by PAUL RAYNER

The second running of the Turtle Mountain Challenge confirmed the addition to the local area’s Labour Day weekend.

The “amazing race” was held from August 31 to September 2, pitting teams in a challenge across much of the local corner of the province, where they matched wits and skills against each other and the region. According to Tourism Coordinator Aggie Buhler, the second running went very well.

“We had 31 teams show up,” she said, “and we were definitely pleased with that. There was only one local group, the Underground Youth Group, but we had them from all over the province. Winnipeg, Starbuck, Steinbach. It was very eastern oriented, that is where we did our marketing. We had six teams come back from last year. These people are having the time of their lives.”

The event began with the Friday night registration and mixer. This year, teams participated in the Great Farmer Challenge, where they had to wear the different hats (and clothing) of the agricultural set. For example, as veterinarians, they had to remove gallstones from a stuffed animal.

By Saturday morning, the real challenge was moving forward. Moving both east and west, contestants had to perform tasks in communities like Boissevain, Killarney, Ninette and Baldur, based on different criteria, such as mentally or physically challenging or adventurous.

Buhler said there were no shortage of challenges. The return of last year’s teams meant they had to be more creative in the list of what the participants could choose to do. They did not disappoint.

In Ninette, they could participate in the suitcase race, where they had to put on the clothes they found in a suitcase. At the Killarney Beach Hut, they had to either do a round of mini-golf or eat a sundae in four minutes. Before one thinks the second of these challenges is easy, you must remember the sundae was made with interesting ingredients like mustard and onions. They could try their hand at literally finding a needle in a haystack in Baldur.

Some challenges moved from one community to the other. For example, outside of Boissevain, contestants had to cut enough grain to make two cups of flour. They then had to move on to Hartney and grind the flour. This agricultural type of challenge did bring some culture shock-related moments.

“There was one team of city girls who wondered how you got the white powder from the wheat.”

The Recorder crossword took participants around Boissevain to find information like the first name of the railway financier Boissevain was named after and the number of bells outside of Beckoning Hills Museum. There was a picture challenge made up of 25 photographs where contestants had to identify the site from small clues – for example, the flowers were shown from the Boissevain sign at the corner of Highways 3 & 10. There was also a set of challenges set up in the home base of the International Peace Garden this year.

“I think we kept them challenged,” Buhler stated.

Buhler found a bit of a difference with the teams the second time around.

“They were totally into the race idea last year,” she explained, “but we found this year the group was less hard core. If they won, that was great, but they were more interested in sightseeing.”

The region as a whole made an impression on the visitors.

“They commented on how friendly everyone was, because they needed to talk to people to complete some of the challenges. They were overwhelmed by the beauty of the region.”

She added that they were already seeing spin-offs from the first amazing race in 2006.

“A number of teams have come back to the region after the first one,” Buhler said. “Even if businesses didn’t make a pile of money out of the weekend, there are lots of spin-offs. People are getting a good impression and coming back.”

In the future, they would like to perhaps add a few new communities to the mix. They would also like to see more local team participation. Buhler said organizers and businesses create challenges that are as tough for locals as for those from further away, adding that locals who did not participate this year truly missed something. The event is becoming a local long weekend tradition like the Labour Day Classic in Regina.

“We have very creative things in the works for next year. This has become an amazing event.”