The Canada Day Marathon will not be taking place this year.
The event, which has been run on July 1st for the past several years, is lacking a race organizer and there is construction on the roads used for the event.
The Toronto Inline Skating Club is in the early phases of exploring different options for putting an event together for July 1st.
The Canadian team competing at the 2011 Pan American Championships in Rosario, Argentina, have been racing with very fast skaters from the Americas.
Canada’s women reached the goal of placing Canada in the top-10 Nations in points on the track in order to qualify for the 2011 Pan American Games. This means Canada will field a women’s team and no men’s team at the 2011 Pan American Games in Mexico this October.
Martine Charbonneau leads her 1000-meter heat- photo Peter Doucet/ SpeedSkateWorld.com
Canada’s women, Martine Charbonneau & Morgane Echardour, got the job done over the two days of intense racing on the 200-meter banked track. Unfortunately, Canadian skaters suffered a few crashes, with three of the five skaters going down on the second day of track racing. All three who fell are well. Steve Robillard, who suffered a concussion after falling at the end of his 500-meter heat, won’t be racing the road program or the marathon. Jade Pauley crashed early during the 15km elimination race while in great position near the front of the pack.
Jade Pauley leads the men’s 15km elimination race- photo Steve Robillard
This competition, which falls well outside of the Canadian racing season, saw the Canadian team having to adjust quickly to the heat as well as being on skates on an unfamiliar track.
Two days of racing on a 200-meter banked track are now complete, and two days of racing on a road course remain. The road program is set for Thursday & Friday. The marathon will then take place on Saturday.
Montreal’s Steve Robillard was selected as the flag carrier at today’s opening ceremony for the Pan American Championships.
Here is a video of the men’s 1000-meter final held before the ceremony.
Click here for the 2011 CIC Sports Rules. These will be in force starting April 1, 2011.
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