Last weekend saw the 1st Longboard only marathon take place in Amsterdam, Holland: The Rabbit Race. Overall, 21 riders of varying ages got together to compete. As expected, Holland was heavily represented, but there were strong contenders from France and England as well. What the race was lacking in numbers was certainly made up in enthusiasm and good vibes, both from the participants and organisers.
The 2.2km course in itself was in the beautiful tranquil location of Sport Park Slotten and the weather conditions could not have been more perfect. It was for the most part flat, with a steep uphill over a bridge providing a challenging climb followed by a downhill section a little after the starting line.
What goes up…
…must come down:
Here are the top three finishers in full flow:
In the end, most participants completed just over 46km, equivalent to 18 laps of the circuit. This is more than the official marathon distance of 42.195km. Times are shown as recorded on the day for the longer distance, in addition to calculating an estimated time for the official marathon distance based on average speed in order to give an indication of performance against previous marathons.
2011 Rabbit Race Results:
A big shout out goes to Flavio Badenes and the NLDSA (Dutch Distance Skating Association) for organising this fantastic event, it is safe to say that everyone left that evening with huge smiles and great memories, eager for more. A well deserved thank you is in order for Sophie Jochems and Orta for providing very next best thing to timing chips along with much needed encouragement!
We’re already looking forward to next year!
The Adrenalina company could organize a marathon on the sports park Sloten Amsterdam! It is a “perfect” race course: super smooth surface (the best that I have ever rolled on for a competition); no cars at all; all the permits “easily” given to Flavio; a short but mean uphill section; a good place to organize a party after the race; and even a place where people can share a diner or a meal (kind of restaurant)!
We’ve got in touch with Adrenalina about the course. Fingers-crossed that something gets organised!