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Racing news: Canadian Goes After Marathon Record
Buisson, 26, will make her attempt on the Canadian Grand Prix racecourse in Montreal. The current solo women's marathon record is 1 hour, 28 minutes and 56 seconds. It was set in 1997 by USA's Kim Ames on a closed racecourse in Portland, Oregon. Buisson, one of Canada's top skaters, is expected to easily beat the old record. In training, she has posted solo marathon times of 1 hour and 15 minutes. But it is not clear who will certify or list the record that Buisson hopes to notch. At this point, there is no international agency that systematically recognizes solo inline skating records. The Guinness Book of World Records used to include several such records, including Ames' mark. But in recent years, Guinness has gutted its inline section, leaving only one speed record (Italian Mauro Guenci's controversial 24-hour record of 543.594 kilometers, or 337.773 miles) along with several aggressive records.
For its part, the International Federation of Roller Sports, the world's governing body for inline and roller skating, completely ignores solo records; preferring instead to only list records set during races. This galls world-record purists, like former 24-hour record holder Jonathan Seutter. Seutter point out that records set during races can have more to do with course geography and drafting than athletic ability. This is especially true in longer distances, like the marathon, in which downhill courses and fast lead packs can make for blistering speeds. An example of this is what happened last month at the notoriously fast Engadin World Inline Cup in Switzerland. Salomon-Smartskate's Nicole Begg finished with a time of 57 minutes and 58.07 seconds, a new world marathon record. But on a flat course without the benefit of drafting, her time would have been significantly slower. The fact that no one officially recognizes solo records probably explains why attempts against them have become rare in recent years. Buisson said she decided to try to set a new solo marathon record as a way to win respect for Canadian speed skating, which has come up empty handed in recent world competitions. Buisson started training for her attempt five weeks ago with a regime of interval, distance and weight training. (Her long-distance workouts are 60 kilometers.) She said the most difficult part of her record attempt has been organizing it in compliance with international standards. This has required her to recruit a group of volunteers to serve as race monitors; to submit (and pay for) drug testing: to have the 5-kilometer course professionally surveyed; and to arrange for stop watch and chip timing. Last week, she almost canceled the attempt when she learned that the racecourse wanted $1000 to provide her with a close course. But finally, she decided to go ahead with the record attempt on an open course, meaning that other users (cyclists and skaters) will be using it at the same time. Buisson's goal beyond the world record attempt is to win a medal at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. She spent last winter training on ice as part of Canada's Own the Podium program, although she says she'd much prefer to stick with inline skating. "After inline, ice skating is about as exciting as watching ice melt," she says. Latest headlines: - Draft Behind Bikes | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Canadian speed skater Meaghan Buisson is planning an assault Saturday on the solo marathon record for women.