Charitable distance skating
Encyclopedia
Charitable distance skating refers to long distance travel on a skateboard
with an associated charitable fundraising effort.
Perhaps one of the most famous boards in the world, Elsa (a rolls rolls carbon longboard
) has over 10,000 km under her wheels. Elsa was pushed from Perth
to Brisbane
between August 20, 2006 and January 22, 2007 by Dave Cornthwaite, of BoardFree, at a distance of 5823 km, which broke American Jack Smith's previous distance record by 994 km. Cornthwaite was also the first person to skateboard the length of Britain, travelling from John O'Groats to Lands End between April 30, 2006 and June 2, 2006, a total distance of 895.9 miles.
During the same summer of 2006, four young Canadians
pushed their way across the second longest land mass in the world. Beginning on the waterfront in Halifax, Nova Scotia
, the Push for the Cure pushed more than 7000 km to Vancouver
, British Columbia
. The journey took just over five months and raised more than $80,000 for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
Many other charitable longboard journeys have taken place, including Nat Halliday et al.'s skate of the length of New Zealand in 2007, Sam Benson's Beatswalkin journey from Devon, England to France in 2007, and Ben Stiff's record-breaking length of Britain skate in 2008.
In more recent times, charitable distance skating has been gaining a lot of momentum, in tandem with the rapidly-growing popularity of longboarding worldwide. One of the most highly publicized ultra skate-journeys (at least within the online skating community) has been Long Treks on Skate Decks, comprising Paul Kent, Aaron Enevoldsen and Adam Colton. In 2009, the group skated 2400 km through South America, from Peru to Bolivia. In 2010, they completed yet another 2000 km journey through Morocco, raising funds for Art à la Carte, a Canadian volunteer society that provides acute care cancer patients with a choice of art for their hospital rooms. The blogs from these skating teams and the video coverage of their epic trips on sites such as Youtube (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P307uzCmNgo) have helped spawn a brethren across the globe and inspired many others to go on similar charitable trips. One such team is Skate4Hope, comprising members from Singapore. Skate4Hope completed a 120 km maiden round-island voyage in July 2010, and has plans to skate from Vietnam to Thailand in 2011, a journey that is in excess of 1000 km.
Skateboard
A skateboard is typically a specially designed plywood board combined with a polyurethane coating used for making smoother slides and stronger durability, used primarily for the activity of skateboarding. The first skateboards to reach public notice came out of the surfing craze of the early 1960s,...
with an associated charitable fundraising effort.
Perhaps one of the most famous boards in the world, Elsa (a rolls rolls carbon longboard
Longboard (skateboard)
A longboard is a surfing variant of a skateboard, similar and related to a surfboard or snowboard with wheels. It is used for cruising, downhill racing, slalom racing, sliding, and/or transport. However, most stunts, and the boards themselves are very different from that of a typical skateboard...
) has over 10,000 km under her wheels. Elsa was pushed from Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
to Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
between August 20, 2006 and January 22, 2007 by Dave Cornthwaite, of BoardFree, at a distance of 5823 km, which broke American Jack Smith's previous distance record by 994 km. Cornthwaite was also the first person to skateboard the length of Britain, travelling from John O'Groats to Lands End between April 30, 2006 and June 2, 2006, a total distance of 895.9 miles.
During the same summer of 2006, four young Canadians
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
pushed their way across the second longest land mass in the world. Beginning on the waterfront in Halifax, Nova Scotia
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
, the Push for the Cure pushed more than 7000 km to Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. The journey took just over five months and raised more than $80,000 for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
Many other charitable longboard journeys have taken place, including Nat Halliday et al.'s skate of the length of New Zealand in 2007, Sam Benson's Beatswalkin journey from Devon, England to France in 2007, and Ben Stiff's record-breaking length of Britain skate in 2008.
In more recent times, charitable distance skating has been gaining a lot of momentum, in tandem with the rapidly-growing popularity of longboarding worldwide. One of the most highly publicized ultra skate-journeys (at least within the online skating community) has been Long Treks on Skate Decks, comprising Paul Kent, Aaron Enevoldsen and Adam Colton. In 2009, the group skated 2400 km through South America, from Peru to Bolivia. In 2010, they completed yet another 2000 km journey through Morocco, raising funds for Art à la Carte, a Canadian volunteer society that provides acute care cancer patients with a choice of art for their hospital rooms. The blogs from these skating teams and the video coverage of their epic trips on sites such as Youtube (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P307uzCmNgo) have helped spawn a brethren across the globe and inspired many others to go on similar charitable trips. One such team is Skate4Hope, comprising members from Singapore. Skate4Hope completed a 120 km maiden round-island voyage in July 2010, and has plans to skate from Vietnam to Thailand in 2011, a journey that is in excess of 1000 km.