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Highland Gathering brings out Celtic spirit in Regina

May 20, 2013 | 8:48 AM

The athletic competition at the provincial Highland Gathering is like an Ironman, except in kilts.

Whether participating as a hobbyist or treating the Western Canadian Heavy Events as a stepping stone to nationals, the province's most athletic Scotsmen gathered in Regina on Sunday.

Events like the caber toss, hammer throw, and 28-lb stone throwing often elicit and hearty grunt as athletes show their grit.

Competitor Marc Morin considers the events to be much like track and field.

“It's a good sport when I can train at my rhythm, when I can and when I want.”

Except that the weights are much, much heavier than track and field.

For example, the heavy hammer is similar to a hammer throw – except that the traditional hammer weighs 22 lbs, and athletes aren't able to spin at all.

Meanwhile, the “lightweight for distance” is much like a discus, aside from outweighing a traditional discus by 23 lbs.

Skills necessary for the competition are varied, Morin explained.

“First you need a lot of strength and power, some speed and then agility to be able to execute the techniques.”

Morin learned early on that if he wanted to succeed he needed to buy the equipment used in the competitions. That means he has a caber to practice with, which he uses in his back yard. A caber is a long and tall log that is about three times a person's height.

“Sometimes in the summer when it's nice out in the summer we grab a caber and toss.”

The caber toss is a complicated event. Unlike many others, which involve moving the item as far as you can, the toss requires the caber to land at a certain angle. That forces the athlete to not only demonstrate the strength to flip the log over end for end, but the ability to foresee how it will land.

While athletics were a big part of the Highland Gathering, other aspects of Celtic culture were on display. Bagpiping, drumming and dancing were all a part of the event.

Taking in the day's festivities was Sherie Argue. As the head of the Mackenzie Clan Society, she pursues her lifetime fascination with her ancestors.

She's even created a computer family database that will help people trace their roots to the Mackenzie family.

And each year at the gathering she finds a new relative, even if its a third or fourth cousin.

Lately she's met more people coming fresh from Scotland, Britain and Ireland.

“Even though some of my ancestors were explorers to Canada in the 1700s, now people are still explorers in a way, coming to a new land.”

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