New Diamond
model released! 

7 & 8 March 2009 – Noreuil Park Albury
By: Daniel Thomson

A small number of Sydney based skaters and officials made the trip down to Albury to both run and participate in a number of skate events that were included in the 2009 Multisport Albury City (MAC09), a weekend of sporting events facilitated by Albury City Council.

The skating events at the 2009 MAC09 kicked off on the Saturday morning with the Bayside Blades Skate, an event targeted at skaters of all abilities with the aim of introducing them to the world of rollersports. Distance options of 2.6k (recreational) and 6.5km (elite, advanced and fitness) were offered and despite a disappointing turn out, those who participated all indicated that they enjoyed the event. The three skaters in the elite division stayed together until 300m to go when Lee Mullard jumped out of a tight turn to gain a couple of metres advantage, only to be edged out at the line by Daniel Thomson (Strada Sports) with a well timed unge. Event sponsor Neil Jesberg (Bayside Blades) picked p the win in the Advanced division and embodying the spirit of participation, Albury local Horace Polkinghorne ho had turned 78 only the day before the event, showed hat anyone can get involved by lining up in the recreational (2.6km) event.

Saturday afternoon saw the running of the MAC multisport. This event consisted of five legs including swimming, mountain biking, skating, kayaking and running. There were options to undertake all five legs solo or to form a five-person team where each competitor competed one leg. Two elite level teams were formed by the event organisers, with the skaters for these teams being Daniel Thomson and Andrew Tiffany. Daniel picked up the quickest time in the skating leg (14:47) from Andrew (15:13) and Andrew’s team took out overall first place in the event by the narrow margin of 19 seconds. The skating leg was carried out on a narrow concrete path, which was quite technical in some places with a number of 90-degree turns and narrow timber bridges to be negotiated. Neil Jesberg and Andrea Winzor (both Bayside Blades) also participated in the multisport event with Andrea picking up the fastest female time for the skate leg.

Sunday morning saw the running of handicap and criterium races using a challenging 482m track that had a surface of a chip seal, which presented an interesting challenge that the skaters had to adapt to. The first race, a handicap over six laps was won by Neil Jesberg, with Andrea Winzor in second and Daniel Thomson in third. The second race was a 10-lap criterium that incorporated a sprint prime on every second lap. Lee Mullard, who had missed the handicap event after having flown to Sydney on the Saturday afternoon, quickly adapted to the tight and uneven final corner onto the finish straight and took out both the criterium and sprint king competitions with Daniel in second and Andrew in third.

Thanks to Albury City Council and Bayside Blades for making this event possible.

Full results for the skating events: 2009 Bayside Blades Skate (8/3/09)

Elite

Advanced

Fitness

1.

Lisa Hubbard

27:01.71

Recreational

2009 Bayside Blades Handicap (9/3/09)

2009 Bayside Blades Criterium (8/3/09)