Bruce Bowman called together his athletes at Bangor Mental Health Institute, fired up the popcorn and had them watch the ABC special. This winter, there are only three whom Bowman is training for the Maine Special Olympic Winter Games, but for Bowman, it’s not too small a number for the important message the show provided.

“The Loretta Claiborne Story” is not a miracle tale. Bowman said the true-life story of the woman with mental retardation who went from a childhood hampered by partial blindness, a misshapen foot and insecurity to a running career as a marathoner is one to which many Special Olympians can aspire.

That was the message Bowman, a Special Olympics coach for 18 years, wanted to deliver.

“A lot of people move on,” Bowman said. “It’s the natural progression. Hopefully, they get to the point where they move on from the Special Olympics. If they train hard, they can get really good. It has more to do with training than physical ability. Loretta Claiborne ran 25 marathons.”

Bowman’s diminutive team goes into the Winter Games this weekend at Sugarloaf/USA with an undeniable handicap, one athletes all over the state have faced: the lack of snow at the start of the winter. But when the 30th Maine Special Olympic Winter Games commence Sunday at Sugarloaf/USA, the three-day event that will bring together 500 athletes from 73 Maine communities will be chock full of so much competitive fever, the lack of practice won’t matter.

Duane Hall, the coach at Opportunity Housing Incorporated in Hermon, is bringing 25 athletes, 22 of whom are either Nordic skiers or snowshoe competitors. He said the lack of snow hasn’t decreased their desire.

“I have several who have done dry-land training,” Hall said. “I have two who are chomping at the bit to get out and snowshoe. One won the 25-meter race last year and was half a step behind the other in the 50-meter race. They each walked away with gold medals in the finals. They are dying to get up there.”

The Special Olympics, started in 1968 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, offers Olympic-style sports to people with mental retardation of all ages. The first Special Olympic Winter Games were held in Maine in 1970.

Hall said the Winter Games have become such a uniquely uplifting event, Sugarloaf can’t accommodate all the athletes who want to go.

“The state office allots each area so many slots,” Hall said. “I haven’t had to tell my athletes they couldn’t go. I could see that happening in the future if I have more than 25. There’s been talk they might have one [region] sitting out alternative years. I’d rather they do that. The guys really like going to Sugarloaf.”