CARRABASSETT VALLEY, Maine — As his fellow competitors exhaled voluminous clouds of rapidly freezing vapor and repeatedly adjusted hats and scarves to cover exposed skin, Shane Roberts of Thomaston found another way to stay warm on Monday morning.
He hopped. And hopped. And hopped a bit more.
Roberts hopped to get warm as the temperature hovered at a barely bearable 24 degrees below zero.
He hopped to stay warm. And, perhaps, he hopped just to kill some time.
He also talked and told anyone willing to listen how he felt about participating during the opening day of competition in the 39th annual Special Olympics Maine Winter Games. The Special Olympics is a year-round athletic training competition program for people of all ages with intellectual disabilities.
“I’m pumped!” Roberts said0 for the fourth or 10th or 30th time of the day. “I’m pumped!”
Roberts was one of more than 500 athletes who arrived at Sugarloaf on Sunday, then began competing early Monday morning. A full slate of winter events was on tap, including skiing, skating, snowshoe racing and plenty of free-time activities. It seemed most were similarly pumped.
Mark Capano, the director of programs for Special Olympics Maine, said event organizers kept a close eye on the weather, and coaches were watching their athletes to make sure all remained safe in the extreme temperatures.
“If it was windy, you couldn’t [hold the events],” Capano said. “But we’re business as usual today, and I’m sure we’ll have a lot of excited athletes, no matter what.”
That they did.
Roberts admitted that he didn’t know exactly how cold it was. He also admitted that he didn’t really care.
“I love it. I’ve got my hands warm,” Roberts said, explaining that he’d discovered the secret to keeping his paws warm even on the coldest of days.
“Heating pads,” he said, clapping his gloved hands together. “Heating pads.”
And with the sun shining brightly and heating pads in place, anything was possible, he figured.
“I’m ready. We’ve got the sun. I’m pumped. I’m ready,” he said.
Roberts competed in a pair of snowshoe time trials on Monday, as did many of his teammates from Stars of Life in Thomaston. On Tuesday, they’ll return to face others of similar ability levels in the finals.
Before his 50-meter heat began, Roberts shared his master plan with anyone who’d listen.
“Look into the sun, and I’m gone,” he said.
It was unclear, however, whether he was the one who was supposed to look into the slowly rising sun, or whether he was hoping his rivals would do so and lose track of him from the outset.
Either way, the tactic worked well enough, as he bulldozed his way down the course and finished strong.
And after completing a 100-meter heat, Roberts was ready to get on to some equally pressing business. Yes, it was cold outside. But inside nearby Carrabassett Valley Academy, it seemed everything was hot.
“I’m gonna get hot dogs and hot soup,” he announced.
Sadly, he’d have to wait for that treat.
His coach, Alex Winsper, explained that a year ago, some of her Stars of Life athletes went a bit hog-wild at the all-you-can-eat hospitality suite.
“I was outside with these guys and went inside [to check on the athletes who were in CVA],” Winsper said. “They said, ‘We just ate six hot dogs.’ I don’t want us to eat three lunches this year, which is bound to happen [unless we go back to the condo right now].”
Stars of Life team member Louis Regnier struggled with some equipment malfunctions before (and during) his races, but the 68-year-old kept a positive outlook throughout.
While puffing his way toward the finish line in a distant sixth-place during his 50-meter time trial heat, Regnier apologized to the officials who awaited his arrival.
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” he said as he neared the finish line.
Just before the 100 started, he ended up on his belly in the snow when a volunteer who was escorting him to the line inadvertently stepped on the tail of one of his snowshoes.
“I knew I was gonna fall at some point today,” Regnier said as he hopped to his feet and brushed himself off.
And after his 100 was completed, Regnier walked away from the finish line vowing to do something different the next day.
His electric blue ski pants, which were among the snappiest of the day, turned out to be a bit too loose for high-speed maneuvers and hindered him down the stretch.
“My pants were falling down,” Regnier said with a laugh.
That was no problem, he figured. Monday was a time trial, he knew. And on Tuesday, with a stronger cord cinching up his drawers, he’d be racing against others who were about the same speed as him.
“If there’s someone I can beat, I’ll be all set,” he said. “Tomorrow we’re in different groups.”
Over at the Sugarloaf Outdoor Center, it was business as usual for Caitlyn Gunn of Bangor, who has focused on her speed skating for years.
Gunn competed in 100-, 300- and 800-meter time trials during the morning and was due to return for finals in the same events during the afternoon.
In between, she was scheduled to be among four athletes who would light the Olympic torch during opening ceremonies.
Gunn and the other three — Nordic skier Joshua Brosious of Hartford, Alpine skier Jackie Contino of Bangor and snowshoe racer Dalton Kinney of Nobleboro — earned that honor because they are the four athletes from Maine who will compete in the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Boise, Idaho, in February.
Gunn also represented the U.S. in the 2001 World Games in Alaska.
She said she hopes to repeat the highlights of that Alaska trip in Idaho.
“Meeting new friends and spending time with my family,” she said.
Back at the snowshoe venue, 14-year-old Candy Berry of Orono High School may have won the fashion award, had there been one.
Berry showed up for the races in a bright pink Arctic Cat snowmobile suit and accessorized it with a “High School Musical” hat that featured all of the movie’s stars.
“I’m very fast,” Berry announced as her group was being called toward the shoeing benches.
Fast, but trying hard to overcome a very recent injury, it turned out.
“Watch out for my thumb,” she told a fellow competitor as they shook hands. “I shut it in the car door.”
That she did, her coaches said, just minutes before her first race.
Berry overcame that challenge, an early fall and a slow start to gather momentum late in her 25-meter race. It seemed that all she had been lacking was the proper motivation.
She found that in the form of Maine Game Warden Dan Menard, who was volunteering at the starting line.
When Menard moved to the finish line during the race to offer his encouragement, Berry focused on him instead of her early troubles and finished the race by leaping into his arms and giving Menard an unexpected smooch on the cheek.
Before her 50-meter race, she let Menard know she expected more of the same.
“You go down there,” she said, pointing to the finish line. “I kissed you the last time.”
“Yes, you did,” a sheepish Menard said with a grin.
With her favorite volunteer in sight throughout the race, Berry fared far better in the 50, capping the race with another leap into the warden’s waiting hug.
Then it was off to lunch for Berry and her coaches … a plan Shane Roberts could surely appreciate.
By that time, however, he’d moved on to Plan B … And Plan C.
“Fun stuff,” Roberts explained. “Snowmobile [rides]. And a lot of girls. All of them.”
Ah, the girls.
Roberts hastily explained the Special Olympics tradition that many athletes wait all year for: The huge dance that’s held at the state Games.
And he said he’d be ready to woo the ladies during Monday evening’s highlight.
“Hot Spice on my face,” he said, illustrating his intentions by rubbing imaginary after-shave lotion on his cheeks.
As it turns out, a smoothly shaved chin and some good smelling lotion wasn’t all he had in store for the ladies at the dance.
“I’ve got a set of lips,” he confided with a grin.
