Birmingham Wheels Roller Speed Club

 as of 21st November 2007 are available now! 

Vincent Henry, of Birmingham Wheels RSC, 

who established 4 new  British records in 2007,

including  the Senior Men's 3km relay record

with team mates Chris Stafford and

 Doon Yuen at the

 European Championships

More information on the World Championships and all results can be found on the official website
www.cali2007rollersport.com  

Gavin Pollock's Blog    

Peter Doucets Blog

The second BIC marathon event took place this weekend at the Goodwood Racing Circuit, organised by the Camberley skaters. Over 200 skaters took part, with all 3 distances (4.8miles, 12.5miles and full marathon distance) starting at the same time, which made for an exciting start to this fun event.

 Results

Full Marathon - James Ashby, Chris Orgill, Michael McInnerney

Ladies - Sol Findlay, Tanya Gibson, Linda Harrison

James Ashby (racing in the under 18's age range) beat all comers to finish in a course record of 1.14.34.

Birmingham Wheels' Alex B won the 4.8mile race.

For full results see

http://www.goodwoodmarathon.co.uk/

Photos available on the BIC Marathons album now

Well...last night was my 40th birthday party which as well as my friends and family bought together literally generations of skaters and former champions.

Cliff Stafford, now well into his 80's and former team manager of the the NZ national team and it's first world champion, Mervyn Wybrott, made an appearance that was warmly welcomed. Especially as Cliff has been so ill of late.

Former world record holder John Toy and five times European Champion and world medallist John Fry Senior was there strutting their stuff.

Also in attendance were former Northern & Midland County Champions Simon "Baldrick" Davis, Rob Shemsan, Andy Lyndon and Nicky Palfrey - the boys all getting back together for the first time in about 15 years. Former British Champion Ian Ashby joined the crew along with 22 times British Champion Chris "Wolfy" Stafford and current British Champion and British Record holder Vincent "Fresh Prince" Henry. Wolfy treated us to "Living On A Prayer"...which let's face it he's been doing for most of his skating career!

The "old" ladies also put in a guest appearance with former internationals and British champions Even former junior international Kevin Wood brought his family along to witness the night of wine, women and dare I say it karaoke. I'm told Pulp's Common People will never sound the same again...and Elvis Shemsan certainly had the crowd eating out of his hand (which makes a change to him just eating!)

Sharon Tongue had worked tirelessly to prepare the venue and deserves a special mention and BIG "thank you".!
Not to be outdone some of our current junior superstars also managed to stay awake way past their bedtime - Alex Bradley, the Wilke's and let's not forget Liam Pegg and his superb rendition of "Is This The Way To Amarillo"..!

So...once again Birmingham was the place to be as it will be tomorrow, Sunday 15th July. Everybody's head should have cleared enough for some expected excellent racing at the Ashbourne event held at the Birmingham Wheels track.

And thanks again to everyone for a fantastic night!

Fry (not so) Junior

Continuing his presence on the continent Vincent Henry broke into the top 100 at Engadin. In this round of the now famous Swiss Inline Cup, Henry from Birmingham Wheels RSC finished in 76th place and posted a time of 57:13.57 to set yet another British Record - 6 minutes off he winner and a new course record. He now holds both the shortest distance (200m) and longest distance (42km) records in the British senior mens category.Also in the mix were Londonskaters and soon to be British internationals at the 2007 World and European Championships, Hans Brown and

Fry Junior

Another great day at Birmingham Wheels!
Cat 7, introduced because of increasing numbers of new skaters, was dominated by Freya Shepherd of South Woodham Ferrers. New Birmingham boy Scott showed determination and took home a bronze medal for his efforts.
One of the many surprises of the day was new girl Paige, who seemed spurred on by the event to win Cat 6, closely followed by Jared. Cat 5 was another show event for Hannah Bye of South Woodham, who has shown consistent good form over the last few club races. Close in her wake came Louise Sullivan and Joe Adam Hardy. 

Cat 4 (in the rain-twice!) was a hard fought battle 4between Alex B, (yet another!) new boy Billy and Jessica Hoare. All three clearly put in all of their effort, but Alex managed to break away in the longer race to take the trophy. Nathan East also skated well after his recent accident. In Cat 3 (also getting the end of the rain...twice...) our final new recruit of the day, Nathan, enjoyed the wet conditions and skated strongly against main contenders Harry Hoare and Pammie to win in both races.
Finally Cats 1 and 2 were combined to race (although awarded separate trophies)
Daniel Smith took Cat 2 from Derrick and newly promoted Robert Whiting.
Chris and Simon both raced strongly in Cat 1, with Chris apparently surprised at his award as the 2 had skated an extra lap and the win was given on a different lap than they both thought!
The age handicap races finished as follows
6-9's - Hannah Bye, Jordan, Douglas Illingworth ; 10-12's - Freya Shepherd, Jennifer,George Stone ; 13-15's - Nathan, Billy, Jessica Hoare  ; 16+ - Chris, Simon, Derrick

24th June 2007,Tatem Park

In Cat 5 Mini Girl Hannah Bye showed another strong performance in a hotly contested race, boding well for the track Championships in September if she keeps up this form. Cat 4 was a closely fought contest won by Jessica Hoare from Alex Bradley and Oliver Bunn. Cat 3 was won by Rick Johnson after a burst of speed in the second race to power past Harry Hoare and Alec Robinson.Cat 2 showed again the sheer determination of Robert Whiting, winning overall

Photos now on Jan- July Album 2007

North Region Marathon

Preston Arena Sunday 3rd June

A real day of thrills and spills at the North Region Marathon hosted by Southport YMCA and Powerslide. As the British Marathon Championshp and the first in the BIC marathon series, there was a great turn out of Elite skaters.This coupled with the relatively flat;smooth tarmac made for a great days racing.

Mini Matthew skating with Jordan were our first starts of the day,with Mathew winning the Mini Boys (6-9yrs) Marathon Championship,and Jordan winning the recreational skaters 2 mile race in fine style. Although there were not many competitors in the race, the Birmingham two did not sit on their laurels but worked hard all the way round to well deserved wins.

With a strong Powerslide pupil team aiming for the British record (and achieving it) it was no mean feat in a relatively large field for Michal to achieve second place in the boys and Jennifer third in the girls race.(3 miles). Shaq and Josh completed their very first marathon distance as well- well done! Our first spill of the day involved young Alex along with Nathan from ROK YMCA both in a fall resulting in a visit to the local A&E with very suspect ankles! (sprains as it turns out, both much better now,thanks! )

I can't say anything  sensible about the half marathon as I was inspecting the Royal Preston Hospital at the time (everyone was tremendous, thank you for everything!), but our first adult awards were won here. Well done to Pammie and Derek, winning their respective Ladies and Men's Veteran Categories, and to Caroline who took the Senior Ladies race. MrAshby from Belotti Wisbech smashed his own half marathon record yet again, taking the Cadet British Marathon.Champion title for the second year running.

Miraculously we got back from the hospital in time for the full marathon (just!) A good number of entries made this a great race to watch. There are plenty of good race reports on the LSST forum (see Links) but for Birmingham there was a fall for Sharon in the last few laps, followed by a steaming win for Chris Stafford (SeniorMens British Marathon Champion 2007), to Hans Brown (LSST),and our very own Matthew Glynn in third place. Alex Geen took the Senior Ladies British Marathon Championship title for the second year running, and with Simon crossing the line soon afterwards Birmingham Wheels Senior Team on the day (Chris, Matthew, Shaz, Alex,,Alice and Simon) took the North Region Marathon Team trophy for 2007.

CP

Photos of all our winners on BIC MArathons Album 2007 

LEON FRANCIS GOODCHILD

This week has been as sad week for roller speed skating in Great Britain. One of it's greatest unsung heroes passed away peacefully at his home in Birmingham after a long fought battle with illness.

Leon Francis Goodchild was born in London on 22^{nd February 1923. However, in his teens he travelled to Birmingham and for the next 70 years has made it his home.}

^{Leon had always been keen on keeping fit and sport in general, and looked towards roller speed skating as his "chosen" activity. The outbreak of World War II put on hold any plans Leon had of achieving early successes. Soon after the war roller skating saw one of it’s biggest boom periods. It seemed that a new roller rink was opening up nearly every week, and Leon once more took to his roller skates.}

^{At that time Leon was a member of the Birmingham Roller Speed Club, who were based at the old Embassy Rink in Walford Road, Sparkbrook. Quite handy for Leon really, who was now living in the Bordesley Green area of the City. Leon was totally dedicated to his sport and trained virtually non-stop in his quest to become a shining star. Despite his efforts success in the form of medals were not to be. Leon was widely recognised as a supremely strong speed skater, but his lack of any finishing sprint meant that gold would never come his way. These were the days before mass participation skating marathons and race distances were simply just too short for him. Five miles being the maximum distance competed over. His only racing success would be a silver medal in the 1951 Midland Counties Championship held on his beloved Birmingham Embassy Rink}

^{Recognising that winning races simply wasn’t the way forward for him, Leon looked for another way of achieving success in roller speed skating. In 1954 Leon took to the Embassy rink and set a new British Record for 10 miles. The record would be broken a year later but Leon had finally had a taste of glory.}

^{1956 and again Leon set a new British Record, again on the Birmingham Embassy rink, but this time at 5 miles. He was on a roll.}

^{By now a new rink had opened in Birmingham. The Mecca Olympic in Springhill. With it came a new club, Midland Olympic. The club consisted of breakaway members from the old}  

Birmingham Roller Speed Club and included the likes of World medallist Les Woodley and World Champion to be, Danny Kelly. In such highly rated company Leon would soon be looking to better his own achievements.

In 1958 he set new British Records for 10, 15 and 20 miles and a new 1 hour record. In 1959 he again set new records for these distances adding 25, 50 and the maximum 100 miles to his ever increasing tally.

With a string of long distance British Records under his belt, by 1960 Leon had his sights firmly set on establishing a World Record. There were bigger and faster rinks now throughout the country, Brixton being the most popular for record attempts. However, as it had been for all his previous records, Leon was determined that Birmingham should be the venue. He knew the rink inside and out, and after all, he was a Brummie! In June 1960, all the training and preparation had been done and Leon stepped onto the Embassy rink with a view to conquering the world. And he did just that.

In those days measurements were taken both as imperial and metric, and Leon set World Records for 30km, 50km and 100km and 25, 30, 50 and 100 miles. Averaging over 19 miles per hour for the 25 miles and an almost unbelievable 18 miles per hour for 100 miles on roller skates on a 200 metre lap rink was a truly remarkable feat of both physical and mental endurance. Remember, these were the days of cup and cone bearings and wooden wheels, just over 2 inches in diameter!

These records stood for the next 10 years, but as true testament to just how remarkable this achievement was, Leon’s record for the 50km still stands to this day as a British Track Record, some 47 years on!

At the age of 37 Leon had satisfied himself that speed skating was not just about winning gold medals. It was about personal achievement and being the best you could be. In his case, that meant being the best in the world!

By the early 1970’s roller skating had seen a decline and with it the mass closing of roller rinks. The Embassy became a warehouse and the Mecca a car showroom. No new rinks were planned and Leon decided that if he was going to keep himself fit it would have to be in other ways and not on his beloved roller skates.

By the early 1980’s the sport had moved on considerably. Races were now being held outdoors rather than indoors, but with the distinct lack of national facilities these were mainly on road circuits or car parks. Then in 1983 Britain had it’s first ever dedicated roller speed skating, state-of-the-art banked track. The location? Birmingham Wheels Adventure Park, Bordesley Green!

 The Birmingham Wheels Roller Speed Club was born out of the old Midland Olympic Club, and at the ripe old age of 60 Leon Francis Goodchild came out of retirement and showed the youngsters in the club just what hard training was. He helped coach the club youngsters and every Saturday he would be seen skating around the perimeter of the athletics track at Fox Hollies Leisure Centre, doing his customary 100 laps (about 30 miles!). Starting before the training session started, and finishing long after they had all gone home. He renewed his competitive membership and once again represented Birmingham’s speed skaters across the country and the  continent. By now there were marathons, and at 67 years of age Leon took part in his first one…in Le Mans, France. The distance just over the 25 miles he was World Record holder of some 30 years earlier.

By the 1990’s Leon had come to recognise, or rather his body had, that sometimes the ravages of time simply have to be succumbed to. He was now well into his 70’s and the years of skating those ultra-long distances had taken it’s toll, but still he could not let go totally.

In 2005 Leon was eventually recognised as a true sporting hero. Aged 83 he was presented by the Birmingham Sports Council with a Lifetime Achievement Award for services to his beloved sport and the community. An honour which he so truly deserved.

For the past 17 years Leon had been the Honorary President of the Birmingham Wheels Roller Speed Club in all it's guises. Until recently, he could still be found at the Birmingham Wheels track, making the teas, presenting the trophies and generally lending a hand to those youngsters whose parents and even grandparents can remember a time when Leon Francis Goodchild ruled the skating world….for Birmingham!

He will be sadly missed.

JFJ

Leon's funeral was at Yardley Crematorium, Birmingham on Friday, 19th January 2007.