Aside from being a two-time world champion in slalom skateboarding, Joe McLaren, of Longmont, has a new distinction to add to his list of accolades: He can weave in and out of 100 cones faster than anyone else.
McLaren’s latest feat — which he accomplished in 20.687 seconds at the Can-Am Championships on Sept. 16 in Antrim, N.H. — is unofficial now, but once verified should be included in the Guinness Book of World Records.
He’d never done it before in a competition.
“I tried it one other time, a long time ago, but we were just messing around,” McLaren said, adding that he and some friends had set up 100 cones once for fun several years ago, and he did one run.
“This was my first time really trying.”
The official record is currently held by Janis Kuzmins, of Latvia. McLaren beat Kuzmins’ record time by one-tenth of a second.
“I compete with Janis a lot, and he’s one of the most amazing skaters,” McLaren said. “The guy is an animal. He’s really competitive, so I’m sure he’ll be going out there trying to get it back.”
This year, McLaren also won his second overall title at the International Skateboard Slalom Association World Championships in Ottawa in August (McLaren: “There’s a lot of really good skaters out there, so I was excited about that” ). Aside from the 100 cones record, he also won the national overall title at Antrim.
McLaren, who is 18 and attends Front Range Community College, said he plans to keep competing.
“I plan to skate as long as I can walk,” he said.
“I’d love to be competing and competing at the same level for several more years, and I think that me being at a young age, I’ll be able to.”
