The Polar Bear Marathon in Churchill is still five months away, but organizer Albert Martens of Steinbach is already getting things lined up. Last week, Martens hosted a father and son from Tadoule Lake who carved stone polar bear sculptures that will be given to all participants in the November race.

Martens first organized the marathon in 2012. It attracts runners from across the world, all willing to don parkas and long johns while running in temperatures near -30 degrees.

For five years now, Louie David Powderhorn has been carving keepsakes for the marathon participants. Powderhorn carves six inch polar bears out of alabaster stone. Powderhorn and his son Trevor were recently in Winnipeg and Martens thought rather than ship the stone up to Tadoule Lake to be carved, he could bring the father and son to his home in Steinbach and have them complete the work in his garage. And that is exactly what happened.

Powderhorn is a self taught carver with more than thirty years experience. Born in Churchill, he says there is a lot of carving that happens up there and he learned by watching other people. Today he is teaching the craft to his son.

"My son Trevor is doing all the rough cut," explains Powderhorn. "He's just learning now. I just mark it out with a pencil, he cuts it and then he lets me know that he's done and then I keep going and show him more."

The senior Powderhorn says his son is a quick study.

The polar bears are carved out of alabaster stone, mostly because of the colour. Powderhorn says while soapstone is easier and quicker to work with, alabaster is a white stone and because polar bears are white, it only makes sense.

Powderhorn says as soon as he picks up a piece of stone, he knows exactly what the finished product will look like. And because each stone looks different, no two bear sculptures look alike. Powderhorn adds should he make a mistake and accidentally shave off more than desired, there are always ways to hide it and slightly alter the look.

The Tadoule Lake sculptor was tasked with carving ten bears for the November 20th race. He can carve a six inch bear in between two and three hours. On the market, each bear can fetch about $300.

"It's beautiful to see," says Martens, who played host last week. "It's lovely to see how it comes out, how they carve it and very creative. And each bear is different, it's really great to see that."

For Powderhorn, he says it brings him joy to be carving these polar bears because it means he is helping Albert Martens. And when runners from Tadoule Lake return from the Polar Bear Marathon holding one of his carvings, he says that also makes him happy.

"We both gain," says Martens. "I can get the bears from them, they create it here and I pay them for their work, so they enjoy that and gives them some income."

Between 12 and 20 runners are expected to take part in the Polar Bear Marathon this year.