It was a numbing experience for Ben Weir in Prince George last weekend.
The 17-year-old student from Glenlyon Norfolk School in Victoria lost his left shoe at the start of the boys six-kilometre race at the sa国际传媒 high school cross-country championships over the weekend at D.P. Todd Secondary, but it didn't stop him from capturing the silver medal.
"It was not even 200 metres into the race, I wasn't giving up at that point," said Weir. "It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be because, I don't know, with the snow my foot went numb pretty quickly and I couldn't feel it. It was a little hard getting a grip but that's life, you just have to push through sometimes."
With temperatures hovering around zero, Weir pushed through the three-lap course in 22 minutes, 35 seconds with only his right shoe to try and grip the slushy, sometimes rocky, terrain.
Tim Delcourt of Surrey's Kwantlen Park was the gold medalist in a time of 22: 20 in his final cross-country race at the high school level.
"The course was pretty good because the snow was kind of soft and the ground was kind of wet so it wasn't too bad, except the downhill was all rocky - that was a little bit of a challenge," said Weir.
Weir, hopping around on his right foot minutes after the race in the recovery room trying to bring feeling back into his left foot, topped his fifth-place finish from 2011.
Weir's friend and training partner, Liam Kennell of Oak Bay, placed third in 22: 41 and gained new respect for Weir's perseverance.
"He's probably the toughest person I've ever met and he just pushes so hard, so I'm not surprised," said Kennell. Only 16, Kennell's third-place finish helped Oak Bay take first place in the boys' team competition. Reynolds was second overall with Seamus Maguire that school's top finisher in 10th.
Bronze medallist Kennell moved up six places from finishing ninth in his Grade 10 season.
"I've never pushed that hard before," said Kennell. "It's a very difficult course. It was a good race, hard, there was a pocket of 10 immediately off the start with the top guys."
Weir's and Kennell's training partner at the University of Victoria track club, Thomas Getty, placed sixth in 23: 32.
More than 260 runners competed in the event. Other Oak Bay finishers included Taylor Chan (27th), Liam Farrar (31st), Owen Sieffert (46th), Talen Rimmer (55th), Oliver Kaelin (85th) and Max McCulloch (99th). Oak Bay now has eight sa国际传媒 team championships.
The Oak Bay girls' team came in fifth, with Madelyn Brunt placing 14th.
