Racers battle slushy conditions at Ottawa's 1st ice dragon boating festival

Perhaps the "slush dragon" boat festival might have been a bettername.

This weekend marked the debut of the Ottawa Ice Dragon Boat Festival a highlight of Winterlude 2017, and an eventorganizers had hailed as the firstof its kind to be held in North America.

• Ice dragon boating to make North American debut at Winterlude
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On a balmy Saturday afternoon, competitors fromas far away as California and Florida took to the semi-frozen surface of Dow's Lake, using spiked paddles to push the hefty boats across the finish line.

"It was amazing," said Chynna Chan, who came from Philadelphia to compete. "[The]first heat was much better because of the ice conditions, and we glided through. Second one was a little tougher, but it was so worth it."

Temperatures in Ottawa soared to8 C on Saturday, and the deteriorating conditions forcedfestival organizers to cancel the final heat of races and go straight to the finals.

Racers, however, seemed happy just to be on the ice even if there might be a few soothing massages needed afterwards.

"Everybody'shaving fun," said Toronto's Ivan Lee. "We're glad it's nice and warm out here, but the slush is causing us a lot of shoulder and arm pain. But we're grinning through it and smiling through it."

Winterlude wraps up on Monday.