Longboarding race held in Lynchburg

When travelling around Liberty University’s campus, several modes of transportation can be seen, like running, biking and even riding scooters.  But an up and coming mode of transportation is longboarding — a special type of skateboard.

A group of about 25 longboarders met off campus on the James River Heritage trail Saturday for a 3-mile race.

“I really wanted to hold the race because I wanted to raise interest and awareness for the longboard community,” race coordinator Chris Egan said.  “I attended a much larger race this summer [with over] 125 riders over [a span] of 8 miles and it was a lot of fun.”

Egan contacted longboard company Loaded and longboard wheel manufacturer Orangatang who both agreed to sponsor the event. Local skate shop Scene 3 was a sponsor as well.

The riders met in a parking lot on Washington Street. They crossed the bridge on that part of the James River Heritage trail before beginning the race.

“The first portion, everyone was really close together. A couple people almost fell. [Some] did fall,” race participant Garret Buckley said.

Within the first five minutes of the race, the skaters had room to move freely.

“The last two miles, everybody was pretty spread out. [We were] kind of in groups. About halfway through, the three people that got the top three places were way ahead.” Buckley said.

There were some slight obstacles along the trail. Traffic from bicyclers and walkers made passing opponents difficult at times and leaves and other debris could easily  get stuck in a longboard’s wheels.

Despite some snares, no racers were injured during the event.

Not all of the participants in the race were from the Lynchburg community. The first place skater came from Northern Virginia. Other skaters came from Richmond, Va, Washington D.C. and Suffolk, Va.

Cory Hunter, Adam Chesson, and Elic Kirby were the front three riders.