Bluetile skateboard shop’s Pump Track Death Race bolsters Columbia skating community

Bluetile manager Irving Juarez said the costumes are his favorite part of the annual Pump Track Death Race.

“They wanted to dress up as a spectacle,” Juarez said. “If you don’t skate, watching someone in a Jason mask or a blow up banana outfit do this pump track is really funny.”

The annual Pump Track Death Race is an event where skateboarders, rollerskaters and others can race and win a prize for the fastest time in an event designed to draw attention to the sport. 

The 5th annual race will be held Oct. 26. Since the event is hosted around the time of Halloween, many skaters race in costume. Blutile also has an award for the best costume.

The Pump Track Death Race was started by skaters trying to come up with ways to entertain themselves on the pump track at Owens Field Skate Park. Juarez said that because the track was difficult to do tricks on, skaters would time each other as they tried to see who could finish a lap around the track the fastest for fun. The name “Pump Track Death Race” comes from the difficulty of the last turn on the track. 

“There’s a turn at the last turn where you’re really trying to go fast,” Juarez said. “That last turn, there’s about a 50 percent chance you’ll wipe out. So we just kept calling it the Death Race.” 

Local skater Ta’rajay Bowie attended the race last year. Bowie appreciates the race for fostering a sense of community among skaters.

“Usually you go to the skate park, learn your own tricks and you meet people that are there at the time,” Bowie said. “But these centralized events bring everybody out at once, together. People look forward to that type of stuff.” 

Bluetile also hosts another annual event on the same day. Immediately following the race is the Mayfield Classic Memorial Session, a set of several 20-minute skate jams, with prizes being awarded for best trick in each one. 

The event is held in honor of the late Michael Mayfield, who was an avid member of the skating community around the Owens Field park.

“It was the only skate park we had for like 10 years,” Juarez said. “So naturally everybody met him, saw him, skated in front of him, and got some pointers from him.”

Another reason Mayfield’s memory is cherished by the Columbia skating community is his advocacy for the needs of skaters.

“We’re just young, you know,” Juarez said. “We don’t think about town meetings and council meetings and things like that, so he was always like our voice. He would go to these events and he would always advocate for new trash cans or fixing a crack. He was a very beloved individual.”

After both competitions is Bluetile’s Halloween afterparty, during which the shop will premiere a new skate video featuring local skaters. The video was made to showcase the talent of local skaters.

“A skate video part is kind of like dropping an album,” local skater Andrew Singh said. “It kind of gets your name out there and shows people that you can really skateboard.”

All of the events are free to attend and costumes are encouraged. Juarez said one of the best parts of Bluetile’s events is the inclusivity of the community. 

“We get young kids, old guys on longboards,” Juarez said. “We get roller skaters. We get everybody. It feels really inclusive, and it’s really fun.”