Athletes Battle Extreme Conditions in Arrowhead 135
12 February 2012
The cyclists who placed first and second crossed the finish line just one second - the width of one wheel - apart in this year's Arrowhead 135
BARBARA KLEIN: Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Barbara Klein.
STEVE EMBER: And I'm Steve Ember. This week on our program, we tell you about an extreme winter race in Minnesota. Then, we meet a Mexican-American playwright bringing immigrant stories to the stage in California. And later, we tell you the story of a comic book hero living in Texas.
(MUSIC)
BARBARA KLEIN: The Arrowhead 135 is a race held each winter in Minnesota, a north central state on the border with Canada. For two days, the racers ski, bike or run one hundred thirty-five miles, or two hundred seventeen kilometers. They race along a trail from the Canadian border to the finish line in the small town of Tower, Minnesota.
Ten people entered the first race in two thousand five. This year was the eighth race and there were one hundred thirty-five starters.
The Arrowhead 135 is dangerous. The extreme cold often leads to frostbite injuries. At night the racers go with little or no sleep as they guide themselves through rough conditions in total darkness. But that is all part of the appeal to the men and women who enter the race.
STEVE EMBER: Last year, the temperatures at night dropped to thirty degrees below zero Celsius. That was a little warmer than the year before, when temperatures reached negative thirty-seven. One of the cyclists that year, Jason Buffington, remembers seeing a friend who had stopped.
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