Disney Inline Marathon Cancelled????

[Tahiti girl]

I think it is strictly a business decision. They get all the water donated in large bottles. That's why paper cups (worthless to skaters unless they stop to get them) not individual bottles are dispensed. They have more volunteers then they need, so they don't have to hire a lot of staff. However, the expo, where they charge a fortune for a booth, has lost a lot of sponsors. The first year, the Milk House was filled with booths and several thousand skaters signed up. The goody bag was in fact, GOOD!. The second year, there were fewer booths and fewer skaters. The event has been going down ( money wise) ever since.
When they have running events, the Milk House is packed and they get more then enough runners. The course for runners doesn't have to be as specific as it is for skaters. Anyone can participate in a running/walking race with little fear of falling or not being able to stop.
I really hope they bring the inline race back but rather doubt that they will. Too bad for us and the sport.

[jmac]

Now it's official and unfortunately the news is not good.

So, now we know: The Disney IM has officially been cancelled.

If you'll indulge me for a moment, I'd like to offer a perspective on this.

It was back in December 2005 that we all learned of the cancellation of the Long Beach Inline Marathon. I still remember reading Robert's article about it, and coming to this sentence: "The demise of the Long Beach Inline Marathon will leave a big hole in the fall racing calendar."

That was the exact moment when what had previously been my idle daydreams about having an inline marathon in Houston were suddenly transformed into a real desire to create one. And now, 20 months later, we've just opened online registration for the inaugural Houston IM!

My point is this: Perhaps right now, somewhere out there, someone else with a dream of creating something new and great is getting word of Disney's cancellation, and experiencing the same exciting sense of opportunity and mission that I did, 20 months ago. I sure hope so!

Whoever and wherever that person may be, I sincerely wish them all the energy, patience, commitment, and ultimately, success, in the world!

Cheers,
=jmac=

[DROID]

The Races at Crystal Springs/San Mateo in the spring are AWESOME !!! These are 50 Km races at a beautiful location, just south of San Francisco,..... a great destination,..... and the course is on the road next to a gorgeous reservoir lake only a 10 - 15 minute drive from the SFO Int'l airport,..... the course is closed to traffic, and has decent road surfaces.

So, I did both of the spring races there and they were FANTASTIC !!!!!!!!!

There was not what I would call a huge skater turn-out. OK, the first one was on the same date as the Texas Road Rash,...... But the second race was the first weekend in May and it could be a GREAT replecement for the Disney race.

I am really bummed out,............ I was planning to do my first ever Disney marathon in 2008,...... guess not.

But I will gladly go to San Mateo again.

DROID

[LezSk8]

Being a local skater and participating in every DIM I am dissapointed but not too suprised at the cancelation. My grandaughter and I skated in the inagural event in 2003 and it was our first race experience. We will charish our memories and miss it.

However, there were problems with the venue and scheduling as many have documented on this and other forums. Disney wants two things when it does it, 1) be profitable, and 2) be the best. The DIM seems to have failed in achieving these goals.

All we can do is let Disney know we want it back in the future. Perhaps the future development of the property will lend itself to a better venue and fuller weekend schedule that will attract more families vacationing, more participants, and vendors. The slate is now clean and a new "story book" for the future will perhaps be written. Let hope so.

I'm sure our local skaters will work for it to happen. Until then, when new asphault is found, skaters will roll on it, so ...

LezSk8!

[Robert]

Marquez Edge from Disney Sports has sent along a new email address that skaters can use to send questions or comments about the cancellation of the Disney Inline Marathon:

wdw.sports.marathon.endurance@disneysports.com

Disney seems interested in skater reaction ... which seems like a good sign.

[chowley]

There are a lot of changes in the House of Mouse this next year. Disney just announced that they are shutting down the kids magazine Disney Adventures. Seems they are eliminating the low-hanging fruit. Watch for your Disney stock to go up!

[zoraster]

It is a shame that this race went away. I was seriously considering a trip for next year, but if its numbers that they care about as do all races, why do they schedule the race for 6:00am. I know that they want the roads open for traffic so the don't impeded the visitors to the park, but come on... you won't get more rec skaters to do an event that is held at 6 am. 6am is not fun for a casual skater. 10 am is fun for them or maybe even 8am. Only the die hards will get up for that. I will never understand this in this sport that I love.

I wish our cities were more like European cities. Then we would have more sporting events.

Oh well.

Scott

[Jim White]

Disney wanted the race early so skaters would be clear of the Kingdoms when the high-paying tourists came.

Other races start later. Skate them!

[LezSk8]

I have e-mailed Mr. Edge my disappointment over the cancelation and interest in seeing it continue and improved for greater appeal to skaters. It includes my local connection and willingness to work with them toward this end. May it rise up and shine brightly on the skating world sky for the future generations to enjoy.

LezSk8!

[dchondarider]

Starting at zero-dark-thirty.... I don't view this so much as a "bug", but a "feature" from the organizer's perspective. Any race that uses public streets is going to want to start early in order to end the street closures early. Closing down 26 (or 13, or whatever) miles of roads and streets in a heavily populated area is no easy --or cheap-- proposition. A road-race skate is a rare thing--that's why many of them are of the "umpty-ump laps around a park" variety. Instead of complaining about the start time, we ought to recognize that having a point-to-point or large loop race is a tremendous accomplishment on the part of the organizers.

One reason there will never be a marathon skate event in DC is that the street closures would be nightmarish. There are two running marathons a year and those create havoc, and require months of planning and many, many meetings with police and city officials. One of the big advantages Disney has it that it's all on private property and Disney can do pretty much as it wishes.

I went to Disney twice (2006 and 2007) and will miss it. It was a nice jump-start to the season for us in the frozen north and a good incentive to put on the skates and train in March.

[panch0]

Marquez Edge from Disney Sports has sent along a new email address that skaters can use to send questions or comments about the cancellation of the Disney Inline Marathon:

wdw.sports.marathon.endurance@disneysports.com

Disney seems interested in skater reaction ... which seems like a good sign.

I wrote an e mail to this address. They replied back their public announcement about the inline marathon not being part of the 2008 season.

I did not get the feel that Disney people want to hear diddly squat!

[DROID]

Time to move on,............... all the emotions are felt by (probably) ALL of "us" skaters........................ but, the truth is that skating in the US will never be "prime time",................. and Disney is ALL !!!!!! about prime time.

Even though I never skated this race,..... I know it was a major event, mainly because of the name ,....... I always heard complaints about the race itself,................ and for pro's, including Joey Mantia to do this race in the 1 hr 20 minute time frame is quite honestly a joke.

It would be fantastic to see this race "re-worked" with a course that will allow for a male pro winning time worthy of the typical European rec skater,.............. hopefully (way) fatser.

The Texas Road Rash and the Crystal Springs/San Mateo marathons will most likely take over as the major spring events,....... it would be nice to see an East coast race enter into this mix.

DROID