In 1979, I was on Skate Patrol in Golden Gate Park when a group representing the Hunger Project was raising funds in the park.  We had no funds, but we could skate to LA for their cause.  10 years later I organized a new crop of inline skaters to do the skate again.  This time skating against crack and the violence associated with it.  Over the years the roadskate has been a rolling anti-violence campaign.

I have spent nearly 30 years promoting outdoor roller skating and inline skating in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.  We still skate with ouRanti-violence message, but this time we are also focusing on skating's  health and fitness benefits as well as skating as viable alternative transportation.

I love skating in the park.  I love skating at Burning Man.  I love the Friday Night Skate. I love using my skates for positive things. Most of all I love my wife and family who are all interwoven into my skating life and work.

 My official bio is posted at   http://www.cora.org/dmiles.html

John McKnight - Golden Gate Skate Patrol
                                Original Midnight Roller

John McKnight, a Bay Area native, began in-line skating back in1984 while he was serving in the Navy. He found it to be a relaxing, fun, and portable means of physical entertainment. John has skated in many countries and he can even boast to have skated on the deck of his ship, the USS ENTERPRISE. John enjoys skating distances through the streets of San Francisco almost as much as he loves to dance on his skates. John has competed in many dance skate competitions, and has over the years won several awards including the California State Freestyle Championship. This will be his first San Francisco to Los Angeles skate.

born in 1963, married, 2 boys I live in Toulouse, south west of France. I began to do rollerskate 25 years ago  (some rink hockey slalom, cruise downtown)  I stopped for 10 years and I do (mainly) inline skating since 1995 for the fun of it.  Since 2005 I use to spend one or 2 weeks per year skating with other skate lovers from Europe  France, Holland, Finland. This summer I'm supposed to escort friends from Paris to Belgium- they have the incredible Project to link Paris to Moskva in roller!

BTW I have skated sometimes in Paris with a person you have met in SF:  Claire Leonard from Planet Roller.  I have already skated (almost) all night long in relay for the 24h race of  le mans but this will be my first time on open roads .

CHRIS BOHREN - SWITZERLAND

I was born on April 14th 1959 in Switzerland. As a kid I skied and hiked the Swiss mountains. At 16 I started a 4 year apprenticeship at Swatch Watch to become a machinist. Then did the Swiss army bootcamp and went on to College to become a mechanical engineer. In 1985 I moved to the Bay Area and had a variety of product development jobs. Right now I am working as a CNC Mill Programmer making prototype parts for Silicon Valley Companies.

I have bought my first skates in 1990 and I've been skating more and more ever since. Recently I have scheduled bigger events like the Napa Valley Skate Marathon to give me a goal to train for and to keep me healthy. In many ways I find skating more rewarding than the daily grindstone. It is somewhat easier too and that's alright. Through SAV  I hope to inspire kids to take up sports where there is a reward for every one.

        (This is Chris' first time on the Skate Against Violence)

                Jack Chamberlain Fong - The Philippines

Jack is a video game engineer living in San Francisco. In 2005, while working on a hockey video game, Jack did a hands-on study of skating motion by rollerblading along the Embarcadero in San Francisco.  That was the time when he ran across the regular Friday-Night-Skating group. He decided to join them and was hooked ever since.  Eventually, he studied so much hockey skater animation at work that he became a skilled back-skater.  This culminated in the 2006 Godfather's Challenge inline marathon where he skated 50
 kilometers backwards.

Jack joined the skate-against-violence campaign to promote exercise and the healthy benefits of skating.  As someone who works in the video game industry, he knows that he contributes to the problem of widespread obesity.  In fact, he was an overweight couch potato living in Santa Monica before moving to San Francisco in 2004.  This "San Francisco to Los Angeles" skate is sort of a homecoming for him.  Skating has vastly improved his life ever since then.

                                                                                    thanks, Jack

I've been skating for 3 years, this  year 2008 is my 4th season, and I am now skating pro at marathons.  Have skated various marathons in Canada and US , including A2A, ,  as  well as Germany and Mexico.    I love distance skates, I eat up 100K skates like ice cream 

                     See you there,

       TOM VICK - REDWOOD CITY, CA.

Born in SF, raised in San Mateo and living in Redwood City, CA.  44 Years Young

Occupation - Massage Therapist and Clerk at local Natural Foods Grocery Store

Type One - Insulin dependent Diabetic for 32 years

 I've been inline skating for something over 20 years.
 Love Downhill Skating, Distance Skating, the

San Francisco Friday Night Skate and Skate Dancing in that order of preference.  Skating in Parades is fun too! I prefer to be skating between 35 and 45 MPH, that is my funniest zone!  For my B-Day I like to skate my age, in miles skated and MPH reached.

 I enjoy skating the Marathons and have completed the Godfather 100K.  For me the challenge is what my blood sugar starts the race at and finishes the race at.  I can usually keep it between 90 and 150 which is pretty darned good!  I feel my best control of my Blood Sugars is while I skate. 

Robert Wurgaft
C.O.R.A. Executive Secretary

That's not his speedskating outfit.  He just needs to send me a current pic and bio. This will be his 4th time skating the Skate Against Violence 

                     Robert's bio is coming

                MING YANG LIM - SINGAPORE

I was born and raised in Singapore, and had spent all my time in this tiny island nation, first picking up skating when I was 11.  I had several skating-free years while I was serving my mandatory military service, that is, until I went to UC Berkeley for my undergraduate studies.  It was there that I first came across the Friday Midnight Rollers, and Sundays at Golden Gate Park.  Regular weekly skates progressed to skating in the Union Street Easter parade, Halloween skates, Black & White ball and the Godfather’s 100K challenge.

This will be my second trip back to the California skating scene since returning to Singapore after my graduation in 2005.  I wanted to do the Skate Against Violence to promote skating as a healthy sport, and also as a challenge to myself.

                                     Bio Coming Soon