Spruce Meadows Edmonton Alberta - Spruce Meadows' International Ring won't be the only ground being pounded this weekend.
 
Just ahead of Sunday's CP International, a different type of grand prix will take place as Canadian Pacific employees take part in the company's 17th annual spike-driving championship.
 
"This is a chance to have some friendly competition and show off a skill a lot of people may not appreciate until they actually experience it," said CP spokeswoman Salem Woodrow.
 
"It takes special skills for someone to successfully drive in a railroad spike."
 
Long before technology made laying railway track a purely automated affair, thousands of kilometres of Canada's railroad was built entirely on the backs of work gangs.
 
Teams of men would spend hours a day using heavy spike-mauls to pound steel spikes into hand-hewn wooden ties, holding in place the rails that would link Canada from coast-to-coast and securing our fledgling nation's future.
 
Even with today's technology, modern engineering crews still use these skills to maintain's CP's vast rail network, Woodrow said.
 
Canadian Pacific employees from across Canada and the U.S. competed in local qualifying rounds for the chance to complete Sunday's finals, all vying for the title of champion spike driver.
 
The competition has quickly become a railroad tradition.
 
"Champion spike drivers can complete the task in anywhere from 11 to 35 seconds," Woodrow said.
 
"Men are timed driving three spikes, while women drive two."
 
The competition begins at 09:30 in parking lot 4 at Spruce Meadows, on the east side of the International Ring.
 
All are welcome to attend.
 
Company employees were also on hand this weekend to spread the message of railway safety, an issue close to the heart of David Boggiss with Operation Lifesaver.
 
A former officer with the Canadian Pacific Railway Police, he's seen first-hand what happens when people don't respect the dangers of the railway.
 
"Every year across Canada, there are injuries and fatalities," he said.
 
"While we'd love to do away with them entirely, we, at least, want to reduce them and keep people safe, and make them realize railways are a dangerous place to be."
 
A large part of the push to decrease trespasser injuries and fatalities on their property includes ongoing youth outreach programs.
 
To achieve that, CP employees spent the weekend driving delighted children around the grounds at Spruce Meadows on two trains, the "Puffer Belly Express" steam engine, and the new "Little General," a quarter-scale General Electric diesel locomotive.
 
"The way they have it set up here, they have railway crossbucks and red-light simulations at the end of each line where people have to stop," he said.
 
"It's just the way it is at a railway crossing, according to the law, when the red lights are flashing, you must stop no closer than five metres from the closest rail."
 
A founding sponsor of Spruce Meadows, Canadian Pacific has enjoyed a long association with the show-jumping venue.
 
In addition to being the name sponsor for Sunday's Canadian Pacific International, the final leg of the Rolex Grand Slam of show-jumping, CP will also contribute $10,000 to the Alberta Children's Hospital for every clear round jumped by competitors.
 
Bryan Passifiume.