The snow crunches beneath his skis as he shuffles his feet. It’s cold. His breath rises in the morning air. He tightens his grip on his ski poles. Around him, dozens of athletes prepare themselves for the 16-kilometre race that will determine who qualifies for the next level — and who doesn’t.
He takes a deep breath and reassures himself. Just one more race. He can feel the energy from the group rising as he stares forward at the timer. Ten seconds. He visualizes the race ahead. Five seconds. He braces himself, and with a push of his poles, he’s off.
Second-year St. Thomas University student Zachary Lakes is taking his skiing to the national stage next month. He will be competing in biathlon at the Canada Games in Prince George, B.C.
“It’s huge for me,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to just going and competing at that high level.”
Lakes will be one of eight biathletes from Nova Scotia attending the Canada Games.
Biathlon is a sport that combines cross-country skiing and marksmanship. The athletes ski around the track, stopping at certain spots to shoot targets. Lakes will be competing in the mass start, relay, sprint and pursuit races. He’s looking forward to the Games, but knows placing well will not be an easy task.
“It’s going to be really hard, looking at all the athletes that we’re going to be up against as a small province like Nova Scotia,” he said.
Lakes’s passion for biathlon developed when he started the seventh grade at King’s Edgehill School in Nova Scotia. One of his friends encouraged him to try the sport through the cadets program at school. He’d always played sports growing up, so he figured he’d give it a shot.
But unlike his experience with soccer and rugby, he didn’t catch on right away.
“When I started I was terrible. I could hardly stand up on skis,” he said. “There were a lot of times I just wanted to quit.”
That’s one of the things that got Lakes hooked. Success didn’t come easy. He had to work for it.
Lakes says biathlon is a sport that requires motivation and determination. But he finds it interesting that you don’t have to be young to be a good biathlete.
“The best biathlete in the world is 46,” he said. “It’s one of those things you can keep doing for a long time as long as you have the strength.”
For him, the character building aspect of the sport is just as valuable as the athletic benefits.
The Canada Games run from Feb. 13 to March 1. There will be about 60 athletes competing in the biathlon events.
Lakes hopes to make it in the top 10 in one of the races. Although his mind is on the games now, he’s not dismissing the idea of making it to the Olympics one day.
For now though, Lakes is taking it one stride at a time.
“I just want to do my own race and really enjoy the experience,” he said.
