While she may go by her given name at school, Orillia’s Sophie Gough is better known as ‘Rockin’ Robin’ when hitting the toboggan hill.
At least, that was nine-year-old girl’s entry name for Saturday’s 11th annual Cardboard Toboggan Race at Couchiching Golf and Country Club.
The event attracted four entries with two participants travelling from Bracebridge to compete against their Sunshine City brethren for an array of prizes, of which Gough captured the fastest and furthest award honours.
Megan Kamphuis, the city’s recreation program supervisor, said that while the event normally attracts more entries, last year’s cancellation caused by the dangerous, icy conditions likely affected the numbers this time around.
“The quality of the cardboard toboggans was pretty incredible,” Kamphuis told participants as they gathered at the bottom of the hill on this mild February morning.
“We have a lot of people returning. It’s not about how many people we have, it’s just about coming out, enjoying it and having fun.”
For 12-year-old Tayla Nesbitt, this marked her second appearance.
“It’s really fun and this is something I always want to do,” the Harriett Todd Public School Grade 7 student said while referring to her ‘Rub A Dub Dub toboggan’ that captured the largest and best overall design prizes for its imaginative look that featured bath bubbles, a shower rod and even two legs sticking out at one end.
“I really like doing this. It’s fun to think about creating something like this and then working on it.”
Six-year-old Max Black, who spent nearly 10 hours working on his ‘Shark’ entry, captured the most creative design award for his sled that pays tribute to the ear-worm Baby Shark jingle.
“We saw it on Facebook and it seemed like it’d be something fun to do,” said Tonya Paolini, who brought son Max and 12-year-old daughter Bella Valin, who won the award for biggest wipe-out with her entry ‘Trash,’ to the midtown toboggan hill.
