RANCHO CORDOVA OPENS THEIR STREETS!

I just want to thank the CITY OF RANCHO CORDOVA!

The Transportation Department, the Fire Dept, the Police Dept, the Planning Dept and all of the other people that I met yesterday. What was originally a meeting of 4 people (or so I thought) turned into a boardroom full of "Head Honcho's" and I was at the head of the table pitching our plea for street closures for our upcoming Inline March Madness Invitational Marathon (say that fast 5 times)!

Although we finally decided on my 3rd choice for a course (only because it was shorter), we all left knowing that this race WILL become an "Annual Event" that we will continue to build upon. We all want this event to become the Duluth Marathon on the WEST COAST and this little City is ready, willing and able to take it on.

There are so many questions that we just don't know the answers to until the first race is over and done with, so we are taking baby steps to ensure that we do things right the first time. Things like parking, bathrooms, hand wash stations, food, electrical, barriers, volunteers, water stations and of course the weather! But we are diligently working on all of those avenues and the City is holding our hand from start to finish.

So with that said, I will be out at the site taking pictures over the next couple of days, figuring out the exact distance (somewhere around 2.2 to 2.5 mile loop) and bringing that back here to you, along with a course map and continual updates as the things are accomplished.

Thank you to all of you who have asked questions, made suggestions, and lent your support through emails and phone calls. This may be our first time but it will be an event to remember! It is all about skaters, skaters, and more skaters!!! Stay Tuned!!! Linda

ENTRY FORMS POSTED

We are so excited about our upcoming race and have been answering phone calls from skaters and their parents from many different states!! We even have a club from CALGARY, CANADA joining us with their 9 skaters!!! Some of the skaters that I have spoken to are from Virginia, Pennsylvania, Texas, 3 different clubs in Washington, Idaho and Colorado!! So be sure that you have your hotel booked and that you bring your alarm clock (we will be starting early!) and we will see you in just a few short weeks! Remember if you have ANY questions, please do not hesitate to contact us, we will get right back to you!!

www.inlinemarchmadness.com

OUR MOST CURRENT INFORMATION!!!

Parents and Skaters...

Thank you for your patience! Things are moving along but it feels like they are doing so in slow motion!

The host hotel is filling quickly and you may need to call the hotel to book your room if you are coming in on Wednesday evening. There were a small amount of rooms available at the $98 rate on Wednesday night and the next tier was at $125 a night. Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights all remain at $98 a night and are available until February 14th when the rooms will go back to $199 a night. So NOW is the time to book a room if you haven't done so already! The link is located on the left side of this page. ( When you call the Marriott ask for Alison or Kristin in Group Sales-tell them you are with Sunrise Rollerland Speed Meet).


More information has been added to our main website at: www.inlnemarchmadness.com Just scroll down the page for the latest information on prices, divisions and due dates. More will be added this week on a daily basis as it is available to us.

Here is how you can enter the indoor competition. Your coach or club representative will need to enter you if there are two or more skaters from one club. Please no single registrations unless you are the only skater representing your club. The entry forms are located on the left side of our main website up near the top on the page. Once you open that-please read and then proceed to the bottom of that page where the entry forms will be listed.

Those skaters not competing at the indoor portion of the competition may enter individually for the Outdoor skate. Once again, please see the individual link for the "Outdoor Only" portion and follow the directions on how to enter. Our course HAS changed and we should have the final layout by Friday, January 25th with a map included. The City of Rancho Cordova Roadway Department has approved the race we are waiting for the final approval from the Fire Department and the Police Department. We meet with them this week!

SCHEDULE: I know this is very important to those of you making reservations. Thursday morning will start with the NOVICE division - both distances. Next we will start 4-person relays followed by STANDARD division races.

Because we must wait for entries to come in (we have already received some entries) we cannot give you an exact time as to when each block of skating will begin. Sunday's outdoor schedule will start as early as we can and we HOPE to be finished by 2pm at the very latest. You are approximately 20-25 minutes away from the airport if you are leaving directly from the outdoor site. I PROMISE.... you will know as soon as we know!!!!!

Keep your eye on the deadlines!!! For the HOTEL it is FEBRUARY 14th or when rooms run out. For the INDOOR ENTRY it is: SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16th.


OUTDOOR ENTRY:

Every skater who enters our Outdoor competition will come away with a t-shirt, goodie bag and a participation award. Remember we will skate rain or shine!!

MARATHON - 42K - (26.2 miles)

Entry included with you indoor entry: $50. 00
Only skate outdoor: $65.00 Deadline: FEBRUARY 23rd

Registration after February 23rd up until Saturday
afternoon 3/8/08 12:00pm (noon) $85.00


ADVANCED/INTERMEDIATE/RECREATIONAL - 5K - (3.12 miles)

Entry included with your indoor entry: $35.00
Only skating outdoor: $45.00 Deadline: FEBRUARY 23rd

Registration after Feb 23rd up until Saturday
afternoon 3/8/08 12:00pm (noon) $50.00

BEGINNER/FUN ROLL - 2K - (1.2 miles)
MUST BE BEGINNER!!
ROLLERBLADES OR QUAD SKATES ONLY! $20.00
Deadline - day of race 8:00 AM

Inline March Marathon

Check Out New Article.......

Yes.... we are keeping you guessing.... or hopping.... from one site to the next, from one blog to another. But it's to keep you just as busy as WE are! LOL Some people find a site or blog that they like and they have a tendency to check that "one" more often than the others. So I want the information on one site to flow through to the other!! Hopefully you will visit all three. But in the meantime, check out our latest information at:

http://speedskatingspectator.blogspot.com/


For those of you who have never been on this site before... take a few moments and scroll down the page. Check out the pictures and some of the stories. They even include short videos from some of the skating situations that I have been in recently. In fact if you didn't get to see any of the Inline World Championships in Colombia, the link is on this site as well as my latest jaunt to Salt Lake City to try my hand at understanding a brand new sport... at least to me!!! Enjoy! Linda

UPDATE ON MARATHON COURSE

I took this picture from inside the car while moving at 30+mph and it was the only one that came out. It is part of the parking lot (which is very large ) that we will be using for skaters to park their cars prior to the event, provided they arrive early enough. Otherwise you will have to walk in. Those times will be posted in plenty of time. Just keep coming back! Oh and more pictures will follow.

I have received a few emails and phone calls wondering what the course is like. Although we are still in the "approval" stages, the City of Rancho Cordova is behind us 100% and we couldn't ask for anything more than that. We have filed for all of the necessary permits and the people in charge on our end are making things happen quickly.

Currently our course is a 6 1/2 mile loop. That means for those that will be skating a complete marathon, you will have to complete 4 laps. The course is flat and there are no hills and there is no apparent elevation gain. I would have to say the course currently is about 50/50 as to smooth or rough. Fifty-percent of the course being smoother than the other fifty-percent. So it doesn't sound too hard or too challenging... ahhh but did I mention the turns? There are approximately 18 turns to this course. Some of them are slight turns, others are u-turns and others are snake-turns where you turn left first and then go right. There is also plenty of straightaway if you are a power skater, but you will need some technique to maneuver the 7 or so right hand turns if you come from indoor skating. If you are a true outdoor skater you should have no problems adjusting to the twists and turns.

We have three "obstacles" that we are dealing with now to make this course skater ready. The first one is a dip. It is aggressive enough to me that I would not expect any skater to be able navigate the dip easily. We are working with the city and our staff to build/create a cover that any skater would feel comfortable skating over. It would need to be a non-permanent solution. And we will work to cover the dip from one side of the street to the other so that skaters do not have to slow down to be tunneled through something to cross the dip. The second "obstacle" is a small section of the road that is pretty rough. We hope that they will be able to take care of that for us. If not, we have the man power and the knowledge within our club to lay a small section of asphalt to correct the problem with their permission of course. And finally the "grate". It is what nightmares are made of! LOL O.k. you probably are not laughing, but to me it is another easy fix in our eyes. It is to the farthest side of the road and we plan on using cones and plywood to keep skaters from going over it, but in case they do, they won't have the issues they could have if it were left open!

The road will be completely closed off to traffic and we do have access to hundreds of volunteers (if needed) to help direct skaters through the course as well as we will have large, bright signs directing the skaters as to which way to go next long before they arrive at that point. Although I have not personally ever skated a marathon (only a half-marathon) I am very aware of every situation that our skaters have had when traveling to marathons as well as what can cause problems for the Elite/Pro skater who have the speed as well as the very beginner skater who might not have the best of balance just yet. We want everyone to completely enjoy themselves, including their families who are back at the start/finish line (we have some great things planned for the little ones) and we want you to come back and skate the following year.

Our team of parents and volunteers are working on THE "goodie bag" for every skater who enters and something extra for those who complete their distance.

We are working on making sure there is breakfast food, hot coffee, hot chocolate and other things that racers might need, available the moment you arrive.

If you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. I will try to answer you within 24 hours. Thanks so much and we look forward to seeing you all very soon. Linda Wood

More About Inline March Madness

We have started a new blog for the FIRST ANNUAL INLINE MARCH MADNESS INVITATIONAL. Most of the same information will be available here as on our website:

www.inlinemarchmadness.com

but then again there might be new and even different information available here! Of course we will keep you informed on BOTH websites as to what is happening.

You might be asking yourself, "Why would they have two different places to go to get information?" Great question!! Our reasoning behind this is that no "one person" could possibly keep everything updated and current on the website AND work a REAL job too!


We found that it is very easy to link the main website to this page (and visa-versa) and yet this blog is much easier for those of us with "no computer skills" (o.k.... ME) to write, add pictures or video and update information anytime of the day without using that "special, secret coding"! So that is why the blog was created. We want to get as much information out to you, as quickly as possible!

Thanks again for looking and we look forward to seeing you in March 2008....