Defi Pierre Gagne /

The Pierre Gagne Challenge

Pierre Gagne and Paisley will put their love for the sport of speed skating to good use April 12th 2008 when they skate 100km to raise money for the Sourdine Foundation for the Deaf. It is a dream come true for Paisley to be part of the 12 person team and being able to skate with her friend Pierre ( Canadian Ice Hall of Fame), his son Martin Gagne ( womens national team coach) as well as World Champions Kalyna Roberge, Justine L'Heureax and Anne Maltais. MSI ( Marathon Skaters International) skaters and friends Jim Cornell, Youri Juteau, Gaetan Rochette and Suzanne Dionne will also be in the peliton. If you are interested in sponsoring Paisley please drop us an e-mail at speedcoach@highspeedfx.net.

Good luck to all the skaters

It was a brisk sunny morning for the start of this years annual Terry Fox run. Several of our skaters participated this year in a very worthy cause. Among them were Allison Nolan and Paisley Perrie who decided to run the 10km. They wanted to get an early start so they headed out at 9.00am. It was a perfect day to raise some money and have a great workout.

An amazing weekend with campfires, corn roasts and a group effort spaghetti dinner and Oh yes a little racing. The last race of the RSO series finished last Sunday. Because of scheduling problems it was not the best attended meet of the year. It was by far the best race for kids attendance. Morgan Williams led the way in the 1500m time trial with Camilo Echiveri and Brodie Somerville taking 2nd and 3rd.PanAm team skater Sara Hopkins was first Ladie followed by Paisley and Liz. In the 500 it Camilo skated to a 46.08 and the win. Fellow Colombia skater Maurcio Gallo took second and Morgan 3rd. The ladies finished with Sarah, Paisley and Candy Wong going 1,2,3. In the 10km there were 2 groups. In group A it was a duel from the start with Camilo Morgan and Sarah. Towards the end it was Camilo showing his experience in track racing and managing to pull ahead of Morgan for the win. In group B the pace started slow with Jordan Braunstein, Paisley George Nikodym and Candy pulling away from the rest of the group. Soon after Jordan dropped the hammer and dropped George and Candy who continued to skate together. Shortly after Paisley went on a flyer to test the water and managed to lap the pack and grab the win. Allison Nolan also skated to a personal best time in this race. Speaking of PB's the kids races were full of them.

As a coach I was very VERY proud of all of these youngsters. Over the summer each and every skater at the meet had shown me the results of hard work and dedication. In the 200m time trial Derek Beyer hit a 24.52 sec winning time with Avery Reeves, Brady Carnount, Josh Scott and Hannah Schmitting all finishing in under 30 seconds. In the 7 and under division Logan Wanless skated a 28.52 time trial followed by the "T man" Trevor Scott hitting a 34.34 second finish. In the 400m pack race It was Derek Beyer winning in a time of 47.06 sec ahead of Josh Scott and Avery Reeves. Hanna and Brady all finished in under a minute. In the under 7 division it was Logan finishing just ahead of Trevor with a 1.00.56.

In the last races of the day it was PB time for all our skaters especially the 8+ division. Derek had been running over 5 minutes for the 2k at the beginning of the season won the race with a 4.12.44. Avery outsprinted Josh to the line for a 4.41.08 and a 4.41.93 for Josh. Both skaters had never broken 5 minutes in this distance before. Hannah finished in 4.49.32. This girl had not come close to a 5 min before at practice but has been working hard all year improving her stride and technique. My biggest surprise was Brady. Usually I have to twist his arm or bribe him with candy to get a good performance. Well on Sunday Brady came to race. In the 2k Brady had run a 6min 41 second race a week ago. On Sunday he skated to a very impressive 4.56.99. After the shock wore off, coach and parents were all smiles. Now I know you can do it we will be expecting this kind of skating for the rest of the season. Great job Brady. In the 7& under 1000m race Logan skated to a 2min 42.50sec win with Trevor going 3min 10.20 sec finish. These little guys will soon be heading back to hockey and all I have to say is god help the defence when these little rockets get a breakaway. Cheers Alex

Canada Day Weekend brings out the best in racing The sun gods were truly smiling over the weekend with 2 great events running back to back. Our NRS racing team took part in both the RSO points series and the Canada Day marathon. Our youngest racer Trevor Scott dueled it out with TISC's Hal Malcolm in the 7 and under division. Trevor won all 3 distances dispite some great skating from Hal. Josh Scott and Derek Beyer raced in the 8-12 division with William Malcolm. Derek got out front in all 3 races and never looked back. Josh and William had met before at Provincials with Josh coming out on top. It was Williams turn to shine as he took 2nd ahead of Josh in all 3 races. These guys all looked great. Paisley chose again not to race in the kids division and challenged up to the Elite group where she would have to take her chances with the adults. In her 1500m time trial she would just miss the National record. This placed her in group 3 of 4 for the 500m with David De Coninck, Jackie Schu, Benji Wang and Tejan Chinnakonda. Despite skating a second faster than the National record Paisley would have to settle for second behind Ottawa's David De Conink. In the 10km it was Kevin Kno who went first on a flyer. Paisley was sitting in behind David and despite a few attempts from the pack Kevin was still running about 70m ahead of the chase pack. At the half way point Paisley took the lead in the chase pack and managed to pull hard to catch Kevin. Shortly after Nick Zaccia and Jackie Shu fell off the lead group. This left David, Kevin and Paisley all skating hard to keep the chasers back. With 300m to go Paisley went wide to pass David but failed to carry through for the full distance. This would set up David for the win then Kevin and Paisley. All finished within 1 second of each other. On her first race for NRS Allison Nolan seemed very happy with her performance. She skated above her potential and claimed several PB's throughout the day especially in a great 500m final.

What a great weekend as Mr Eddy (electrictity) "carved" his way into the hearts of skaters attending the Skate Farm Clinic in Ottawa last weekend. A big hats off to Steve MacDonald and the many OUISC members for hosting such a terrific weekend. Skaters were split into 4 groups with something happening at all times for each of the groups. Everything ran on schedule from first thing Saturday morning to closing Sunday afternoon. Eddy Barry and Beth Mansfield capivated the interest of all athletes, young and young at heart.through the weekend. I have never met Beth but throw praises her way for a nutritious and humerous guide to athletic performance. Beth spent an extra moment to cover the needs of female athletes (big thanks)

Beth: you will kill people at Yuk Yuks. You are amazing 4thumbs up.

Barry and Eddy ran the groups though a one in a life time view of the double push. I think even Chad would of approved. Does Paisley now have an efficient DP (No). Does she have the fundementals, Yes (big time) Thanks Eddy ,Barry, Beth and the OUISC. See you at Nationals PS do you see an Eddy Camp at CITC 2008 ??

You might not know it but these guys are skating into a 45km headwind

Photo from Peter

Ontario Provincial Championships

May 19th -20th

Day 1) NRS skaters duked it out with the best of Ontario skaters today. After only a couple of practices eight year old Josh Scott is sitting in second spot in the Primary boys division, Tomorrow Josh has a 1000m . Paisley Perrie has set a new 300m Canadian record and won the 1500m. Liz Perrie is curently sitting in 3rd spot with new club skater Kristen Hoch holding her own in 4th

Day 2) It was cold enough for snow as our youngsters ventured out on the track. In the 1000m Primary division Josh grabbed 2nd spot in one of the closest races of the morning. Paisley had won all 4 distances last year and repeated her performance again. Liz out pointed Bailin Xie to take 2nd in the distance and 3rd in the sprint races. Our new team skater Kristen Hoch showed her stuff and took 4th. Kristen comes from short track ice and will fit well in the team and will no doubt be an important part of NRS's relay teams at Nationals

An Amazing 5 days at Gross Gerau. Great hospitality, great friends and great racing. That about sums up our trip. This was my third pilgrimage to the Kriterium and Paisley's second year of racing. We arrived Thursday morning and were met by our good friend Oliver Lohr. He told me Germany was having a heat wave and to expect 30 degree weather and no rain. Frankfurt was only a 20 min drive to Gross Gerau. When we got to Olivers place it was time for a power nap and then off to explore the sights. This year Regina ( Olivers wife) had the day off and the 4 of us headed to Wiesbaden. This was a beautiful city with many turn of the century homes. We stopped at a sidewalk cafe for some ice cream. I think that Dairy Queen ice cream in Canada was good but this stuff was so good it should be declared illegal. It was a quiet night as there would be lots of work next day at the track. Next morning Oliver, his father in law Gerhardt and myself arrived at the track at 7am. We met the guy who supplies the bleachers and media stage. I don't mind helping with the work. Everyone at the track volunteers and I feel like part of that family. After the bleachers it was tents and then the lighting bridge and photo finish equipment. There was also time in between for a couple of tasty German beers. Friday night is always my favorite time as all the judges arrive from around Europe. They are also bunking in with Oliver and Regina. This year I was trusted with BBQing the steaks and sausages. John Davis and Karen from Holland, Kim Hartz from Denmark, Sabine and Sabrina from Bavaria had all arrived so it was time to party.

Next morning we were off to the track early. The sprint cup was ran first and this year I didn't have to work it. I had time to enjoy the time trials and watch great skaters like Matthias Schwierz, Thomas Boucher and Jana Gegner fly around the 200m track. I must say I was very disappointed in the 3 Canadian seniors who had registered for the event and didn't come to the line when the judges called their names. Much work goes into scheduling these events. If you are not going to skate don't waste their time by registering. The opening ceremonies were as usual spectacular as 850 athletes came around the track with their flag and country banner. This year Paisley led out the Canadians carrying the Canada Banner with Aaron Arndt carrying the maple leaf. By now the sun was at it's peak and temperatures started to soar. First up was the heats for the 500m. There were more crashes on day 1 than I have ever seen before. I was standing just before the second corner as Karlo Timmerman ( one of my favorite skaters to watch) went airborne. He flew through the air for about 10m and came down with a terrible dull thud. That was the stage set for the rest of the day. One crash after another. I talked to several other coaches about the reason for the crashes. Here is my opinion. I think there were several contributing factors coming into play. First the heat from the track and the hot wheels. The wheels seemed to tear away from the track. Another factor was the sheer numbers in some of the races. Put 70 aggressive guys on the line, make the race an elimination add some heat and in a word that spells disaster. Finally I think equipment technology has "in some cases" surpassed the athletes ability to use it. Guys like Diego Rosero seemed to master the equipment and the track but in a tight pack it only took 1 skater to take a corner a little too fast for his ability and bang 10-20 skaters crashing everywhere.

Paisley only had the 2000m on Saturday. There were 55 skaters in the Schuler "A" division. I am always nervous at the start of these mass start races and this 2km was no exception. After only a step or 2 I seen her stumble and almost fall. Once the group split up and made an opening Paisley moved up throughout the whole race and finished 8th. This was 7 positions better than last year so she was very happy with her performance. Last year when the judges were all sitting around at Olivers a brainstorming session developed. One of my suggestions was to bring in some tennis umpires chairs. This was met favorably and now I had a chance to try out the chair. It seemed to work well as judges can now see deeper into the field of skaters and see any infractions. After the races we all headed back for another great supper. The heat and the jet lag had finally caught up to me. I headed to bed before 10pm. Next morning the weather was a little more forgiving with a few clouds blocking the sun off and on throughout the day. A breeze was also welcome by all. The senior mens 10,000m points race was amazing as Scott Arlidge came up front at the mid-point of the race and would score several points as he traded the lead in a breakaway with Nicolas Iten. When the pack eventually reeled them in both Scott and Nicolas where tied for the lead in points. In a gutsy move Scott surged again to the front for just 1 more point which would of clinched the race for him. Nicolas Pelloquin from France would steal that last point away from Arlidge. Scott was spent and could only watch Iten fly past him at the finish line. They were both tied but Iten finished ahead of Arlidge giving him the win in an amazing race. Paisley had 1 of the first races of the day. It was a 1500m. Again with a poor start it was catch-up time. In the 3rd lap the pack line formed with close to 20 skaters. This left the outside open. Paisley would slingshot out of the corner and pass up to the front in 1 straight-away. After leading for 2 laps the move to the front started to take its toll and young Dominique Lommers jumped out front for a the win. Paisley would have to settle for 7th in what I would say was her best international race. After the race she made her way through the skaters to find Dominique. She congratulated and told her what a great race she had. This made me as proud as when I watched her jump to the lead. Throughout the rest of the day the 2 became good friends. This was what is all about. In the 1000m yet again another shakey start Paisley would settle for 9th spot which would give her an 8th spot overall.

Now my favorite part of the day. Everyone thought the last race of the day was the incredible senior mens relay (France was amazing). Everyone was wrong because the last race was after the races the judges had a race to the beer tent to have a cold 1 (or 2) and enjoy each others company. Later the guys selling the beer brought over about 60 different type sausages and then uttered every Canadians favorite words (FREE BEER). Needless to say we had one heck of a night. I was invited to referee the Czechoslovakian Nationals at the end of June. I would love to go but our Canadian Nationals are too close. By the time we got home it was very late. Oliver and Regina who seem to have endless energy were totally exhausted.

Next morning Oliver and I headed to the track to return the lighting equipment to the rental company. Oliver was heading to Frankfurt for a meeting. He was heading the inline marathon committee for the May 1st race through the street of Frankfurt. I have been to Frankfurt several times before so he dropped Paisley and me off in town. We headed to the old section of the city for some souvenirs and some gifts. We took a cruise on the river Main for an hour while we waited for Oliver. Later we all headed to Olivers grandmother house to wish her a happy birthday. She told us at 10am next day she would go outside into the garden and wave good-bye to the plane carrying us home to Canada. Gerhardt wanted to take us to a brewhuise (more beer). It was located on a quiet street and if you didn't know it was there you would easily miss it. I am stuck for words when I try to describe just how GOOD the food was. I had a traditional Bavarian meal of Schnitzel and saurkraut. They also made their own beer so we tried several of their different kinds including a 16.5% tasty beer. Olivers father Rolph joined us for dinner and had again this year made a video of Paisley's race. After the race he let Paisley check out his BMW motorbike. When we got home we sat up for a while and chatted. I was already starting to feel sad as I knew when I woke up next morning it would be time to head home to Canada. Oliver had to head to Frankfurt for the marathon so Regina and her mom Birgit ( Paisley's best pal) dropped us off at the airport. The plane took off at 10am and both Paisley and I waved out the window to Olivers grandmother as we flew home. Next year it will be the 30th anniversary in Gross Gerau. The first year they had 29 skaters next year they should have a thousand. It is an experience of a life time so get your entry form in early.

The Marathon Skaters International has just posted its final results for the 2006-2007 season. This year there where 270 skaters taking part in the ice marathon races ranging in distance from 25km to the 100km ultra marathon. Paisley was the 18 and under Champion for the second year in a row and again finished 3rd overall in the ladies division. You can check out all the results on the MSI website at

www.marathonskaters.org/rst/points2007/xls

It might be the end of a great ice season but it is not the end of winter in Harriston. Pam found out just how much winter is still left when she skidded across the highway and flew off the road. The weather report says warm rainy weather for most of the rest of this week. This should help get rid of the snow from the track. CITC anticipates a very busy seson this year with the skating club and the Ice to Inline Clinics throughout the summer.

Day 3) With 2 races remaining Paisley and Taylor were tied in first with California's Jacqueline Chen in a solid second. In the 222 meter both Chen and Paisley won their heats and for Paisley that would be as good as the day would get. In the 222 final Paisley would start from the outside only to get hung up behind 2 USA girls while Chen and White started putting some distance between themselves and the pack. Paisley was able to pass up to third but too little too late. The overall winner would be decided in the last race of the day. Paisley and Taylor were again outside and got hung up from the start but both quickly passed up and began to make up ground on Jacqueline. In the final turn Paisley tried an inside pass on Taylor only to be called for impeading. Despite being DQ'd Paisley still finished third overall with a great skate from Taylor White tying Chen for first. Because there was a tie for first there was no second place awarded. Paisley was very happy with her performance and getting a chance to race so many great young skaters. You can check all the results on the Midland website at www.midlandspeedskatingclub.com

She also would like to thank the KW Sertoma Speed Club for their support all season and their financial help to help send her to North Americans

With the ice season winding down and the long track and marathon skating just a great memory Ontario's best young short track skaters would compete against each other one last time. The Bell Sensplex in Ottawa would play host to the 2007 Ontario Short Track Championships. It was a great facility with lots of great racing. I could go on and on about the races but there were a few skaters I think need mentioning. In the senior mens division Matt Morrison skated a fantastic weekend against a tough group of guys from Gloucester, led by Braden Elliott and Brian Pye. In the ladies division Keri Morrison Taylor Schmidt and Kristy Shoebridge traded leads in each race showing Cambridge had a firm grasp on this division. Jacob Wright of Cambridge also proved too powerful to catch in the Juvenile mens division. In the Midget division two of my favourite skates Cameron Mitchell and Maxum Kuntz earned a trip to the podium. Emily Rendel Watson took top hounors in the midget girls with Sarah Shires grabbing a solid 3rd spot. There was only 3 Provincial records set this weekend throughout the 300 or so races. They all came from within the Bantam girls division. Paisley would set the 500m and the 333m and Taylor White would finish day 2 with a 666m record. It was great to see Page Beynon up on the podium and watch out next year for her younger sister maggi. Hugh Xie led the way in the Pee Wee boys division ( what do you expect he's an inliner) LOL. Provincials also was the qualifier for Canadians and North Americans. Paisley will be the youngest member at North Americans in Midland next week. Hopefully by then the snow will be gone and it will be time to bring out the inlines. The cycle starts again yeha

North American Age Class Speed Skating Championships

Winterpeg Feb 03/04 2007

Inliners in the News

Way to go Minto

Ontario Long Track Championships

What a great bunch of hardy people these guys up in the Soo turned out to be. Paisley and I arrived in Sault Ste Marie last Thursday afternoon to be greeted by Club president Bill Ansley and several of the club members. Paisley was invited to train with them from 4-6pm. It was frosssssty but Paisley welcomed the invitation to get used to the 333 track and different apex. We again took advantage of their great hospitality on Friday and had already started to feel like family.

It didn't matter how cold and windy it was the club just took it in stride, especially the little skaters who seemed to thrive on it. It was a bit warmer Saturday morning for the races. The snow was coming down pretty hard and I had heard Nick Serrer explain "tough ice" to Leo Landry. Tough ice is where you have little or no glide and have to push hard for every inch of track you cover. This was indeed the case for both days. Close to 80 skaters took part this year. Team member Aaron Clark had his first taste of Olympic style racing and handled it great placing 5th in the Junior mens sprint division. Aaron also took third in the Intermediate Mass start races behind Leo and Nick.

I forgot to mention the tough ice story to Paisley as I new she had come to the Soo for only 2 reasons, record hunting and qualify for the North American Championships in Winnipeg next week. When the snow and wind had cleared only 6 new records had been broken over the weekend. Paisley's friend Emily Rendell-Watson from Ottawa had 1 in the Midget girls division and Paisley had completly re-written the Ontario Bantam record book with Ontario records in the 200, 300,400 and 600m. She also set a new Canadian record in the 600m.

With no ice in Ontario the die hard long trackers headed for Ste Foy and the refrigerated oval. The folks at La Federation de patinage de vitesse du Quebec organized a great meet. The weather also helped make a great day with sunny skies and moderate temperatures. The youngest member of the Ontario skaters was Paisley Perrie who was hoping for the extra ice time to quallify for the North American Championships in early February at the Susan Auch Oval in Winnipeg. Most of the other skaters were from the Glouchester club. It was great to see some familiar faces. Inline and ice sprinter Brian Joubert was also racing and skated to a gold medal performance. Paisley's competition had been training for most of the season at the oval so it was already obvious the racing would be tough. This level made the local skater rise to the occasion by having to smash Quebec, Ontario and even National records to grab the gold. Qubecs top skater Marrianne Aubichon finished only inches away to pick up the silver in all 6 races.

Josh Scott and Cole Cherry will be heading to the Silver Stick Competition in Michiagan later this month.

Good Luck to the Minto Team

The young and the young at heart:

In Ste Foy the organizers had the youngest and the oldest skaters do a lead out start for the 40km marathon.

Pictures above in 10yr old Paisley and her good friend 73yr old speed skating hall of famer Pierre Gagne

I have added this story because I wanted to share this with all my friends who read this web site.

I am sure you know just how much time I spend training my kids and driving, flying them around the world to skate. I figured I was a pretty good dad. Well this dad was brought to tears this morning by a vidio of another dad and what he had done for his son. This was truly the most insperational clip I have ever seen.

Please take a couple of moments and watch it. Let me know how you felt afterwards. Cheers Alex

http://cjcphoto.com/can/