This month's interview with Mark by Monica

I caught up with Mark over a beer at St Christopher’s Inn on the rainiest day of August... and I found out what’s new at skateinstructor.com!

Q: You were away in Munich at the beginning of August. Tell us about your trip.

    A: I have been a member of ICP for over ten years now. This is a great group of skating professionals who are passionately supporting the development of inline skating around the world. In London we had an instructor qualification course in May this year and are hoping to run another one in October. There are eight ICP Instructor Examiners in the world and we all got together in Munich for our 2010 annual meeting. It was really good to get together with some old friends and colleagues again, we also had the chance to share experiences as examiners and work on some amazing new ideas.

Q: In mid-August you had a group visit from the Eastbourne skating team.

    A: Yes this was great fun. Tim, who runs sk8school.co.uk in Eastbourne brought up a group of his instructors and students for a skate day in London. We had similar trips in the past, so this has become a bit of a tradition. The group met me in Hyde Park. Together with some of my instructors and students, we skated to London Bridge taking in sights like Hyde Park Corner, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square and then skating down the north river toe path to London Bridge where we all had a well deserved pint. It was a great skate, with a very diverse group – we had skaters of all ages (including some kids) and skill levels, and everyone had a fabulous time! It as a sunny day and what better way to discover London looking its best?!

Q: Tell us a bit about your plans for Autumn.

    A: In October I'm of to Alicante for a week to recce the place for January. I'm hoping to be running some skate getaways to the warmer weather coast of Spain. These will include skate tours, lessons and lots of fun - but more about this in October. October is also when I run my famous ‘Skate to Work’ Course. It's an amazing course and at the end of it you get free London transport for ever!

There's lots of new stuff happening this autumn and winter, giving you the chance to take all the new skate skills you learned during the summer to the next level. One of those skill sets is backwards skating and all of the intricate and cool stuff that goes with it. There will be a whole range of courses and workshops on this alone.

Then there's the regular skate with Mark on a Sunday afternoon. These skates are a social event and loads of fun. We most often take to this very same skate friendly pub on Borough High Street - St Christopher's Inn. It’s the perfect place for a pint and a chat after a great skate along the river!

[Editor]: Mark, it’s great to know that you are planning lots of exciting events to keep us skating during the shorter and chillier days in Autumn… Looking forward to chatting again next month!