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| pavedwave |
ROGUE Endurance Race II, Edmonton Canada - August 23rd 2008Just got this message from Jeff Sanders, sounds awesome!!================ http://www.roguerace.com ROGUE II is going to be on August 23rd this year and will be between 20 and 25km again. Last year 67 participated in a mass start and it was very cool because everyone finished (some a little worse for wear). It was rad. It was the only time I've seen police holding back traffic for skateboarders to cross the road. You guys should try and make it up if you can! It will be a great weekend of skating. Jeff ================ 
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| fuzzydeer |
http://www.skatefurther.com/2008/rogue-race-a-report-by-paul-kent
Pictures and article |
| fuzzydeer |
This is the article I wrote for skatefurther:
R.O.G.U.E. RACE - A Report by Paul Kent August 23, 2008 The ROGUE race, hosted by Jeff Sanders and the staff of Local124 board shop, is making its mark as a challenging yet fun annual long distance longboarding event. The Ribbon of Green is the name the city of Edmonton has chosen for its advanced network of pathways. Alberta has by far the most intensive network of park pathways in all of Canada, allowing commuters to run, cycle, rollerblade, or skate to work. I had been following the development of this year’s R.O.G.U.E. (Ribbon of Green Ultimate Endurance) race since last year. I was a tad bitter about the fact that I didn’t make last year’s inaugural event when it was so close to my hometown of Calgary, Alberta as I like how a distance race can tie downhill skills into pure endurance and mental fortitude. The R.O.G.U.E. sounded like the race for me! This event marks the second year of many to come. The course has been largely improved over last year’s and easier to follow since many competitors got lost the previous year. This year’s course also increased the number of hills, making the race all the more interesting. This year’s event also awarded the largest prize purse of any event of its kind here in North America. Another new development was the addition of a smaller downhill speedboard race, named the High Level Downhill, as an offshoot the day before the ROGUE. I scrambled to complete my list of tasks before leaving to pickup my sister Anna. It was already 11:00 pm before I had left my shop and another 2 hours before we had the van packed and we were ready to leave. We left, Anna and I, with our matching track suits stowed away amongst our boards and gear. I drove fast through the night and we arrived in Edmonton just moments before the sun. Anna slept most of the way, waking up momentarily to get sick and then crack some jokes. Our next task was to find the location of the Downhill race. Now this isn’t easy, as Edmonton is notorious for having one way roads that don’t run parallel to each other giving one kilometer distances a 10 km detour. That, coupled with a confusing array of signs, gave me a very difficult time finding the race. I could see where it was starting from the top of the high level bridge but too many hours went by as I tried to find it. The High level downhill, an event named after a bridge that crosses over the route, was a small downhill race on a extremely windy and tight road. The competitors were pitted against each other in small 2 man heats. I arrived with Anna dead to the world to see them racing without us. The race was fast, and boards were pitched sideways to make corners. In the end the race was won by one of the younger guys in my Calgarian clique of skaters, Riley Harris. Then after a surge of media interviews the locals carted us off to go skate their favorite spots, mostly technical downhill runs. When people started to fade we headed to Local124, the local shop, an amazing little nook sheltered away from contemporary society. There we skated the indoor half pipe. After an action-packed day, the evening approaching, most riders spent the rest of the day modifying their setups and I headed off to do a short tour of the race route. Then it was off to a friend’s house to get some rest before the big day! Riding Half pipe in the back of Local124 My alarm goes off at 5:30 am; race day has arrived. I sleep a little more before once again scrambling to get ready. We nearly miss the shuttle bus that carries the riders from the finish line to the start. Once the bus landed, last minute registration was completed. Those of us who had pre-registered got our custom name tags and numbers. Some of us even got special names (some didn’t have a choice). Mine read Fisher Price and my number was 01. Other names were: Philbo Baggins, Jermo, Grotch, and my lovely team mate Annanator. We pinned our numbers to our chests as I looked around at the competition. To be honest, I was dreadfully worried! Edmontonians are notorious pushers. They live in a flat place with lots of extremely short but VERY steep little hills so they tend to be well practiced. My fellow racers spanned every age, every shape and size. There was a father and daughter team; another racer — Colby Jones — had only one leg and pushed with a prosthetic. Looking like a longboarding Terry Fox, he was in it to finish the race and beat his disability in this his second year competing. Preparing for battle at the startline Those who were gunning for 1st were given pole position on the start line, while those who thought they could get top three but not finish 1st got the second line. All else were behind. Then the word was called and we were all sprinting in hopes that we would be the first to tackle the technical descent know as “The Face,” one of two spectator areas due to the high frequency of crashes there. A super tight left hand hairpin when done at full speed involves lots of drifting, then a gradual right hand sweeper to a tight 90 degree corner that takes a good speed check or heavy foot brake to complete successfully. The course was by far the most diverse and advanced course I have seen in a distance race. Ouch! The winding 20.7 kilometers of pathways and closed roads that the Rogue race occupy showcase picturesque views of the river that runs parallel to the course. The paths were smooth, the roads were rough, the wooden bridges were worse. There were many steep hills to attack followed closely by blistering fast descents. The paths were adorned with comments painted on them, some to lift spirits, and others to lower them. Anyone capable of footbreaking could finish the course but any contenders aiming for a top spot must have a blend of technical handling skill, mental fortitude and must be highly athletic to boot. I can’t speak for the pack dynamics because my plan was to drop the main body of competition. I managed much better than I had hoped and I dropped everyone in the first 7 minutes. There were a few crashes and two cases of bad road rash but other than that it seemed people were all courteous to each other and no one got hurt. After the final stretch of path and across the finish line racers were all awarded with water, t-shirts, and a large lunch buffet of vegetables, hotdogs, donuts, and an impressive selection of fruit. The event rallied some amazing prizes that until now were absolutely unheard of in North America for distance racing. First place Open class was awarded $1000 dollar top prize and a custom Rayne Demonseed longboard with “1st place R.O.G.U.E. Race 2008″ emblazoned on the bottom. Top female was awarded $200 dollars and a second custom Demonseed trophy from Rayne. The lead Junior class rider was awarded $50 dollars and a customized trophy board from Landyachtz longboards. Cash and swag were handed out through 3rd place, and well over a hundred other prizes were awarded for such things as best crash, longest spinning wheels, Limbo, or highest ollie. Riders come barrelling down a fast straight section of the course. The ROGUE Race is a serious course and Edmonton is one of the few places where this discipline of longboard is taken so seriously. It is generally agreed upon that by showcasing not only physical fitness but technical skill the organizers can help to legitimize the genre of distance skating. In the future, organizers may extend the course to allow for more downhill-influenced craziness that could be tackled at high speeds for those who choose to win, but that still allows the most absolute beginners to make it down safely. The ROGUE’s organizers plan to work hard to improve the event that promises to lure athletes from around the world to attend. They would like one day to have it be considered a world championship race within the growing sport of distance pushing. “This is a discipline of longboading that has a huge demographic,” remarked chief organizer and second place winner Jeff Sanders. “We could see hundreds of contestants. Any one of any age can show up and compete in the race and have fun.” How well did Anna and I do you ask? Despite suffering from acute Listeriosis (food poisoning), 16-year-old Annanator placed first among female competitors and beat a good number of the boys too. And I was happy with my standing at the end as well. 5 out of 5 Pushes! ★★★★★ Anna and I displaying our trophies! Anna and I displaying our trophies This years results: Mens 1st Paul “Fisher Price” Kent (the Author of this article) - 54.54 Minutes 2nd Jeff Sander - 57.21 Minutes 3rd Mike Sander - 59.57 Minutes Womens 1st Anna “Annanator” O Neil - 1H 14M 2nd Dylan Harding - 1H 16M 3rd Devon Kitto - 1H 46M Juniors 1st EVAN TONACK - 1H 13M 2nd Justin Pawlyna - 1H 14M 3rd Jacob Dutton - 1H 16M For more info check out www.roguerace.com or keep an eye on the next concrete wave issue. |
| pavedwave |
Wow, outstanding write up, thanks! And what a sick race! That's definitely bumping up the bar for organized speed + DH cross town races.
Our LDP events are nowhere near that organization, far more 'grassroots' and individually driven so far. "Flatland" doesn't seem to have all the same allure for some reason 
Portland's King Robskey needs to get up there next year. |
| fuzzydeer |
yes he does!
At least hes coming to Vancouver to battle for his crown! |