Goodwood - August 2010

Peter Maisey

What can you say about Goodwood 2010 apart from WOW? The 2009 edition had plenty of superlatives thrown at it, but 2010 surpassed them all. From the opening day of registration it was pretty clear that this year would see considerably more participants than last year’s record breaking total. But even the organisers, Camberley Skaters, seemed to be taken aback by the 700+ pre-registrations and the extra entries on the day.

Just putting these numbers into perspective, the water stop handed out over one tonne of water. Of the 99 cases the organisers brought with them, only six remained at the end of the event.

There seems little doubt that the big increase in numbers is down to the rapid rise in the popularity of Roller Derby, accounting for many of the 60% first timers. Teams came from as far away as Middlesbrough, Manchester and (continuing with the M’s) Mid–Wales, many skating in their battle gear.

Goodwood 2010 also maintained its international flavour with entries from Canada, Dubai, Australia, France & Belgium.

Speaking with event founder Barry Bridger, he was delighted with the way Camberley Skaters have taken on the responsibility of running the event, not only ensuring its continuation, but maintaining the spirit of the annual gathering. A challenge, a race, a fun skate with friends, a chance to raise funds for charity. But perhaps more than any of these, the opportunity to skate outdoors in a traffic-free environment in a beautiful rural location. And where else are you going to see Second World War planes flying past when out skating?

Goodwood’s weather was surprisingly benign for the second year running. Sunny spells, 22oC, and a light to moderate breeze, albeit one that couldn’t make up its mind which way to blow.

As expected, the opening lap saw the speed skaters disappearing rapidly into the distance. Most of the remaining participants set out a little more conservatively, perhaps aware or possibly unsure of what lay ahead.

Many of the Roller Derby ladies had taken heed of advice to consider outdoor wheels rather than taking to the track with their usual indoor set up. That should certainly have made the skate more pleasant, but a marathon is never going to be easy. Nevertheless, most kept plugging away, achieving their goal of going the distance.

The charity nature of the event also encourages individuals to dress up. We were accompanied round the track by Smurfs, Elvis, and a Fish and Chip. Yes, honestly, a Fish and Chip. The Fish needed two skaters to carry it (well it was bigger than the one that got away), the Chip light enough for one skater. The reward was £100 sponsorship for each lap completed. It can’t be too often that a Fish and Chip complete a marathon on skates.

Down to the nitty gritty and who won what. There was a touch of déjà vu with the two longer races, Errol Spencer winning the marathon and James Ashby the dual. Winning was clearly not enough as Spencer reduced the Goodwood marathon record by 4 minutes down to 1hr 12mins, with Ashby taking 8 minutes off the double marathon record, finishing in 2hrs 34mins.

Finally breaking the 2 hour barrier in 2009, 5 longboarders repeated the achievement this year, with Matt Elver setting a new fastest time in 1hr 41mins, beating his 2009 time by 7 minutes.

A couple of significant quaddie successes also happened this year. Andy Pike was the first quad skater to break two hours for the marathon at 1hr 52mins, with Kathryn Ord achieving 1hr 57mins. Tom Maisey became the first and only quaddie to complete the dual marathon.

And what did participants think of the 2010 event? They seemed to have enjoyed it a great deal. Messages left on the organiser’s web site include

Huge thanks to the organisers for a wonderful day.
It was a brilliant and fantastic day I'm sure enjoyed by all.
You guys you are all amazing, I had so such a fantastic time and would really like to thank you all for the massive amount of hard work you put into to making the Goodwood Marathon my favourite skating event, it was truly outstanding.
Brilliant organisation. Coped so well despite the vast numbers.
You were all magnificent. 700+ skaters will agree with me.

And comments from the organisers themselves.
We are really, really happy with how the event turned out on the day. As the numbers grow each year we try and make it bigger and better and raise more money for the NSPCC as well as other charities. We are still counting the money taken this year which will take a while but initial estimates look like we have broken all of our previous records.

Further details of the 2010 event are available at goodwoodmarathon.co.uk, including several large galleries of photos by John Preston.  The photos here in this article are by John Preston, reproduced with permission.

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