A lake by any other name can be confusing. Just ask Manu Heras and Marlene Croteau, from Barcelona, Spain, who made their way to Powell River to participate in the 20th annual Loon Lake Race on Sunday, September 27.
Croteau, who works in a running store, had found the race, which is a Special Olympics fundraiser, in a listing of events.
Heras uses a wheelchair and the pair travelled to Powell River via the Vancouver Island ferry, coming across without a vehicle. They had asked if someone could pick them up and bring them to the run site. In all the pre-race preparations, the requested slipped by organizers.
“I searched for Loon Lake but was not able to find it on Google Earth,” Hera said after finishing the race. That is because the lake is officially named Inland Lake, although locals called it Loon Lake for years, hence the run name.
Heras and Croteau started up the hill from the ferry terminal, along Marine Avenue, up Alberni Street and along Manson Avenue.
There they met Lorraine Lalonde who had come off graveyard shift at her job. When she found out their predicament, she offered to bring them to the race site and even waited for the pair to finish.
“I’m taking them to Lund because Manu is heading to South America and I wanted him to go to the beginning of Highway 101 that ends at its tip,” said Lalonde.
She said she was also taking them to a place to camp for the evening.
“This is the first time in 20 years that someone in a wheelchair has participated,” said Dan Vincent, local coordinator and Special Olympics board member.
Heras said it is rare that trail races will be wheelchair-accessible or even open to those in wheelchairs. Often, he added, accessible trails end with stairs or are difficult to navigate. “This trail is great.”
Eight Special Olympics athletes participated and raised $1,000 in pledges. They will be competing in curling and floor hockey in Newfoundland at the 2016 Special Olympics Canada Winter Games next February.
For full results on the run, readers can go to sunshinecoastathletics.org.
