What makes you happy? Better yet, what makes you smile? If you are anything like me, the combination of friendly competition, inline skating and beautiful weather seem to always do the trick! This past Saturday the World Skate Cross Series set up shop at Calgary's Millenium Skatepark providing inline skaters from multiple disciplines the opportunity to race amongst friends in one of our countries most challenging skateparks.
For those not familiar with Skate Cross, it is an event where competitors race across a pre planned course that involves jumps, tight corners and long straight-aways. Ask any of the competitors and they will be sure to let you know just how tiring a run can be. In many ways Skate Cross is the perfect event for inline skaters to put their skills to the test. Not only is the course challenging it is also extremely tiring. On top of that, the addition of three to four other racers on the course keeps you on your toes as crashes, bails and slip ups can happen at a moments notice.
Last Saturdays event began by allowing each competitor to have two solo qualifying runs around the course in which their times where ranked against the rest of the skaters. From there competitors were separated into groups based on their qualifying time and given the chance to move on within the competition if they were able to finish each race in 1st or 2nd position. Throughout the day a number of exciting races took place where the difference between 1st and 2nd had to be determined by a photo finish!
The energy at this Skate Cross event was absolutely unbelievable. Great sportsmanship paired with amazing organization from Sebastien Laffargue and the Anthony Finocchiaro from Seba ensured that this event will be remembered for years to come by competitors and spectators alike. Up until this month, the World Skate Cross Series had never made its way to Canada. With events in both Quebec City and Calgary over and done with, I'm sure many Canadians can't wait to find out when and where future events like these will take place next. Its not everyday that you can simply show up to your local skatepark and participate in an international event that is run for skaters by skaters. This is the true beauty of the World Skate Cross series, it is event that celebrates skating and gives skaters something to look forward to. An event like this allows you test your skills, push yourself to the limit and most importantly interact with other likeminded inline skating enthusiasts.
A very special thanks goes out to the events sponsors for putting in the extra effort when it came to organizing and setting up this event. Without the help of Alien Inline, Seba, Shop-Task and NOX Boost none of this would have been possible. The event was a great success, as you can see smiling was a common theme all around and we are ok with that!
Final Ranking WSX Calgary:
1. Shaun Unwin
2. Justin MacDonald
3. Antony Pottier