STEPHENVILLE, N.L. — Michael Budden is well known around the Whaleback Nordic Ski Club, not only for all the practice he puts in, but for his help with the Jackrabbit program for kids getting into cross-country skiing.
He’s now hoping to make his mark on a national level as part of Team Newfoundland and Labrador at the 2020 Special Olympics Canada Winter Games Feb. 25-29 in Thunder Bay, Ont.
For him, cross-country skiing is a fun sport and what he likes most about the sport is that it gets a person in really good shape.
Budden, who is 17 and a Grade 11 student at Stephenville High School, has been cross-country skiing for about 12 years. His involvement in Special Olympics started five years ago.
This is his first time going to the Canada Winter Games and he’s really looking forward to competing in freestyle at the event.
Brian Dunphy, an avid skier at Whaleback, has been helping him get better.
Dunphy said he has certainly seen a tremendous improvement on Budden since last year and that he's really motivated to skate, a technique used in cross-country skiing.
"Michael is in great cardio shape and has learned a lot of skiing skills," he said.
Dunphy said this ranges from step turning on the downhill, doing offset on the uphill and one-skate, which is a faster skating technique used in cross-country skiing.
He said Budden recently joined him for a 15-kilometre ski, which demonstrates he has endurance. At the Snowy Owl Classic cross-country ski races held at Whaleback Nordic Ski Club on Feb. 1, Budden posted a time of 32 minutes and 4.6 seconds in an 8.5-kilometre race, placing him in sixth position in the open male category.
Dunphy doesn't know what type of competition Budden will be going up against or his prospects of medalling at the Canada Winter Games, but wishes him well.
Budden said he’s on the trails almost every day of the week, except for exam week, of course, and usually gets in at least an hour a day.
Aside from skiing, he is involved in Community Youth Network activities and the Humanitarian Club at his school.
“In all honesty, I’m hoping to get a new experience and do a really good job,” Budden said of attending the Canada Winter Games.
He is the only cross-country skier from western Newfoundland taking part in the national event.
