Frostbite, footy, rock sliding and the Goose

By Bob Mackin

Scott Smith took a break from diamond hunting to retrace the gold trail for fun.

The 31-year-old from Maple Ridge, now a prospector in Yellowknife, N.W.T., went to Whitehorse to run 480 kilometres through the wilderness in the second annual Yukon Arctic Ultra.

"I'd been working up in the Canadian high north for many years and I thought if I'm going to do an adventure race, this one would be a good one to start," Smith said.

Smith was the only British Columbian entered among 45 athletes from a dozen countries. Racers chose to go 42 km, 160 km or 480 km on foot, mountain bike or cross-country skis.

Smith pondered running all 480 km in mukluks. When the packed snow on the trail gave way to overflow on frozen rivers and streams, he knew he'd made the right decision to wear trekking shoes and thick socks. Blisters and frostbite from the -25 Celsius weather led him to finish Feb. 16 at the end of 160 km. He'll go the distance in 2005.

"I said, 'What the hell, call it a great learning experience, have a great time,'" Smith said. "I can't wait to come back next year."

Before then, Smith will try Brazil's second annual Jungle Marathon, a 200-km, six-stage race beginning Sept. 15 in the Amazon jungle.

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Gaelic football is going downtown.

The annual match between local Irish footy players and their Australian rules counterparts has bounced between the East Side's John Hendry Park and the West Side's Quilchena Park.

This year's contest kicks off at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 14 on the green, green ersatz grass of Andy Livingston Park at Expo Boulevard and Carrall Street.

The match is part of the March 12-17 Vancouver CelticFest 2004, which includes a pre-St. Patrick's Day parade on the Granville Mall at 11 a.m. on March 13. Visit www.celticfestvancouver.com for more information.

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The Vancouver Curling Club's Brian Gessner-skipped rink capped a Cinderella year with a gold medal in Japan last month.

Gessner, lead Jim Graham, third Thomas Lutes, second Lawrence Layton and coach Brad "Button" Burton won the men's division at the Karuizawa International Curling Championship Feb. 6-8.

VCC beat teams from Korea, Japan and Finland in the round robin of the Japan Curling Association-organized event. A rematch in the final with the Finns was tied 2-2 after the fifth-end break. VCC took a 5-2 lead with two ends to go, but the Finns replied with a pair in the ninth and stole one in the last to force an extra end. The Gessner rink finally won on a measurement.

The quartet qualified by winning last spring's Pacific International Cup at the Richmond Curling Club. From club championship to gold medal, the team won 17 of 19 games-including nine of 10 that went to extra ends.

"The feeling of watching the flags being raised while the national anthem is being played and standing on the podium with a gold medal around your neck is hard to describe," said Graham. "But I can tell you it's a pretty amazing feeling."

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The man synonymous with the Connaught Park Fieldhouse will be honoured by Sport B.C. Tuesday during the 38th annual Athlete of the Year awards.

But Dave "Goose" Frid is too ill to attend the Hyatt Regency ceremony to pick up the Darryl Thompson award for being a sport ambassador.

Frid, who was hospitalized with brain cancer in December, has been a Meraloma Club member since he came to Vancouver in 1953 from Barrie, Ont.

"The two are sort of interdependent, the Meraloma Club and Dave Frid,"said club director Gary Fumano. "He has been the Meraloma Club."

He's been a player, coach, manager and executive with the 81-year-old West Side club, best know for its rugby and football teams. For the last 25 years, "Goose" has been the vice-president of operations.