Part 2: Motor City Madness

Motor City Madness, the Wolverine's Thanksgiving Invitational: a Planet Preview

Part 2: Interview with Wolverine Coach Robb Dunn

Robert: Motor City Madness is a new event. What inspired it?

Robb Dunn: Well, we were at the National Indoor Speed Championships last year in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Patty Leazier [the coach of the Fast Forward Racing team of Greencastle, Pennsylvania] said, "Boy, it would be great if you would have a meet because you get a lot of great skaters."

We hadn't had a meet in our area at Thanksgiving for a long time. There was a time, about 10 years ago, that there was a yearly invitational. And it was pretty successful for a while. But they all fade after a while.

And so I ran the idea for the new event by a couple of people. One of them was the owner of the Skatin Station [the site of Motor City Madness]. His wife and son compete on our team. So we thought it over and said, "Hey, let's do it?"

Robert: So how is the event shaping up?

Robb: It looks pretty good. ... Anytime you run a first year meet, it's not going to be huge. But we are hoping to hit about 200 entries. And we've got some top people flying in to officiate.

The main thing for us this first year is to get the event into place, to get people talking about it, and to run a good meet and make sure it's fun for everybody.

At this point, everything's falling into place. While the numbers aren't big, we've got a few of the top teams in the country coming, so the competition is going to be pretty intense.

Robert: Which teams, besides the Wolverines, will be there?

Robb: Team Fast Forward and the Rolling Warriors out of North Carolina. Also, the Frenchtown Speed Team out of New Jersey, which always has some of the top skaters in the country. We've got really good clubs coming in.

Robert: And who are some of the skaters who will be racing?

Robb: We've got Kelly Gunther [of the Wolverines]; she was on the Junior World team member, and she was a National Champion indoors. We've got Marty Bortolon [Wolverines]; she was the silver medal winner in the classic ladies division [age 27-35] last year in Nationals. We've also got Jim Larsen, in the masters men's division; and John Elliot of Hyper in the classic men's division.

Robert: Will any of your famous former students be skating?

Robb: No, it doesn't look like it. We tried to get Julie and Doug Glass to come, but they had prior commitments. And Jessica Smith is in Salt Lake City training for long-track ice. She's in the middle of training, so it's not a good time for her to pop out and try to do this again. And Theresa Cliff is over in Australia right now with her husband, [Australian champion speed skater] Gary Ryan.

Robert: What distances will the racers be skating?

Robb: It's different for every age group. But, for example, senior skaters will skate a 500 meter, a 1500 meter, and the guys will do a 3000 meter while the women do a 2000.

Robert: What is indoor racing like compared to outdoor?

Robb: It's quite different. The first word that comes to mind to describe it is aerobic. Everything you are doing indoors is fast. Even the longer races are pushed at a pretty fast pace.

Indoor racing involves a lot of passing, a lot of agility, and a lot of race strategy. It has some similarities to short-track ice skating, but short-track ice is a little more stringent about the rules. We have a little more flexibility as far as bumping and contact between skaters. ... There are still rules; but we are more lenient.

In indoor racing, the track is a straightened oval that goes around four pylons. There is a little more angle coming out of the corner than going into it. This gives the skaters the option of using several different strategies. They can control the front without putting out a whole lot of effort. Or if they want, they can sit back and wait; but they have to be careful because there's only so many laps to move up.

Passing is an art in indoor, and the skaters who know how to do it have a big, big advantage. There's a lot of thinking that goes on. In the short races, you have to do it in a very short time; and in the long races, you have to do it when you are dead tired and your mind doesn't want to think anymore.

Continued

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