A skater's report from the Broadway Bomb and the Adrenalina push events.
These events were pure battles of the best Pushers in the world at the two most intense endurance skateboard races in 2010. Each event was very different but they did have few similarities. The courses were almost all flat ground, the weather for each location was dry and not humid with a nice temp of around 65 degrees, and the New York City riders ruled both of them! With my experiences racing these guys, I’ve now been noticed as the exception to their complete domination these last two years. In 2009, I went to my first Broadway Bomb with the help of my local shop in Portland, Oregon – Daddies Board Shop. As one of the few committed push racers in the NW, I’ve always wanted to go and check out this very hyped and seemingly scary event. As their slogan says, “You Could Die”. Starting back in 2002 with a dozen or so riders, it is now creeping up on 500. I was in NYC for my first time when I attempted to compete in the craziest traffic in the world with some of the fastest pushers known. There is no such thing as skating casually in traffic through this city, you have to keep up a medium to high pace in order to stay with or ahead of traffic and not get eaten up. When you’re racing, it just adds flame to the fire and rush of assessing danger and constantly striving to find the hole to pass through at a hundred plus intersections in a row! Yes this is vigilante style, never stopping at red lights, and always struggling to keep a high pushing pace while threading the needle through sometimes very small holes.
In 2009 I worked my way into the lead with these NY locals, who push daily through this insanity like it was second nature. In the front of the pack I was approaching a busy intersection when very suddenly I slammed hard into the side of a minivan cab at about 15 mph! I bounced off grabbed my board and took off without hesitation (thanks to my helmet, pads, and slide gloves haha). All the adrenaline kept me focused on getting back on the board right away but the crash was all it took for the other guys to pass by and get ahead through the next intersection. I eventually reeled in a few of them and surprised myself finishing 5th. But the fastest were gone at that point and never to be caught again. The Broadway Bomb is about 8.5 miles but that’s relatively short when you’re dodging cars, buses, people, and cops with the best riders finishing under 30 minutes. Basically there’s no room for mistakes, plus you have to get lucky a bunch of times, and have the lungs and legs of an Iron man to win. Whoever wins this race, truly deserves the Glory of a Champion, and hats off to Mark Schaperow for winning the last two years in a row. Kaspar Spurgeon- Heinrici has done it several times as well in the earlier years. So after a year of remembering what I saw from my point of view, I realized that many have never seen what these guys can do and how they do it. Aiming to go back again in 2010, my goal was not only to do well again, but also to capture it on the new HD GoPro Helmet Camera. Most videos of the Bomb are from the viewpoint of the middle of the race and not from the top dudes busting through the chaos like it was a video game. This is what the Broadway Bomb is all about to these top competitors:
After the race, there was a little drama about some riders getting disqualified for skitching which is a common rule these days in push races. Other outlaw events like Coast Longboarding’s Urban Assault Race and Timeship Racing’s Ditch Slap X-town race do not allow this type of cheating to win either. The Prize giveaway was headed by organizer Ian Nichols who gave out a few hundred dollars to the top male and female racers, plus loads of free swag by the many great sponsors. He also gave some big props to the competitors who traveled the farthest away from places like Australia, France, and Switzerland. Traveling from Oregon myself, I am used to skating with my downhill crew of riders who mostly view endurance races as “silly push races”. Why would you want to tire yourself out like that when there are so many great hills to skate? And for the most part I agree, downhill is my favorite part of skating. Taking corners and negotiating speed with a pack of riders is the best feeling in the world. But in the mostly flat terrain of NYC, the local riders have proven that you don’t need hills to have fun on a longboard. The most basic part of skateboarding is pushing your board around. And they have taken this concept to the ultimate extreme with the up-rise of Push Culture.
It now seems that Push has begun to take a leap in recognition and popularity leading into the biggest prize purse ever known for a skateboard race – The Adrenalina Skateboard Marathon. $10K for first place has never been seen before. Other skateboard events such as half pipe and street competitions have had larger cash payouts but this was the largest for longboarding, which is obviously proving NOT to be a sub-class of skateboarding anymore. As an all-around skater myself, it is nice to see the greater respect rising for all types of skateboarding being had these days. In South Florida this marathon length pusher was the first fully sanctioned race of its kind. Different than the Broadway Bomb, the organizer here is completely legit with a real agenda to promote this category of skateboarding. As their slogan says “Health & Fitness Meets Extreme Sports”, they are not playing around. Obtaining a well funded sponsor in Active.com, Adrenalina ran a world class Marathon on skateboards.
Here is what went down November 6th in Hallandale Beach, FL. The Adrenalina Skateboard Marathon was definitely the most professional and well organized skateboard race I’ve ever been to. They managed to close about a dozen intersections in an urban area with the local police, obtain and use a very accurate timing system, tracking lots of information simultaneously without any errors and nearly no delays (something downhill races are often plagued with). The announcers of the event made it very clear what was happening and where to be when, with lots of excitement and enthusiasm to keep the crowd roaring. Other events and happenings on site were a 2.1 mile mini marathon with riders competing between the ages of 4 to 49. Also a street skate setup with ramps and grind boxes, which were heavily sessioned by locals and travelers alike. Also offered was some great free food with lots of free stuff from the local businesses in the area. I really enjoyed the free after race pizza and beer (which is one of the things I had not consumed in a couple weeks during my very small window of preparation before the race).
Preparation for a Marathon is serious business and being busy full time running my longboard company in Portland (Eastside Longboards), I originally had to decide months ago what race I could afford to go to this year. I chose the Broadway Bomb and after that race my sponsor, Daddies Board Shop, stoked me out again sending me to Florida too! I had not expected this and had not trained for this longer distance. In fact I had never skated this far in my life, but was used to pushing across Portland doing about 15 -20 miles a week, but never more than 8 miles or so in a row. However I felt like I just couldn’t pass up this opportunity and I was right. I’d be kicking myself like many of you are now if I had not gone. But don’t fret; they are set for another Skateboard Marathon in San Diego for spring of 2011.
Starting off in the front line as a NW representative, my goal was to finish in the top 10 and not die off in the last half. The countdown began and the butterflies in my stomach were building. The leaders immediately took off at a ridiculously high pace, which I felt they would not be able to hold. My plan before the race was to let them go in the beginning and stalk them throughout hoping to have energy at the end to sprint past them. Using my willpower to not panic, I stayed focused on keeping them in site and pacing myself for this long flat push. After the first 6 mile loop I was sitting in 9th place with no one in site behind me and the leaders just barely visible. I thought to myself there are still 20 miles left and I need to slightly increase my pace but not so much that I burn out. Coming from a downhill background I strived to stick to my style and rhythm of pushing and tucking. 5 to 10 huge kicks with my one leg, then a quick transfer to my downhill tuck holding the speed that I just created. My set up was an Eastside DropBoard with flipped Randal 180mm / 42 degree trucks, 76mm / 78a Flywheels, and Bones Swiss Ceramics. I used the same components on the Eastside DropKick in New York because it had the useful tail for dropping off curbs and getting through the mayhem.
This push and tuck method of conserving energy was my answer to most of my other competitor’s skill of pushing strong with both legs with little or no tucking. Having only one small hill (freeway overpass) to climb with a little bit of downhill allowed me to tuck for about 3 blocks and around a turn before I slowed down enough to push again. Coming into the second and third lap I was still in 9th but could see that the leaders had broken apart and there was a 3 pack consisting of two NY riders, Kaspar and Evan Armbrister along with Matt Elver (world record holder) from England. They were in my sites and I was gaining on them coming into the 4th lap. Halfway through the last big lap I passed all three of them at once and moved into 6th place. However Kaspar fought back and did not let me go, passing me back. I followed him closely until we got back near the start/finish area with less than 2 miles left in the race. Having some reserved energy left I sprinted away to pull ahead of him and go into my tuck down the slight hill leading into the start of the two 0.7 mile mini loops. As I came in I closed in on another NY rider Keifer Dixon and passed him right before the start /finish line. I pushed my heart out to keep ahead of him for the last 1.4 miles and held my position to come in 5th place overall. This was such a rewarding result for me to have finally caught some of the top riders and battle them to the end making some crucial passes when it counted. Another attribute to this event is that they awarded the top 3 finishers of each age group putting them on a podium with prizes from the event’s sponsors. Winning my age group of 30-39 I stood up very proud to represent Portland, Oregon and the NW at 33 years old with my fellow competitors Kaspar and Evan both 31 from New York.
Overall this was a huge success for me and I could not of asked more of myself at my first Marathon length race. When they announced the next race in San Diego, I got so excited because I knew my good friends at Daddies Board Shop would be completely behind me supporting their local rider to the fullest! In the end it was really the NY crew’s race and they surely lived up to their hype, dominating the top 4 spots, breaking the world record time, winning all of the cash, and winning the party. Really they WERE the party and celebrating with them afterwards reminded me of being around my beloved downhill family in the Northwest. Amazing time all around, huge thanks to Adrenalina for making this incredible event happen! See you in So Cal!!!
[ Insert Link – Adrenalina Skateboard Marathon website ]
