the community here in Portland that keep this thing going and keep the machines running, so the volunteers have good equipment to run."

"It's everyone. It's the skaters, it's the community, it's the local businesses that make this happen and keep it fun," he added.

Organizers hope to return to a full skate the lake event in 2023.