Race Venues & Formats

Inline speed skating races are held in a variety of formats and on a variety of surfaces.

Indoor races are held at roller skating rinks on coated wood floors and are common primarily in the United States, which has a long tradition of roller skate racing at rinks. Tracks are about 100 m in circumference.

Events, or meets, are typically structured so that members of numerous age groups race in three or four distances. At the shortest distances, there may be a number of heats. To some extent, indoor inline races are similar to short track speed skating.

Outdoor races may be held on regular surfaces on city streets or park roads, or they may be held at specialised venues similar to velodromes, sometimes called patinodromes. A patinodrome is generally about 400 m in circumference and may be surfaced with asphalt, concrete or similar material. The curves may be banked. Such specialised skating tracks are relatively common in Europe but rare in the United States.

Race Formats

Time Trials

Held against the clock, each skater races individually or in pairs over a distance of 100 m to 300 m, attempting to establish the best time. Time trials are occasionally held over longer distances, but they are very physically demanding and not popular.

Sprints

Skating in small groups of about a half dozen over a distance of 500 m to 1500 m, skaters advance in a series of heats to a final round.

Elimination Races

In these moderate-distance races, also known as last man out, the hindmost skater is eliminated from the competition each time the skaters complete a lap or when they complete certain specified lap numbers. At one or two laps before the finish, the group has usually been pared down to about five skaters.

Points Races

In these moderate-distance races, the first, second and third skaters to cross the start/finish line at certain specified laps are awarded points. Laps late in the race are worth more points, with the final lap worth the most points of all. It is possible to win a points race without actually being the first to cross the finish line at the end.

Points-elimination Races

A combination of elimination races and points races.

Relays

Typically include three to four skaters per team.

Criterium Races

Instead of racing a specified distance or number laps, the skaters skate for a certain amount of time, plus a (small) number of laps. The time is typically between 15 and 45 minutes, after which a bell is rung and the skaters informed the race is over when they skate one or two more laps around the course.

Distance Races

Although events such as points-elimination races and criteriums may cover a distance of 10 to 25 km, a distance race usually refers to a race over a set distance of about 5 km or longer and without specialised points or elimination rules. The event may be truly point-to-point or may held on a repeating course with a circumference of at least 1 km. Distance races are often marketed to the general populace and not just to members of inline racing clubs.

In the early days of inline racing, sponsors of distance races were often also running event organisers, and the races they organised were commonly the same distances as those of running races, about 5-10 km. By the mid-1990s such events were proving to not be very popular and in the United States, where sales of inline skates were also beginning to slip, there was a decline in participation at races. However, at about that time in Europe, where inline skate sales were beginning to rise, race sponsors began to regularly organise longer events, particularly inline marathons. Such events proved to be enormously popular among fitness skaters, with some events such as the Berlin Inline Marathon and the Engadin Inline Marathon in St. Moritz, Switzerland, regularly attracting over 5000 skaters each year.

In 2000, American event sponsors followed suit, and inline half-marathons and marathons were scheduled more and more frequently around the country. As in Europe the events proved a big draw with fitness skaters looking for events which would give their training a focus. In the United States the most popular inline marathons have been the NorthShore Inline Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota and the Long Beach marathon. Also popular is the 142 km Athens-to-Atlanta Road Skating Marathon, first held in the early 1980s as an event for quad roller skaters.

Dryland Triathlons

Occasionally organised by triathlon sponsors, these events substitute inline skating for the swimming component of the race.

Downhill Races

An event most popular in the Alpine countries of Europe, these races are timed events down a steep course. Racers usually skate alone and the event commonly uses the best time of two heats to establish the winner. Downhill inline racers usually wear skates much more like "regular" inline skates than inline speed skates, along with extensive body covering and protective gear, and strong helmets. They may reach speeds of up to 75 km/h.