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Racing News: Team Skatefarm Wins 24-hour Relay Race in Montreal
Skaters line up for the start of the 24hrs Inline Montreal. On the right, wearing No. 34, is Skatefarm's Steve Robillard. A team consisting of some of Canada's best skaters, including Olympic gold medalist Jonathan Guilmette, blazed to an easy victory in the weekend's 24hrs Inline relay race in Montreal. The Skatefarm team completed 170 laps (unofficially) of the Gilles-Villeneuve Formula 1 racetrack, seven more than the second-place team, Empire USA. Taking turns on the track, the nine Skatefarm pros covered a distance of 782 kilometers (485.9 miles) during the 24 hour period that started at 2 p.m. Saturday and ended Sunday afternoon. The team's average speed was 32.58 km/hour (20.24 mph), 2 km/hour faster than the average speed of last year's winning team, the Rampaging Beavers Diaboliques. Going It Alone In the solo division, Single-Speed's Eric Gee was the winner. The 35-year-old from Mississauga, Canada, completed 90 laps during the 24 hours, for a total distance of 414 kilometers (257.2 miles). That's nearly the length of 10 full marathons. His average speed was 17.25 km/hour (10.7 mph), which includes time when he was resting or otherwise off the track. Last year, the winner of the solo division, Daniel Dubé, had an average speed of 16.86 km/hour. Twelve skaters raced solo this year. Rain fell during the first few hours of the race, slowing skaters and rusting bearings. But later, the rain stopped and the track dried. More than 80 teams competed, including the all-women's Poulettes sur Roulettes (Chicks on Wheels), which finished 6th overall. Teams were allowed to have as many as 10 skaters. The Ringers The Skatefarm team consisted of Steve Robillard, Olivier Jean, Aaron Arndt, Peter Doucet, Jonathan Guilmette, Tyson Heung, Mathieu Giroux, Mathias Archambault and Francois Louis Tremblay.
Robillard, Jean and Guilmette are all past or present members of Canada's national short track ice team. Guilmette, 27, won a silver medal in the 5000 meter relay at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake, he won gold in the 5000 meter relay and silver in the 500 meters. Heung was a member of this year's German Olympic short track team. Archambault has been on the winning team in each year of the three year-old event. Skate legend Eddy Matzger sponsored the Skatefarm team, although he did not compete in the event. At the moment, he's in the Netherlands leading a Zephyr skate tour. (Thanks to Peter Doucet for race info!) Latest headlines:
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