In June of 1976 Jack Smith and his friends Jeff French and Mike Filben decided to take on the challenge of skateboarding across the United States. During the crossing they started a relay method they called “Leapfrog”. With this method, a support vehicle drops off the first skater and then drives up the road to drop off the second skater to start skating while waiting to pick up the first skater. Essentially the support vehicle is leapfrogging each rider with pickups and drop offs to keep them moving efficiently and consistent. Little did they know, by taking on this endeavor, they essentially became the forefathers to a sport now called Distance Skateboarding.
The initial 1976 crossing was completed in 32 days.
In 1984 Jack Smith got together with Gary Fluitt, Paul Dunn and Bob Denike. With their Leapfrog method refined and an extra teammate they completed this crossing in 26 days.
Jack Smith put together teams in 2003 to ride for his son who had passed away from Lowe Syndrome and 2013 for Alzheimer awareness. The push was completed in 21 and 23 days respectively.
While Jack Smith was writing “With No Direction Home”, a feature film script inspired by the 1976 crossings of America, he wondered how fast a relay team of modern Distance Skateboarders could finish the crossing. Distance Skateboarding has had over 10 years of competitive racing and the athletes and skateboard setups have progressed radically in that time.
Jack Smith decided to crew a hand selected group of modern elite long distance skateboarders recreating the original route using the leapfrog relay method to establish a “Fastest Known Time” for the crossing.
Beginning on June 20th of 2023, the four person team of Paul Kent, Miles Kipper, Andrew Andras and Rick Stubblefield will set out to produce the “FKT”. This team was hand picked due to their accomplishments in the Distance Skateboarding scene as well as what Jack thought would be the right synergy of the 4 person team. A team not only looking to complete the 3200 mile journey but to do it as fast and efficiently as an endurance athlete would.
Rick Stubblefield, 57 years old, is the oldest of the team but comes with just as much energy and stoke as anyone. Rick was a skater as a child and rediscovered a longboard later in life. After moving to Colorado with his wife in 2003, Rick started riding again and became one of the top competitors in the sport for the Masters Division.
2017 – SkateIDSA Pacific N.W Champion 50+ Master Division
2017- SkateIDSA Tour Champion 50+ Master Division
2019- SkateIDSA 2nd Tour Finish 50+ Master Division
2019- Miami 24hr UltraSkate 151.8 Miles completed.
Miles Kipper, 35 years old, is the gentle giant of the Distance Skateboard world. A Rugby player, with 20 years of longboarding experience, he discovered the Distance Skateboarding scene when a race event came to his local area in Minnesota. Miles is known for his dominant performances in the Clydesdale division (200 lbs+) and co-host of the longboarding podcast – LDPcast.
2022- Miami 24hr UltraSkate Clydesdale Course Record 240.9 miles
Paul Kent, 41 years old, took the sport by storm as it was starting up its competitions. A pioneer of skate-packing, combining his love for multi-day backpacking and skateboarding, is known for his “Long Treks on Skate Decks” films where he traveled via skateboard in Peru/Bolivia and another in Morocco. Paul took an absence from our sport for a few years but it’s great to see him back and in the Distance Skateboard scene again.
2010- Seattle 24hr UltraSkate World Record 250.4 miles
2011- Adrenalina 26.2 Marathon Record Holder 1:32:13
2011- Sk8 188 Challenge Course Record Holder 13:10:59
2012 SkateIDSA Tour Champion
Andy Andras, 46 years old, is an endurance junkie who is known to take on extreme challenges. From adventure races, to running 10 marathons in 10 days in the mountains of Vermont or Swimming an 8 mile course in the Florida Keys. Nicknamed “La Maquina” from his skateboarding peers for his ability to hold the same pace from start to finish in 24 hour UltraSkate events. Long-distance skateboarder breaks world records
2013 Miami 24hr UltraSkate World Record 261.2 miles
2014 Miami 24hr UltraSkate World Record 283.3 miles
2014 SkateIDSA Tour Champion
2015 Dutch 24hr UltraSkate World Record 285.8 miles
2016 SkateIDSA Tour Champion
2016 Miami 24hr UltraSkate World Record 309.5 miles
2019 Dutch 24hr UltraSkate Team Relay WR 371.8 miles
2022 Miami 24hr UltraSkate Paddle WR 232.1 miles
2023 Dutch 24hr UltraSkate Paddle WR 274.0 miles
2023 Miami 24hr UltraSkate Paddle Team Relay WR 312.44 miles
As it turns out, an expedition across the country with four athletes and two supporting crewmembers is a rather expensive undertaking. Thankfully, we’ve been overwhelmed by the community’s outreach to help support us during this journey. To those that have asked how they can support in the form of donations, we wanted to have a little bit of fun and organized a raffle with our sponsors who have generously donated items to us below:
ANDY’S SUP SKATE PADDLE
ANDY’S PANTHEON SUPERSONIC 7 PLY DECK
ORANGATANG WHEELS SET
JUNK SKATE BEARINGS SET (16 PACK)
Raffle tickets cost $10 each or 12 for $100. $200 for 24 etc.. To purchase you must paypal Andrew Andras (using friends and family). Please add “The Push – Tickets” in the description and total tickets bought. Your name will be added to the entry pool.
Send Paypal payments to:
andyanarchy76@hotmail.com