10K Skate Race, Salt Lake City, Utah 18 April 2015

[shesk8]

Announcing the inaugural 10K Skate Race, Salt Lake City, Utah 18 April 2015 as part of the Salt Lake City Marathon events.

Please help us in spreading the news like wild fire to all our skating friends!



Pre-register online, just follow the registration link. The race is chip timed and start time will be 7:30AM. Finisher medals and age group division medals awarded. Participants will receive a goody bag and a cool event sport-tee, too!

Register Online: https://register.chronotrack.com/reg/form?eventID=8263

SkateNow Facebook Event info: https://www.facebook.com/events/782189451840623/

Price per Participant Registration:
$30.00 Present - Jan. 4
$35.00 Jan 4 - Feb 28
$40.00 March 1 - April 12*
$45.00 April 13 - April 17*
(no day of registration, you must pre-register).
(*updated: Feb 22, 2015 - organizers recently changed pricing increase dates)

Event Expo is Fri: 10am-8pm.

The skate event is open to inline and quad skaters of recreational, fitness, advanced, and pro race levels. The course is relatively flat and smooth, with slight grade variation. Average skating speeds can be 10-20mph, with the pro racers reaching +25mph in the finish sprint.

Details are posted on the Main Event web link: http://www.saltlakecitymarathon.com/race/10k-skate/

For those traveling in from outside SLC, Alaska Air has been offering pretty sweet deals into Salt Lake, planning early can save you $.

What else is there to do in Utah you ask? It's mid-April in Utah, we experience mostly nice springtime temperatures in the valley, but there's plenty of skiing & snowboarding to be had at high elevation. We're planning for some snowy fun in the mtns on Sunday for those interested, and an alternate group skate on Antelope Island, for those that prefer wheels to sliding on snow. Hope you can join us!

See you at the Start Line!

[shesk8]

10 K Event Prep Skate Clinic

If you are in the Salt Lake Area, join SKATENOW for a 10K race prep skate clinic on Sat, March 14th 1-3pm. The clinic is free. Helmets are required, other protective gear recommended. Follow the link for clinic details.

[Jim]

That sounds like quite an event. I have to wonder why a marathon and half marathon isn't offered for skaters to attract out-of-staters. Is the full course not suitable for skating? Like too rough or dangerous downhill turns? I know the website says it's "wheelchair friendly", which means no uneven pavement, potholes, grass, curbs, or sharp turns at the bottom of hills. That sounds pretty close to skater friendly as well.

Or maybe the 10K is just a test to see how a skate race will fit in before including a marathon?

In any case, hope the 10K is a huge success and good luck if you skate in it!

[slowsk8]

Looks like fun but, same day as a NW indoor meet in Spokane.

[shesk8]

Jim and Others.... To answer: "Why there is no marathon offered with this venue?"

Review the marathon & half marathon course topo (map my ride or other topo mapping system) you'll find huge hills, impossible sketchy downhill turns, and what you can't see on a map is rough chip-seal for pavement and/or deteriorating pavement in a lot of places. We did our research and peddled the course, did an evaluation, then wound our initial optimism for a half marathon further down to the 10K distance. The last 6.2 miles of the half marathon course was flat and suitable for skating. Welcome to Utah, the motherland of chip-seal pavement....ugg. If I even meet the person who who invented chip-seal I won't have many nice words to relay - this type of cheap road surfacing is killing roads for skate racing everywhere, not only Utah but in a lot of western states.

So, that said, the 10K was all we could work with from this course. The 10K event is also more about engaging the local community, in particular rec & fitness skaters, derby, aggressive, and of course the speedsters. Costs of stand alone events for a smaller group of hardcore speed marathoners would far exceed attendance, and to cater to a few long distance speedskaters won't sustain our sport. Rather the sport needs events that the rec & fitness crowd can engage in and feel accomplished as they work their way towards longer distances. We also need visibility for our sport, so tagging onto larger high profile venues helps bring visibility to skating.

We all talk about building the sport, and adding a skate race onto a larger venue is an easy means to accomplish this goal. This is something anyone in the forum, who discuses the declining status of our sport and the need for more events, can get involved in and do in their respective communities.

As far as venue calendars go, didn't las vegas coincide with blue ridge? both offered large indoor meets. Dates are something we can never get away from, and this particular venue had it's date set.

Jim - curious, how you infer the marathon course is "wheel chair friendly?" there is nothing implying that as far I read in their description of the Bike tour, which uses the same marathon course. I can tell you that the marathon course is not skate friendly (imo, as both a long time skater and certified skate instructor, and as someone who has put on skate events on/off for 15 years.) below is the only verbiage I came across remotely addressing 'other wheeled devices':

"Recumbent, mountain, tandem, electric-assist, cruiser, hand cycle and touring bikes are allowed on the course."

Hope that helps to answer to everyone. And, even you are unable to attend, helping us spread the word will help to assure this race will be here next year, too.

We're currently over 120 registrants with a month to go - it's great to see the local interest, as well as participation from neighboring states.

[skaterdog]

and to cater to a few long distance speedskaters won't sustain our sport. Rather the sport needs events that the rec & fitness crowd can engage in and feel accomplished as they work their way towards longer distances. We also need visibility for our sport, so tagging onto larger high profile venues helps bring visibility to skating.

Excellent perspective. Targeting local folks makes a lot of sense.

[slowsk8]

Originally Posted by shesk8

As far as venue calendars go, didn't las vegas coincide with blue ridge? both offered large indoor meets. Dates are something we can never get away from, and this particular venue had it's date set.

Understood, I didn't mean to complain about the date only that I could not think about making it.

[Jim]

Originally Posted by shesk8

Jim - curious, how you infer the marathon course is "wheel chair friendly?" there is nothing implying that as far I read in their description of the Bike tour, which uses the same marathon course.

I got that from their webpage:
http://www.saltlakecitymarathon.com/...rathon/course/

"Para-athletes
Our marathon course is wheelchair friendly, and we gladly welcome para-athletes to participate. Wheelchairs and hand cycles will begin the marathon at 6:05 a.m. In accordance with USATF guidelines, wheelchair and hand cycle athletes must wear helmets."

The chairs have wheels that are considersbly bigger than skate wheels and no doubt can handle the chip-seal better. Yeah I know, I live on a chip-seal road and when I skate on it, it rattles my teeth. No fun. I wonder if the bigger 125's would make skating on such a surface tolerable.

I totally agree that tagging skate races onto running races greatly increases our visibility to the right people. I sometimes get asked about the exercise benefits of skating. When it comes to total body workouts, I believe skating is second only to XC skiing. (my winter sport) It also has the added benefit of no wear and tear on the joints.

If there are already 120 skaters signed up, I think that is just incredible! Great job and keep the fire going!!