No snow, no problem: Athletes for Special Olympic Illinois head to Italy for snowshoe races after training in dry Chicagoland

On Wednesday a team of Special Olympic Illinois snowshoe athletes boarded a plane to New York, with a final destination of Turin, Italy. There they will compete in the Special Olympics Winter World Games.

Daniel Johnson, Brandon Waller, Mallory Marvin and coach Jim Bluemond will compete against 1,5000 hundred Special Olympic athletes from around the world with crowds of family and supporters cheering them on.

“How they performed at the team trials and training camp last year…the fastest I’ve ever seen them run, they all earned a spot on the team,” Bluemond said. “In Italy, we will be up in elevation about 2000 meters high so that’s a concern as well so we’ve been working out hard during the prep time here.”

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They’ll be competing in the 25, 50, 400 and 800 meter races Monday through Thursday of next week.

So how does a snowshoe team prep when there has not been much snow?

WGN’s Erin McElroy found out as she spoke to the team and coach ahead of their trip.