The after hours ‘skatathon’ allowed a local club to enjoy the floors of the shopping centre as part of its efforts to encourage people to complete 900km around it.
Rollerbladers had the run of Stirling’s Thistles shopping centre last week for an after hours skatathon.
Last Thursday, 20 rollerblade enthusiasts helped to nudge the centre closer to its target of completing 900km of distance. with 417km distance travelled in the mall before the end of Stirling’s 900th anniversary celebrations taking place across the year.
The Thistles 900 campaign was set up to encourage local community members to complete a lap of the mall to contribute to the overall target of 900km and has seen events including a toddler monster run at Halloween and a Santa dash at Christmas with staff members and shoppers also completing individual laps.
Rollerbladers from Falkirk Wheelers had the opportunity to showcase their skills and skate around the centre’s dedicated track in style, to build up 417km kilometres. There is now less than 100km left of the ambitious 900km target.
First established in 2013, the Falkirk Wheelers are a community focussed roller-skating club for both kids and adults in the region. Skating it until they make it, the rollerblading evening was inspired by a previous rollerblading evening that took place within the centre.
Thistles welcomed Kerry Anne, a Stirling local and member of the Falkirk Wheelers, to rollerblade after hours as part of her 50th birthday celebrations organised by her husband, Iain. Kerry said it was a dream come true and something she will never forget.
Off the back of her birthday skating session, Kerry Anne recently did a few laps of the centre ahead of the event, bringing along her fellow Falkirk Wheeler community who also got in on the action and managed to accumulate 48km towards the total 900km figure.
Gregor Watson from Falkirk Wheelers said: “We are incredibly grateful to Thistles for hosting our recent skate session.
“Over 40 of our friends turned out for a fantastic skate, covering 417km in total as we help Thistles get closer to reaching its goal of 900km. The surface in the mall is honestly the best we’ve ever skated on—smooth, safe, and perfect for our wheels.
“It was a great experience and really showcases the inclusive community we’ve built.”
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Centre director Gary Turnbull said: “Welcoming the Falkirk Wheelers to the centre as part of our Thistles 900km initiative was fantastic. Community is at the heart of what we do, and we are passionate about collaborating with as many local people and groups as possible.
“Having the Falkirk Wheelers in the centre, skating to their hearts’ content is such a pleasure and we are delighted that they have volunteered to contribute to the Thistles 900km goal by doing something that they love.”
With a few kilometres left to go, Thistles, Stirling is also encouraging the local community to take part where possible to contribute to the final target.
Those participating in the events can post their results to social media tagging Thistles Stirling on Instagram.