Managing the 1,223 entrants from 23 nations in the 2008 Masters World Cup was going remarkably well by midweek, according to organizers. "We've gotten rave reviews," said Erin Roper, executive director of the event's organizing committee. "You know it's not perfect; there are always problems."
Nothing "catastrophic" has happened, in her words. The small hitches that cropped up were smoothed out with a little extra effort.
Directors of the World Masters Cross Country Association, the governing body for the event, have been impressed with what they have seen so far, Roper said.
The tracks are "perfect," and officials were impressed when they arrived four days before the start of the event that everything was ready, Roper said.
Early Arrivals
Problems stemmed mostly from unforeseen circumstances outside the committee's control, she said.
A larger than expected group of Norwegians arrived two weeks early before the shuttle bus service started running.
"That really surprised us," Roper said. "If we were to look back, we should have started the shuttle buses running early. Although it was incredibly expensive for us, that would have been helpful."
As more athletes began arriving, Ed Allen, organizing committee president, and Tamara DeBoer of InIdaho.com, which booked accommodations, were up late several nights helping people get to their quarters.
"With all this snow, it was very difficult for the transportation company in Boise coming in very late at night to find where these people were staying," Roper said, referring to the tall snow berms lining many McCall streets.
Parking at Ponderosa State Park proved to be congested with all parking space taken the first day of competition on Saturday, but park staff handled the challenge well and traffic kept flowing, Park Manager Dennis Coyle said.
After Saturday, congestion eased as people started to ride the buses to the park instead of driving.
Arrangements were made to get meals to Russian athletes en masse. The majority of the contingent of 122 Russians are over 50 and do not speak English, which posed special challenges.
A local caterer was hired to bring meals to Russian athletes staying at the AmericInn. The ones staying on the west side of town at the Brundage Inn were bused to the AmericInn where dinner was served in two shifts.
Travel arrangements went awry for a number of the Russians when they arrived at the airport in Denver, Colo. The desk agent at the airport called Roper Sunday telling of people who hadn't made travel arrangements beyond Denver or who were trying to get on earlier flights.
Others had no transportation arrangements between Boise and McCall.
Roper called Ed Olson, a retired Navy veteran with 37 years experience translating Russian. Olson lives in Boise and had volunteered his services to the event.
Roper asked Olson if he would look after four Russians expected to fly into Boise. He went to the airport three times that night, and found two of them. The other two took a different flight from Denver and how they eventually found their way to McCall is a mystery, Roper said.
The two Russians Olson helped had their luggage lost in transit. Olson picked them up at the airport, fed them, and lodged them overnight at his home. The following morning, Olson called the airport and learned their baggage had arrived.
"We went and picked (their bags) up, I took them to the bus station and put them on their way," Olson said.
Olson also told of a man from Slovakia whose skis were broken during travel. Allen lent him skis for practice while arrangements were made with the airline to buy new skis.
Monday night, there were 10 photo finishes which had to be looked over and Roper did not get freestyle race results until almost all the classic awards were handed out.
The first night 600 copies of race results were printed.
Duplication of jobs has caused some problems, but Roper was unruffled by such matters.
"Two people are doing the same thing ... is better than something getting missed," she said.
Closing ceremonies closed to general public
The final banquet and closing ceremonies for the 2008 Masters World Cup on Friday will be limited to athletes and those who previously purchased tickets to the banquet.
An estimated 1,300 people are expected to sit down for dinner at Manchester Ice and Event Centre, and there is little room for anyone else, organizers said.
After dinner, Lyle Nelson, a four-time Olympian in biathlon, will host closing ceremonies, Roper said.
McCall organizing committee members will hand the World Masters Association flag to the 2009 Masters World Cup site team from Autrans, France.
The evening will end with live entertainment by the Idaho western band Trio Pinto, led by well-known singer and songwriter Pinto Bennett.
