It's on Friday, August 25th that Roller-Montreal Skaters headed for the United States in order to participate in the reknown New York Skate Marathon & New York 100K. I mentioned Youri and Jay, while Ray and Christine were going to settle for the 42K. We first drove to Manhattan in order to get our racer-kit at the Skyline Hotel which, unfortunately! had no vacancy at the time we made our reservation... necessarily, we headed to another hotel... which we won't really recommend. By the way, after visiting Manhattan twice this Summer, I would highly recommend the Skyline Hotel which offers discounts for racers (high quality/price-ratio), it is well located and has cheap underground parking. After settling into our Hotel, we enjoyed a beautiful evening out walking around Times Square, which was just as ever fascinating! We ended the night at a fine Trattoria, where we enjoyed exquisite italian food, and excellent service (high server / customer ratio). Needless to say, pasta and service were real satisfying! and with full bellies, we headed for a short night of sleep... that took us to 5 a.m., at which time we looked out the window to see pouring rain... Stopping at nothing... and thanks to Ray's GPS, we were able to locate Prospect Park in Brooklyn... which welcomed us with the usual euphoric pre-race atmosphere. That morning, mainly due to rain... we met with approximately 150 courageous skaters at the starting line: a first start for the 100K (19 laps) a second start for the 42K (8 laps) and all other distances. Even though the rain gradually faded... the pavement remained quite wet since the clouds were predominant. Most of the race was done on a wet surface, some areas with fallen leaves on the ground and even a puddle of water with no way around.... but the location saved the day! Prospect Park is partially closed to traffic, attracting athletes of all kinds, it is surrounded by mature trees and lots of green spaces; it is also challenging for the follwoing reason: there is a one steeper hill and a few rolling-hills. This justified having an additionnal reward during the 100K for the K2 King of the Hill Challenge (see web site for more details). Finally, it is with great honor that Jay and Youri, Ray and Christine completed their respective distances... and headed back home, their hearts filled by the great feeling of accomplishment. Note: finishing the race ealier, all 42K-participants had the chance to admire the evolution of the 100K-race and its thrilling finish, where Steve Robillard battled with french skaters and finished in 2nd place. Bravo! Christine Caron