EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the 16th in a series of weekly stories leading up to the May 25 Ski to Sea race that will give a behind-the scenes look into the largest annual community sporting event in Whatcom County. Each story will be written by a member of the Ski to Sea Race Committee. Secondyear race director Pete Coy, who has been involved with the race for more than 30 years as an athlete and a volunteer, wrote this week’s entry. For previous stories, please visit TheBelling hamHerald.com/skitosea.

This year the Ski to Sea Race is asking all “wanna-be” movie directors and producers to make a short film of the Ski to Sea race.

In recent years, Ski to Sea has been professionally filmed, edited and shown on local TV channels. This year we want to let local amateurs have a try so we have come up with a fun, new video addition to the race.

We will ask local amateurs to record various parts or aspects of the race and post them on YouTube for everyone to see. These videos will be available for anyone to watch free online.

Videos should be a maximum of five minutes in length and portray Ski to Sea in the filmmaker’s eyes as they see the story.

Creativity and clean humor are encouraged.

This could be a mini-documentary or a music video. It can tell a story or show the challenge of the race, the triumph, the team spirit, the humor, the disappointment or the preparation by teams. The video could cover an individual racer, a team, one leg of the race, something obscure about the race, a dangerous spot on the river, a particular point of view or a spoof of some other major sporting event.

Videos should be edited for family viewing. Formatting should be optimized for YouTube viewing, and winning videos will be linked to skitosea.com.

Prizes will be awarded for: Capturing the “spirit” of Ski to Sea, the funniest overall video, the best “biography” of an individual or team, the best “story” and the judges’ favorite.

To enter, videos should be published on YouTube by their creators and the URL (link) e-mailed to Ski toSea@Bellingham.com. The entry deadline is June 15 so that judges can determine the winners and award prizes. In the e-mail include the creators’ names, ages, contact information and a short description of the video’s content. Interested parties should contact Ski to Sea by email at SkitoSea@Bellingham.com or call 734-1330.

It is important that film crews not interfere with racers or volunteers on race day, but otherwise the possibilities are unlimited.

There is no age restriction and no limit on the number of videos you can post and no limit on the fun you can have.

We look forward to seeing what the local amateurs can do with this new idea.

By the end of June we will link the winning videos to skitosea.com, so everyone can see the fun.

For information on race registration, visit skitosea.com.