Top-10 Start Line Distractions

Top-10 Start Line Distractions: I've been racing for many years now, more than some skaters but less than others (what a brilliant statement!). In the years that I've been in the sport, I've competed in races where I could earn pride, satisfaction, money, equipment, and great memories to cherish. I have found myself extremely focused at the start line of some races, but there have been other events where I have been distracted, blocked or challenged in some capacity to acheive my goals- the following is the top-10 distractions that 'threw' me off my game prior to a race-


Looking cool and collected on the Eastern Seabord Series start line
10- I’ve left different pieces of equipment at home over the years, like helmets, wheels, glasses, and even frames. I can’t stand racing in something that isn’t mine and feels awkward. I don’t know what the worst part is about this, but maybe it’s forgetting my race wheels at home, wheels that I paid a ton of cash to buy, and I am stuck with racing on a bad set of training wheels.

9- Bad weather- too hot (2003 Cornusker and 2005 Easter Seaboard Series), too windy (2005 Pan Am Championships), too cold (2000 Niagara Marathon), snowing (Ottawa- National Capital Marathon).

8- After having a nightmarish time getting to the 1998 Northshore Inline Marathon, I woke up late, crashed my rental car, and got to the place (DECC) where the buses picks up the skaters to take them to the start line. All the buses were gone except one. I hoped onto the bus and ordered (more like begged) the driver to take me to the start line some 42km’s away. Thankfully, he drove me. While getting changed, I realized I didn’t have a timing chip that should have been picked up the night before. The driver made a few calls, and through the chain of calls, someone had a timing chip waiting for me at the start line. I got to the start line and still had my huge bag with me, all this 2 minutes from the start. I tossed my bag into the first race vehicle I saw and the race started.

7- At 2003 world championships in Venezuela, I was quite sick and hadn’t had a bowel movement in 3 days. I was on the start line for the road 20km elimination race when my stomach started to rumble…needless to say, I was very happy to be eliminated so I could do what I needed to do.


My stomach (red and white 3rd from the left) about to explode before the start
6- Girlfriends.

5- Racing Eddy Matzger at A2A is quite hard, but watching Eddy Matgzer start the race in a huge painted fridge box (2006) or starting the race dressed up as a sort of tree thing (2003)- well, it’s quite hard to be ‘serious’ at the start of A2A. While looking at him dressed up before A2A, some of my inner dialogue includes ‘Hmm, there’s my enemy, Eddy, and I will beat him, oh, and look at that, he’s dressed up in a huge fridge box…beat Eddy, take him seriously, he’s more dangerous than the fridge box lets me know…beat Eddy…how funny he is Haha, no, Peter, relax- he’s an A2A animal and he will eat you during this race…take him serious right now, but he is quite funny, hehehe, I should do that too, people would think I am funny too…oops, concentrate, the race is about to start…look at him, hihi’. Then I have to race with him and I have to suffer to keep up (and even beat him)!


2003 A2A: Eddy Matzger in his tree thing

2006 A2A: Eddy Matzger's painted fridge box
4- At the 2006 National Capital Marathon in Ottawa, the announcer's name was Susan Longbottom. I could not get over her name. Not the Susan part, but the Longbottom part. All I could envision was a lady who has a really long bottom. I'll never forget that last name: Longbottom.


Start line of the NCM, Susan Longbottom's voice blaring over the PA system
3- Just about missing the start of a race; The Old Round Church Series in Vermont from the mid-1990's was awesome and a ton of fun! One of my journeys to the ORCS with some friends lasted longer than expected. We were driving while changing into our skin suits and switching our race wheels while the race was supposed to start. They held up the start of the race for us, thank goodness!

2- The 2000 World Championships in Colombia; picture this; 1000's of people watching each race, and the culmination of the whole championship is the double marathon. Supposedly, over 100 thousand people there in person to watch the race. I had to pee really really bad right before the start of the race, which was started in the pouring rain. Thanks to a delay, I skated through the crowd and into a cafe to use their facilities. Upon entering, I looked up and saw live coverage of the race on television, and worst off, they were about to start the race..thankfully, I made it (both my duty and the start).


The 2000 world championships double marathon
1- Start line #1 in downtown Buffalo. Same race but start line #2 is in the outskirts of Buffalo a few hours later. How and why did this happen? I don't really know. All I know is that we were on the start line in downtown Buffalo with the gun literally about to go off. A city official drove onto the course and started shouting this and that at the race organizers. Next thing I knew, I was in my car driving to another course that race organizers found to run the race.


The start of the race in downtown Buffalo right before the man arrived and started shouting and yelling

The start of the same race, this time in the outskirts of Buffalo
What are your worst/ top start line distractions? Write about them, leave a post!