Canadian skaters were busy this weekend with two races on the calendar- the Trillium 10k in Mount Forest, Ontario on Saturday and the Festival Roller Marathon in Montreal on Sunday.

The first race- the Trillium 10k- took place on Satuday. Toronto Inline Skating Club‘s Sarah Hopkins won the women’s race well ahead of club-mate Melissa Maas. Paisley Perrie finished 3rd in the women’s category Peter Doucet beat out Jesse Pauley for the overall win. Placing 3rd was Morgan Williams. The top-3 overall finishers are from the Toronto Inline Skating Club. [Trillium 10 results]

Sarah Hopkins on her way to victory at the Trillium Runs 10k in Mount Forest- photo from Peter Doucet- Speed Skate World

Hopkins won her second event in as many days on Sunday’s Montreal’s Festival Roller Marathon. Montreal’s Morgane Echardour placed 2nd. Bailin Xie topped off the top-3 women. On the men’s side, it was short track speed skater World Cup medalist Olivier Jean who took top honours with a time of 1 hour 13 minutes, beating out national team member Mathieu Giroux. Rounding off the top 3 is Ottawa’s Benoit Letourneau. [Montreal Festival Roller results] [Pictures]

The Roller Sports Ontario (RSO) Outdoor Series is kicking off next weekend in Ottawa. The first of four events is taking place on Sunday, May 18th at the Aylmer track in Hull, right across the bridge from Ottawa.

Visit the RSO website for all the updated forms and information sheets.

The 2009 World Outgames are taking place in Copenhagen, Denmark. Click here for information on roller racing. You can now register for the event.

The Outgames take place from July 25th to August 2nd 2009. There will be tournaments and competitions in 38 different sports disciplines for competitors at all skill levels. There will also be a wide variety of cultural events including performances, exhibitions and parties.

Paisley Perrie, who skates out of the CITC in Harriston, competed at this past weekend’s Gross Gerau event in Germany. She finished 17th overall out of 60 competitiors in her age class. Her father Alex Perrie was a referee at the event, putting in two 12-hour blocks. [Gross Gerau results]

Girls racing in Gross Gerau (Germany)- photo from rik3130

The CITC will be holding a 12-hour Skate-athon on June 14th, the day before the facility is set to hold the RSO Outdoor Speed Series #2. There will be food and camping for skaters. More information to follow.

Brampton’s Aaron Arndt has crossed the ocean for the 2008 season and is competing throughout Europe. Arndt is competing in the World Inline Cup, Swiss Inline Cup, German Inline Cup, and other very competitive races.

This past weekend, his team- Subaru X-Tech– placed 3rd in the 10km team time-trial in Wilhelmshaven with a time of 12 minutes 19 seconds. The following day, Aaron Arndt placed 12th overall in the 42km marathon. The race included some steep climbs and intense head-winds. [marathon results]

Aaron Arndt- 2nd from the right- coming in with the bunch sprint at the Wilhelmshaven Skate Days

Meanwhile back here in Canada, skaters from Quebec and Ontario took place in this season’s first outdoor race- the Minto Run For Reach. [results] You can find pictures, videos, and reports here.

Start of the Minto Run For Reach- photo from Peter Doucet

Roller Sports Ontario held its fourth and final race of its 2008 Indoor Speed Series. Dean Arndt and Sarah Hopkins were the top finishers for stage #4. [View photos] [RSO Speed Series website] [Candy Wong’s site with videos]

Morgan Williams leads Travis Shaw, Jesse Pauley, and Dean Arndt in group A’s 1000-meter

The 2008 Coupe Quebec Roller dates were recently announced. All the races will take place on Sundays in Longueuil, Quebec- site of the 2006 RSC Speed Championships. Stage #1 will take place on May 25th, #2 on June 22nd, #3 on July 6th, and #4 on August 3rd.