I’ll have my pictures online at a later time. I’m in Ottawa right now, geting ready to drive back home. I also have a lot of other updates ready to be posted up on SSW, so please come back later.

Check out the Inline Planet’s live updates from today’s Ottawa Inline Skating Festival.

5:57 | Wrap Up: Morgane Echardour and Sergio Almeralla were the big winners in Ottawa today. Echardour won all three of the women’s events — 10K, 42K and 21K — while Almeralla won two: the 42K and 21K.

Here are the results;

Ottawa In-line Skating Festival (Ottawa)
5k
10K
21k
42k
42k pro

Weather & Course
The event’s organizers could not have chosen a better day for the event. With blue skies, light to moderate winds, great temperatures, and a smooth loop, the race was a winner.

Turn-Out
I think it’s safe to say that the OISF’s NROC status drew a bunch of skaters from the USA. The Quebec and Ontario skaters- including Roller Montreal, VRL, Ottawa Inline Skating Club, Toronto Inline Skating Club, and independent skaters came out to support this event. The majority of the skaters had someone to skate with.

The Day’s Great Skaters
Il Peloton‘s Sergio Almeralla put together a legendary performance in the 21km, breaking early with Benoit Tremblay. Tremblay went down in the first U turn. Segio kept the pace high and opened a 40+ second lead. He managed to beat the bunch at the end by about 15-seconds.

Morgane Echardour took top honours in all three of the women’s races, collecting valuable NROC points, prize money, and Il Peloton gift certificates.

The old guys: What can I say about the guys in their 40′s and 50′s? These guys made up the majority of the lead pack. The lead pack featured skaters like Morgan Williams, Herb Gayle, Benoit Letourneau, Leo Frusteri, Dennis Humphrey, and Mister Scott Pauley. These master skaters a great role-models for the younger skaters. The prove that longevity, participation, and performance in sport beyond the 30′s  is a possible and realistic goal.

10k Report
Right from the start, the pace was high and it was clear that nobody was going to get away. This meant that the race would be decided in a pack sprint. Sergio Almeralla launced an attack late in the race and a group of 6 skaters accelerated to catch his draft. James Springer then picked up the pace with 600-meter to, leading Aaron Warr and I. Springer never slowed down and put together an excellent sprint with good form to take the win. Aaron Warr finished 2nd and I was 3rd.

Morgane Echardour kept pace with the lead group and finished in the back of the sprint. Addison Shepperd was 2nd and Sophia Buckaloo was 3rd.

42k Report
Sergio Almeralla, Benoit Tremblay, and I were involved in a number of breaks during the race. A few other skaters, including Brian Oswald and Stephan Tremblay, and Aaron Warr  got into the action as well. The numerous early breaks were reeled in. However with about 13km’s to go, James Springer and I bridged up to Sergio Almeralla, and this was the break that determined the top-3 finishers. We attacked and counter-attacked on each other during the closing km’s. Sergio Almeralla got away with 4km’s to go, but Springer and I caught up. The podium was decided in a sprint, with Almeralla taking the win just ahead of Springer. Coming in 4th leading the chase pack was Aaron Warr followed by Stephane Tremblay.

Morgane Echardour was neslted in the lead pack, finishing 9th overall- and first in the women’s. Sophia Buckaloo finished 2nd and Ottawa’s Dominique Lalonde finished 3rd. VRL’s Brigitte Beaudry, who skated in the open marathon, came in with a time of 1:22, which would have been good enough for 2nd place.

21k Report
The race started with a hard and fast pace for the opening 2km’s. Sergio Almeralla and Benoit Tremblay broke from the lead pack taking an early lead. Tremblay fell at the u turn at the 5km mark, leaving Almerally alone to push the pace in the wind. As the skaters talked in the pack, they decided to let Sergio Almeralla ‘hang’ and suffer, keeping him within striking range. With 10km’s to go and Almeralla holding a commanding 40-second lead, the chase was on. Alemeralla pushed the pace, proving that he was extremely strong and laying down an incredible performance, fending off the chase as a number of us in the lead group took turns at the front. Almeralla held strong form the entire race, winning by 15-seconds. Aaron Warr was 2nd in the 6 skater chase-pack sprint. I was 3rd, James Springer 4th.

Morgane Echardour managed to stay in the lead group until the 16km mark. she came in first in the women’s race. 13-year old Bailin Xie finished showed strong promise, finishing 2nd in the race. She managed to stay in the lead pack for some 10km’s. Sophia Buckaloo was 3rd, just ahead of Shannon Hegarty in a close sprint.