"Athabasca River, Jasper National Park" was the name of the puzzle design tackled by this year's participants in the “MAUPa” Jigsaw Puzzle Marathon, which began on the last day of February and ended in March.
The rules remained unchanged: the competition was open to four-person teams, with the possibility of one substitution. The teams showed exceptional creativity when coming up with their names, and ultimately competed as follows: “Not Kidding Group”, “Merry Quartet”, “Pursuit Group”, “There May Be a Problem”, “This Year We’ll Finish It”, “ES Team”, “Dream Team”, “Quatro Ragazze”, “Wild Cats”, “Black Devils”, and “Valiant Eagles”.
The event was started with a pistol shot by deputy wójt Roman Jaworski. There was also the traditional groan from all the teams when they saw the design they had to assemble, which had been kept secret until the draw. Before long, the teams agreed that nothing could surpass last year's “snow leopard”, and that this year's design was not among the worst.
They assembled, assembled …and assembled. For those who do not enjoy puzzling, it is incomprehensible. How can anyone spend so many hours searching for and fitting together 1,500 tiny pieces? After 4 hours, 6 minutes, and 18 seconds, the first team finished this pleasure, and it was the already unbeatable “Pursuit Group”, victorious for the seventh year in a row.
Other teams jokingly suggested that next year the year's winners—Karolina Wieczorek, Agnieszka Kołodziej, Bożena Wieczorek, and Natalia Kołodziej—should start assembling two hours later. Second place required “a little” patience. After 7 hours, 29 minutes, and 27 seconds, “Not Kidding Group”—Marzena Szymborska, Agata Żuk, Natalia Górak, and Danuta Kawałko—finished assembling their puzzle. Third place did not take quite as long: after less than half an hour, the competitors from “Merry Quartet”—Bogusława Ostapiuk, Alina Kotlarska, Kamil Kotlarski, and Monika Udzielak—finished their puzzle.
Just behind them on the podium were “Wild Cats” and “ES Team”. All participants received small gifts and certificates, while the first three teams received medals and prizes. The next “MAUPa” will take place in a year, and Gminny Ośrodek Kultury i Sportu w Bolesławcu z/s w Kruszynie will begin accepting applications on December 1. Castorland sponsored the competition puzzles and prizes.