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.

[shesk8]

no worries, slow... dates will be what they are. not everybody can make them all. we just hope to see this spawn more interest in skating and maybe inject interest in others to do pop-up 10K skates in the process in their respective areas!

[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!!

[shesk8]

10K SKATE RACE UPDATE: 4-4-2015: Registration is nearing SELL OUT! Only 40 slots remain open. If you have not registered, NOW is the time! If you are traveling to SLC from out of town, please get registered ahead of time so you are assured a spot on the Start Line.

We look forward to skating with you on race day! We will also be hosting a post-event group skate on the famed Antelope Island Causeway - known for its miles of skating bliss, and there are snow sports to be had in the mountains for looking to ski or snowboard. So, plenty of fun to be had after racing.

Keep up the training, and see you at the Start Line in a few short weeks.
Cheers!
Kim & Eric Kraan
owners, The SkateNow Shop

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ps- Jim, yes, I dug around and found that, but wheels chairs have much larger wheels, especially race chairs. some of the course contains some crazy vertical and rough roads, not really the best surface for skating. we aimed for a nice fun course, smooth and flat as possible.

[shesk8]

With 179 skaters officially signed up, 149 made it off the Start Line on race day.
Justin Stelly, Norm Kirby & (SLC home town skater) Danny Frederick pulled a Bont sweep on the podium, for top 3 overall men's. Liberty Blake, Steffi Eyerkaufer, and Jana Herzogova (all hometown SLC gals) took the top 3 in women's.

Fastest time on the course was Justin at: 17:13

Our oldest skater was 75yrs, and our youngest participant was 6 years of age! Everyone who came out on skates, wearing anything from rainbow tutu's to spandex clad pro's, showed us their passion for skating! Eric & I were humbled by the energy and spirit of the skaters.

Full results here: http://results.chronotrack.com/event...ent-8263?lc=en

Pictures at: SLC 10K Skate Pics and, there are many posts on the SKATENOW Facebook page with other pics and stories from the event.

Timing system was pretty high-tech, times were captured as skaters hit the line with instantaneous text & facebook results awarded to the skaters as they crossed.


video: the First Miles of the 10K skate race from the lead pack

This was the first time the venue had a skate component incorporated into it's events. A bit of kinks with the bike tour will need to be worked out for next time, but overall the event went smooth, everything was on time, with a fun course thru downtown Salt Lake, ending in a lot of happy skaters at the Finish Line. Thank you all for coming out and showing us your passion for skating!


Post race included an adventure to Utah's Antelope Island for a blissfulness skate across the causeway followed by bison burgers.

If you missed it, plan to join us in Salt Lake next spring!

[skaterdog]

Thanks for posting the pictures. Looks like a great event!

[shesk8]

Skaters, If you had a great time in Salt Lake City, make 2016 even better! Get registered for the 2016 10K Skate Race before April 26, 2015 and SAVE BIG! If you missed it, NOW is the time to get your spot on the Start Line in 2016 and SAVE 45% off registration fees!

skateNOW ~ skate back to the future LATER

From the official web site:

The blitz for the 2016 ‪#‎SLCMarathon‬ continues this week! Through April 26, get 45% off registration for 2016. With a full and half marathon, 5K, 10K Skate, bike tour and kids' marathon, there's A Beautiful Challenge for everyone. Register today: http://bit.ly/slc2016blitz