The republican winter sports event for forestry workers has started in Vitebsk

February 11, Minsk / Tatyana Lobas - BELTA /. The republican winter sports games of forestry workers started today in Vitebsk. Teams from all state production forestry associations and a combined team of organizations subordinate to the Ministry of Forestry are taking part in the competitions, as reported to BELTA correspondent by the Ministry of Forestry. More than a hundred foresters of the republic have started. Today, an individual race is being held. Men participate in a 5 km ski race, women aged 18 to 39 participate in a 3 km race, and those over 40 participate in a 2 km race. In the evening, the organizers will offer participants an interesting cultural program. An introductory tour of Vitebsk will be held, which will include visits to the Summer Amphitheater, the Marc Chagall House-Museum and Art Center, the Memorial of the 1812 Patriotic War, and the Victory Square complex. On Saturday, February 12, men's and women's relay races will be held. Men will compete at a distance of 3 km, women at 2 km. On the same day, the award ceremony for the winners of the sports games will take place. The republican competitions will be a general training session before the performance of Belarusian foresters-skiers at the 43rd European Forest Ski Races, which will be held from March 7 to 11, 2011 in Sweden. Only permanent employees of forestry organizations are allowed to participate in the current competitions. These conditions will make the competitions more dynamic, and all teams will compete on equal terms, emphasized the chairman of the organizing committee for the preparation of the republican competitions, Deputy Minister of Forestry Alesandr Korbut, in an interview with a BELTA correspondent. He did not rule out the possibility that volunteers from among the spectators might also take part in the ski competitions, but in this case, the scores would be awarded on a separate scale. According to Alesandr Korbut, ski races help to activate mass sports work in the industry's work collectives, promote active recreation for forestry workers and their families, draw the attention of forestry managers to the issues of physical culture and sports development, and for foresters, this is another opportunity to demonstrate their sports qualities, communicate with colleagues, exchange experience, and finally, simply relax and pay attention to their health. -0-