Have Skates. Will Travel.

I've never had to do much in the way of travelling to participate in Skating events in terms of flying somewhere and booking a hotel. This season is pretty much a first for me in that I went to Duluth and will be going to Athens 2 Atlanta specifically to participate in two of the most popular and challenging events in inline skating. I was going to do the New York 100K, but opted out of it at the last minute. It does seem odd to me that I am spending that much money to go somewhere for the weekend just to skate and not even make a bit of a vacation out of it.

Jen and I have travelled to Disney World two years in a row to do the Disney Marathon and then the Goofy Marathon Challenge and a Half. We stayed a few more days to enjoy the theme park. We'll be flying into Chicago for the last weekend in October in order to run the Marathon there.

Up until this year, I guess there have been enough Inline events in driving distance that we did not have to travel too far to participate in them. I have friends and Jen has family in Montreal and Ottawa that we can stay with, so that is never a problem. The first Inline Marathon I ever did was the Niagara one which started in Buffalo on the US side of the border and ended in Canada at the Horseshoe falls. It was cancelled as of the following year. This year we lost the Rolling (AKA Falling) Rampage 10K around Queen's Park, the Toronto Inline Race Weekend usually held in an industrial park in Mississauga, as well as the Inline portion of the Montreal Marathon held in September. Now my favourite race of the year, The National Capital Marathon that usually kicks off the inline season in Ottawa in May, has removed the Inline races as well.

Since details of the Harriston Race that they intend to hold on the weekend of the National Capital Race Weekend have not been firmed up, off the top of my head, that leaves the 10K in Mount Forrest, The Canada Day Inline Marathon in Cambridge, the Ottawa Inline Festival at the beginning of September, and the Montreal Defi in October. I have never done the 24 Hour Relay in Montreal or the Inline portion of the Out Games in Montreal which started this year, but I will have to make a point in supporting these events next year. I'm also not that fond of skating around and around a track but my one experience doing an RSO race makes me want to at least give it another try next season. I don't think they have announced where Nationals will be held next year (it was in Montreal this year, and the previous two years it was held as the Cambridge July 1st Marathon).

So I might have to make a point of doing more travelling in order to participate in Inline events. I hear great things about Long Beach, The Big Apple Roll, The Philly Freedom Skate, Skate Boston, and many others. I'll have to do some research and see what events some of the Toronto Skaters will be participating in. I really want to do much more of the fun skating events next year where we aren't being times and there isn't a finish line.

As a preliminary goal for next season, I would like to try and achieve the triple crown of the three big Ultramarathon Endurance events: the New York 100K, A2A and the Montreal Defi. Hopefully circumstances would allow this to happen. I was thinking that this year would be a good year to achieve it, but we're running the Chicago Marathon the weekend of the Montreal Defi. Jen has been so supportive the past two years driving support for the Defi in the rain that I figured it's only right to let her have a go at running a major Marathon event like Chicago.