Organizers of the Riders Cup in Bathurst have been forced to cancel the downhill skating event because of extremely mild weather, and the significant damage it has caused to the ice track.

But they're going to hold an obstacle race with prize money at the K.C. Irving Centre instead, as well as a tailgate party with a DJ, said Mayor Paolo Fongemie, who is also co-president of the organizing committee and principal of the New Brunswick Community College campus that was hosting the event.

"We're going to try to do lemonade with lemons," he told CBC's Shift on Friday afternoon.

Image | riders cup course

Caption: The Riders Cup course at CCNB Bathurst took hundreds of hours to construct, but lost about 30 cm of ice this week, organizers said. (Radio-Canada)

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About 135 skaters from 15 different countries travelled to the northern New Brunswick city to participate in the event, which was scheduled to run through Saturday.

Some of the top world skaters drove all night to arrive in time for the qualifying rounds, said Fongemie.

An estimated 8,000 spectators were expected to attend.

The 450-metre track, which took hundreds of hours to construct, lost about 30 cm of ice over the past four days, said Fongemie.

"We were expecting minus four and it was plus nine," he said. "The plus nine that we had and the wind from the south that blew over the city all night just destroyed the track."