New Program Will Prepare Austin Skaters for Marathons

Industry News > Regal Inline Training

Road Rash Founder Starts New Marathon Training Program
Plans are for "slow growing program" in Austin
By Planet staff

Richard Littrell's experience with marathon training programs has been less than encouraging.

He was hired to coordinate the Austin Inline Fit program, but saw it quickly dismantled after only four skaters signed up.

Nevertheless, Littrell is going ahead with plans for his own marathon training program.

In many ways, Regal Inline Training mirrors the two trial programs of USA Inline Fit, which were both unsuccessful: Austin Inline Fit and San Francisco Inline Fit.

But Littrell, a certified inline instructor and founder of the Texas Road Rash, believes that reasonable expectations and intelligent marketing can make the new program a success.

"Austin Inline Fit did not devote a single penny to local advertising costs," he says. "They thought that just putting up a web site and flyers would get people to sign up."

Littrell hopes to attract new skaters from the Austin area and plans to market the program as cross training for cyclist and runners. "I hope to encourage some runners to try skating in the off season to keep up their cardiovascular fitness," he says.

One thing that may help the program is its warm season time slot. The 16-week program starts May 18th and runs through the summer. It is intended to prepare skaters for the Northshore Inline Marathon (Sept. 16th) and next year's Texas Road Rash.

Littrell is not expecting hundreds of skaters to sign up for his program. A handful will do, he says.

"This is going to be a slow growing program. But it's my passion, so I'm willing to do it right."