2015 Buffalo Summer Training Camp

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The Buffalo Speed Skating Club is excited to announce that they are now taking reservations for their 2015 Junior Summer Training camp.  This will be the third year for the highly successful 6 day camp, designed for competitive junior skaters ages 12 to 21.

Instructed by: Eastern Regional Camps director Tom Miller.
Location: The Northtown Center at Amherst – 1615 Amherst Manor Drive Amherst, NY 14221 (map)
Dates: Monday, August 24Saturday, August 29.
Total Ice Time: 15 hours (on an Olympic size rink).
Total Dryland Training: 11 hours.
Cost: Single skaters: $350.00. Family discount: $300 per each additional skater in the same family.
Accommodations: If desired, out of area skaters will be assigned a host family to stay with during the camp. (Included in the cost of the camp)
Registration: The camp will be limited to the first 25 applicants. They expect it to fill quickly, so send in your registration early to insure your participation.

The Information/Registration Packet can be download from the club’s website.  The website also contains photos and additional camp information.

Eastern Regional Meet #4 – Results

Congratulations to the 26 SLSSC members who participated in the Eastern Regional Meet #4, hosted by us! It was a great day of skating, with many new PB’s set! Check out the PB page for the full list.

Congrats to our medal winners: Andrew Chartrand 1st (Alpha), Terry Knapp 2nd (Bravo), Nolan Roney 3rd (Charlie), and Julia Wheeler 2nd (Echo)!

Congrats to Nolan Roney for joining the sub-60 Club! We are looking forward to cake!

Congrats to Porshia Reisin, Elizabeth Wheeler, Wesley Martin, Taylor Watson, Marieka Ouimette, Darlene Nelson, and Fimke Bols for participating in their 1st meet. Well done!

Here’s a breakdown on how everyone finished:

Andrew Chartrand – 1st (Alpha)
Marieka Ouimette – 6th (Alpha)
Terry Knapp – 2nd (Bravo)
Pam Knapp – 4th (Bravo)
Darlene Nelson – 5th (Bravo)
John Bols – 6th (Bravo)
Fimke Bols – 7th (Brav0)
Nolan Roney – 3rd (Charlie)
Taylor Watson – 11th (Charlie)
Cameron Mackay – 9th (Delta)
Andy Giroux – 12th (Delta)
Julia Wheeler – 2nd (Echo)
Paige Besner – 4th (Echo)
Ayrton Meier – 6th (Echo)
Andon Gill – 7th (Echo)
Annella Roney – 9th (Echo)
Aidan Chartrand – 4th (Foxtrot)
Arie Devos – 6th (Foxtrot)
Charlotte Morrison – 8th (Foxtrot)
Celia Giroux – 10th (Foxtrot)
Wesley Martin – 12th (Foxtrot)
Grant Roney – 4th (Golf)
Lukas Reisin – 7th (Golf)
Kaleb Mackay – 1st (Cradle)
Elizabeth Wheeler – 2nd (Cradle)
Porshia Reisin – 3rd (Cradle)

A special thanks to all the volunteers who helped out and made the day go so smoothly.

The Official Protocol can be viewed on the OSSA website.

Pictures to follow soon.

World Masters Winter Games – Quebec City

This past week (Feb 05-08), the World Masters Winter Games were held at various venues in and around Quebec City. For skating enthusiasts there were competitions in short track, long track and marathon skating. The 50km was held on beautiful Lake Beauport north of the city. By all accounts the conditions were absolutely perfect. The 25 km was held on the refrigerated oval that has been established on the Plains of Abraham. Although SLSSC President John Ambrose registered for these events, he had to cancel at the last moment due to illness. If you wish to see the results you will have to find your way to the website of pentathlon des neiges.

Brrr ! Very Cold in Vermont

A few weekends back (Jan 31 – Feb 1), the second annual Lake Memphromogog Marathon races were held adjacent to the picturesque Vermont town of Newport. The local organization was granted the rights to hold the North American Marathon Championships and these attracted some 28 entries over the two distances of 25km and 50km. Saturday’s 25km started in -20C temperatures with a brutal wind on one side of the 800m oval which resulted in a wind chill of -30C. Once the race was on there were no complaints of the cold as we warmed up with a steady and robust pace. Registration included skaters from Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, Vermont, NY, Connecticut, Massachusetts and one skater all the way from Berkeley, California. This race was won by Jake Maarse, a 60 year old regular on the marathon circuit, of North Gower, Ontario. Our club was represented only by yours truly but my result was somewhat disappointing due to a heavy chest cold.

The 50km race the next morning started in balmy weather of -15C but still a nasty wind that contributed to a much lower temperature. In this race Tom Keene of Boston edged out Jake for the win. For the first time in ten years I did not finish a marathon event, having run out of steam after only a third of the distance – again my excuse was the chest cold.

The ice conditions were excellent and the organizing group at Newport deserve much praise for their dedicated work. This was only their second year of ice making and they have climbed the learning curve of ice making very quickly.

A 40km skate up the lake was planned for Monday and this would have included a border crossing into Canada. However due to heavy snow conditions earlier in the week the event was cancelled, much to the disappointment of many of the skaters who were looking forward to this interesting and fun event to skate a race transitioning from one country to the next.

I encourage those in the club who are interested in distance skating on natural ice with the elements that winter has to offer to consider the Vermont events for next year. Incidentally the weekend also includes 1 and 5km events. The oval is adjacent to the East End Restaurant, the race headquarters, which offers up on the Saturday evening a wonderful buffet and some of the best draft craft beer in the northeast. Marathon skating is not about winning medals but about participating in a fun and challenging event with wonderful people (highly skilled and not so) from far and wide.

If you wish to keep abreast of what is going on in the marathon skating world refer to www.marathonskating.org.

Picture below shows the lead pack rounding the south corner of the oval with the town of Newport in the background.

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Attention St. Lawrence Rapids Speed Skaters and Parents!

We need your help!  We will be hosting our meet this weekend (Saturday, February 14th, 2015) and we need your help!  It requires many people and volunteers to run a meet successfully.

We still need volunteers for various positions, including assistance with the kitchen, lap counters, raffle table and other positions.  If you can spare your time this Saturday, please contact Rob Giroux, our meet coordinator, at giroux.robert.p@gmail.com

In addition, we are required to supply food for the officials and volunteers.  If you are able to supply any items (for example juice boxes, chili or meatballs in a crock pot, yogurt, fruit and veggie trays, granola bars, baked goods), please contact Darlene Nelson at Darlene.Nelson@wspgroup.com who will be coordinating the lunch and snack items.

As well, we still require additional raffle items for our raffle table.  This is an excellent fundraiser for our club.  We would gladly accept any item for our raffle table including items that you would like to re-gift!  Please drop off tonight during the Masters/Competitive skaters practice or let Darlene know the item that you would like to donate and drop it off on Saturday morning at the meet.  Darlene can be reached at Darlene.Nelson@wspgroup.com.