It’s a nice day for a Cree race.
The icy lake is a mirror, the sky blue and the sun burns as the people of Nemaska gather at the shore of Champion Lake. They are here to witness the spectacle of nine Cree men and women swimming, biking, portaging, paddling and finally running a combined total of 279 km through the heart of Cree Territory.
Last minute checks are done on mountain bikes and canoes. The racers seem tense except for the one favored to win this race, Redfern Cheezo. He downs around wearing ridiculous plastic Buddy Holly style glasses and a tight black swimming cap. The people stand by the shore shading themselves under the trees.
The formalities get underway and the contestants are presented. They greet each other ceremonially and troop down to the village dock where they gather in a loose circle for an opening prayer. Then they board the boats and head off to the sandbar where the race is to begin. Only Redfern, still clowning, decides to take the dip and wade over.
A Peacekeeper’s siren signals the start. The swimmers take off, but for one, who doesn’t move off the starting line. Linda Iserhoff-Cooper is laughing nervously. “I can’t!”.
“You can do it!” shouts out founder of the event Rodney Hester, from one of the boats. Mumbling under his breath, “No one is quitting on me this year,” he strips off his shirt and dives into the chilly water. “I’ll do it with you.”
The Waswanipi swimmer tell us later she had just learned to swim three months ago.
Redfern is the first out of the water at 18 min. 24 sec. Roderick Petawabano and Louis Mianscum follow. Then Malcolm Tanoush and Stephanie Mianscum.
They mount their bikes and speed down the gravel road leaving town. More swimmers emerge from the lake. Jimmy Coonishish, Lizzie-Anne. But Linda Iserhoff-Cooper, hanging on to a life jacket, is still struggling, and Jodie House fights leg cramps in the water
The crowd on the shore worries about him. On his way from Chisasibi, a flat tire kept him up most of the night. But friends assure the crowd that Jodie’s not a quitter.
Heads quickly turn to watch the dust fly as the cyclists arrive back in town.
Louis Mianscum is still a full kilometre behind Redfern.
One by one, the racers shoulder their canoes to applause from the crowd and begin the 1 km long portage to the end of the dirt road.
On the portage trail a voice crackles over a walkie-talkie, “Someone’s in trouble.” It’s Roderick, A cramp in his shoulder forces him to throw down his canoe. He’s tired. He’s already played two games at the volleyball tournament this weekend, and has another scheduled for tonight. But he quickly recovers and continues on. Sweat pours from his brow as he nears the shore. Jimmy Coonishish is just metres behind him.
Heading back to the starting line the walkie talkie voice comes on again,
“Hey, we just saw Stephanie running through the village.” “What? She’s running?” Is there a mix-up? We think. But it isn’t a mistake. She had already paddled the half km canoe route and is on the final stretch of the shorter women s course. “She’s O.K., let her go,” they get the answer back.
Meanwhile, Jodie, still swimming, is nearing shore. He touches bottom and walks the final stretch, grabbing at his left leg with a pained expression on his face. He falls and splashes down in the thigh deep water. He forces himself up and touches the beach only to collapse face down. A female voice from the crowd pleads, “Weejh hahgue ma!” Jodie rises and struggles toward his bike. Another female voice wonders out loud where his crew is.
Redfern is first to beach his canoe.
He playfully splashes the village kids with his paddle as he passes the dock they’re watching from. Louis Mianscum is now just seconds behind.
The heat is on, as the two leaders vie for the title in the last stretch: a 10 km run, which is Louis’ forte, and Redfern’s biggest challenge.
Back in town, Rodney and the organizers herd the growing crowd to the finish line to cheer on Stephanie, clearly the women’s champion. She sprints for the last stretch, amidst the sounds of cheering, honking and whistling. Her time beats last year’s champion by 4 minutes at 1:55:56.
Out on the road, Louis is closing up on Redfern. As Louis passes him, Redfern reaches out to hand him a wet towel.
They both smile, and Louis takes the lead.
A surprise champion heads home to claim the title at 2:14:26 and break last year’s record. The crowd roars. A mere 45 seconds later Redfern crosses the police line shaving over 4 minutes off his own record. Jimmy Coonishish takes a solid third.
Suddenly, the officials scramble to part the crowd. “Jodie’s coming! Jodie’s coming! Get out of the way.”
The unstoppable Jodie screams across the finish line — on his bike. The crowd goes wild. He still has three events to go.
One by one, the racers come in, including Linda, who had come closest to abandoning the challenge. She raises her arms triumphantly above her head as she finishes. Rodney is beaming. No one has quit this year.
But the race is not over.
Three hours later, the crowd has thinned. The sun is low when word comes that Jodie is on his way. As he nears the finish, he picks up speed, and the patient fans cheer the last competitor across the line at 5:23:00. Out of breath, and limping, he can barely speak. Jodie pants only one comment: “I feel like shit.”
