Skaters push across the country

It's a long way from Waldport to Sisters, no matter how you get here. When your wheels are only a couple of inches in diameter, propelled by one foot, it's even longer. And for a group of skateboarders, Waldport-Sisters is just the first leg of a trek that started Sunday and will take them across the country.

Dylan Baumann, Marc Juvinall, Colleen Pelech, Melanie Castro, Dylan and Jack Smith are skateboarding across the U.S. to New York City to raise funds and awareness for Alzheimer's Disease treatment.

Team leader Jack Smith is the publisher of the Skateboarder's Journal ("a skateboarding magazine for grownups," he calls it), founder/curator of the Morro Bay Skateboard Museum, and also the marketing director for VS Athletics. His father died last year from complications from Alzheimers. His goal is to raise $100,000 for the Alzheimer's Association through the trek, "A Push to Remember."

Each of the skaters is a skilled racer, including Smith. They are equipped with long boards specially crafted for distance skating. They are a little lower to the ground than usual to minimize flexion on the board leg and the wheels are a little larger than on other boards.

The skaters work in what Smith called a leap-frog relay, each taking alternate legs as the others ride in the support van, driven by Smith's wife, Cathy. The Sunday leg was 159 miles, the last part of it a brutal climb to the summit of Santiam Pass.

"I'm feeling every one of my 56 years," Smith admitted on Monday, where the crew was getting breakfast at Sisters Inn & Suites and preparing to hit the road again.

The group decided to wave off the downhill from the pass into Sisters.

"We were losing light and we were dead tired and there was a lot of traffic," Smith said. "So we drove the last little bit into Sisters."

This is actually Smith's third cross-country skateboard trek. He got into skating at age 17 in 1974 and has been involved in the sport ever since.

"I like the feeling of rolling," he said.

He said he was never much of a trick skater, preferring speed events and downhill.

Funds are raised on a donation basis. They can be made at www.apushtoremember.com.

Support has been easily found.

"It's amazing how many people you meet who have somebody in their family or know somebody who has been affected (by Alzheimer's)," Smith said.

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

• Email: editor@nuggetnews.com
• Phone: 5415499941