Push in the Woods - 2014

The second annual Push In The Woods was located in Oregon's Washington County on the beautiful Banks / Vernonia State Trail (45mins West of Portland) on Oct.5th. The event features 5k and a 10K races drawing many top riders from around the country to battle with the NW locals. An official event that was sanctioned by the International Distance Skateboard Association the IDSA.org. I hosted the event and worked closely with IDSA leader Joner Strauss last year and again this year. If you've helped in organizing an event before, you know its a lot of work but so worth is when you see all the stoked riders! Joner took care of the legal logistics such as permits and insurance as well as working with Oregon's Washington County to issue grant funds which allowed us a $2000 prize purse. I worked out the course logistics of the trail section with the County Parks last year. We decided to keep it the same on a flat 5K section with no road crossings. This made for an all out push race with no advantages to certain riders having no ups or downs.

Riders took the 5K warm up cruise out on the trail from the Banks Trailhead to preview the course and get used to pushing in a crowd on a narrow path and over a wooded bridge. Beauty all around us, we lucked out again having sunny and warm weather in October. Two different distances made for some great strategies with teams. And individual short and long distance specialists thrived at each race. Check out the Push In The Woods – Official Video to see some close up follow footage highlighting the front pack going back and forth to the finish!

Working again closely with some really solid and generous companies in the longboarding industry was a rewarding experience, so many rad people behind these companies. Daddies Board Shop was a leading sponsor who also designed the event t-shirt and helped promote the event. Other returning sponsors who contributed funds and prizes were Longboard Larry, Subsonic Skateboards, and Eastside Longboards all from Oregon. New supporting sponsors Roe Racing from Seattle stepped up to help in the same way, as well as local Screen-printing Co. Tom T-Shirts in Portland providing the free event shirts. Additional prizes were donated from Bustin Boards, Loaded Boards, Orangatang Wheels, Abec 11 Wheels, and Seismic Skate. Everyone was stoked to walk away with something, many of which won one of these!

11 Decks, 6 sets of Wheels, 12 sets of Bearings, and more!

Finish Line and staging area at the Banks Trailhead.

In the 5K (3.1 miles) race Oregon rider Brandon Desjarlais wins with a incredibly fast time of 11'00 minutes over Texas rider Kaspar Heinrici 2nd and Will Frank 3rd from New Jersey. Brandon used his aggressive style and finishing power to dominate and pull ahead for a commanding victory. In the 10K (6.2 miles) race a pack of the top 5 traded positions throughout going back and forth to the end. Will Frank used his longer range endurance to stay in the mix and make an amazing sprint to the finish, edging out Oregon rider Colby Cummings and Kaspar to take the win. They all finished in the same second of 23'40 making for one of the most exciting finishes I've seen at a push race.

5K Podium – Brandon Desjarlais 1st, Kaspar Heinrici 2nd, Will Frank 3rd

10K Podium – Will Frank 1st, 2nd Colby Cummings, Kaspar Heinrici 3rd

Age group divisions were also awarded for Juniors and Masters. And 5 women competed this year which was awesome to see, way up from last year! Prize checks were also awarded to the best combined time in both races for men and women as the Overall Winners. View the Full Results

Overall Winners for Men and Women -
4 Time Broadway Bomb Champ Kaspar Heinrici.
From the Dominican Republic Carla Brea at her first push race!

Andy Andrews from Miami, Florida tracking the top 3 taking 4th place in both races. This guy is the current UltraSkate Champion skating 283 miles in 24 hours last February.

Having fun letting bikes go through before the start of the 5K race

Colby Cummings and Kaspar Heinrici side by side behind Will Frank who just sprinted past them to win the 10K.

Group Shot of the day – Push In The Woods 2014.

Front of the Free Event T-shirt with the event logo.

Back of the Event T-Shirt with the leading sponsors