This Labrador City teen is ditching his textbooks for the thrill of Cain's Quest
Caleb Cousins, a Grade 12 student in Labrador City, is the youngest racer registered for Cain's Quest this year. He's joining Colin Vardy of Wabush, who asked him to race with him on just a week's notice. (Jeremy Eaton/CBC)
Caleb Cousins of Labrador City is just a few months away from graduating from high school but he says he couldn't pass up the chance to put the books away for a week and compete in one of the world's longest snowmobile endurance races, right in his own backyard.
Cousins, who turned 18 on Jan. 14, is the youngest racer registered in Cain's Quest, the 3,500-kilometre snowmobile race that spans Labrador, this year's edition beginning Sunday in Labrador City.
It's a race that usually takes months of preparation, but Cousins wasn't part of that. In fact, he's doing the multi-day race on about a week's notice.
"I was really excited and nervous at the same time. Because we had little to no time to prepare. And it's just been stressful, stressful since then," Cousins told CBC News on Wednesday, adding he's spending between 12 and 14 hours a day preparing.
"There's a lot of things that could go wrong, but there's a lot of things that could go right.… There's going to be a lot of new experiences and new sights to see. And I'm looking forward to that."
Cousins is racing on Team 59 alongside Colin Vardy, his co-worker at Herb's Industrial in nearby Wabush.
Vardy, also a rookie to Cain's Quest, had a team lined up that fell through. After a couple of backup choices also didn't pan out, he asked Cousins on Friday to join him in the race, having ridden with him on a few occasions earlier this year.
"I think this kid is on to something. He just turned 18 years old. He's very capable from what I've seen so far," Vardy said.
Cousins, right, and Colin Vardy make up Team 59. (Alex Kennedy/CBC)
Cousins said he aims to take the team as far as possible and he's excited to see different parts of Labrador.
Vardy has greatly tempered expectations: he doesn't expect the team to cross the finish line.
"I might get as far as Churchill for a burger. That's my goal. I want to get in to Churchill and have a burger at the hotel, and we'll take it from there. I'll go until my body, my bones, or my wife tells me it's time to come home," he said.
"I have to make sure that I'm not bringing [Caleb] home injured or in a wheelchair or in a body bag. So we're going to take our time."
Looking to the future
As the youngest racer, Cousins said he hopes being part of the race can get more young people interested and thinking about doing it in the future.
Vardy says he's already seen that pay off in the days since Cousins joined Team 59.
"We see the side conversations happening now between the support crew, the young people that are on the support crew. You know, they're over in the corner saying, 'You know, I think next race me and you should do it,'" he said.
"I'm more excited for Caleb, and what the future could mean."
However, Vardy said there are still immense hurdles that keep young people from getting involved in the race, like the large amounts of money and sponsorships needed to even get to the starting line.
"If you don't have $100,000, stay home. So, you know, that's a cost prohibitor, especially for young people these days."
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