By Daniel Hartill,Staff Writer
Cold air comes too late for Turner snowmobile race

Today’s expected blast of cold air came too late to save the One Lunger Vintage Snowmobile Race in Turner.

The annual event, scheduled for next Saturday and expected to draw more than 2,000 people, has been canceled due to too little snow and too much mud.

“It’s just impossible to go on,” said Jonny Wakefield, one of the race’s organizers. “We’d need a foot-and-a-half of snow by next week. And that’s not happening.”

The event is put on every year by the Turner Ridge Riders, a local snowmobile club. Proceeds go toward the maintenance of miles of wooded and farmland trails.

Club members talked about having a mud run or some similar event. In the end, they decided it was better to cancel and begin planning for next year.

“We wanted to do the race right,” said Chip Gilbert, president of the Ridge Riders. “We didn’t want people complaining that we were doing this just for the money.”

At least 100 people had already registered to race.

Some had been working on their sleds for more than six months, said Wakefield, who runs United Sports in Turner.

“People join because it doesn’t take a lot of money,” he said. “And it’s something they can look forward to as the weather turns cold.”

The One Lunger, whose name is derived from the single-cylinder engines that are typically used, is run with snowmobiles that are at least 33 years old.

“There are lots of them around and it doesn’t cost thousands of dollars to fix them up,” Wakefield said.

Neither Wakefield nor Gilbert wanted folks to give up on their sleds, though. They are already planning on next year’s race, which they hope to expand to two days.

And next Saturday, when they were scheduled to race, they plan to gather for a small barbecue, no matter what the weather, Gilbert said.

“We’ll curse the snow gods,” he said.

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