Brent Marks

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Contestant: MP-304
INJURED UNABLE TO COMPETE
From: Longview, Washington, USA
Division: Masters Pro 
Sponsored by: Everyone Skateboard Company
Age: 45
Skating: 35 years

Brent and his younger brother Rodd grew up in Longview, Washington which is on the confluence of the Cowlitz and Columbia Rivers about an hour north of Portland. Longview made the news when in 1980 Mt. Saint Helens, only 35 miles to the East, erupted. Part of the aftermath was that the mud and trees on Mt. Saint Helens slopes slid down the mountain and into the Cowlitz River which became this big log jam at Longview. Brent said, “The logs where there forever and we had to wear face masks everywhere we went.”  

He started skating in the late 80’s and suddenly his whole life shifted towards skateboarding. The only drawback is that it rains a lot in Washington, so he had to find a place that was covered to perfect his flat ground technicals tricks. In the early 90s their parents would drive them to Vancouver to Kevin Harris’s indoor Richmond Skate Ranch, a great place to skate and get away from the rain.

He remembers one summer they went to a YMCA Skate Camp in California, and met lots of pros which inspired them both. They then started to go to these yearly Skate Camps that were held in The Dalles, Oregon that brought in these guest pro skaters like Willy Santos and Toney Hawk. Tony was so impressed with Brent’s technical skating that he asked him to have lunch with him at the Taco Bell. He had just started BIRDHOUSE Skateboards and was looking for fresh talent to sponsor, “Brent would you like to ride for us?” Brent could not believe what had just happened, he went from attending a Skate Camp in March to touring in June with Tony Hawk, Andrew Reynolds, Willy Santos, Ocean Howell, and Matt Beach. Talk about a dream come true,

Brent was a team member with BIRDHOUSE from 1993 to early 1997 putting on demos across the US. He would have continued with them, but they wanted him to move to California, and with kids and family ties in Washington, it just wasn’t meant to be. However this past May Brent and Rodd went down to California and skated with Tony on his huge wear-house ramp. They had a great session, followed by dinner and caught up with Tony. How many of you can say that you had dinner with Tony Hawk?
The brothers use to make there’re yearly pilgrimage to Vancouver to take in SLAM CITY JAM. “We didn’t have the money for the Three Day Pass, so we would put paper bands around our wrists and use a pink felt maker to make them look like the wrist bands people were paying for. It worked for a few years but then we got caught. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.” In 1998 Brent entered the contest placed 15th in the Qualifiers but then broke his board just before his run and did not place.
“Canada was like a second home to us, in the early 2000s we use to go to Whistler a lot because our parents had a condo there. We loved skating the Whistler Skatepark and would hit the Seylynn snake run on the way home.”
These days he is a “Stay-at-home-dad,” taking care of his 11 year old son and 8 year old daughter. He also has two other children a daughter age 23 who is doing great things with her life and a son age 19 who lives with his mom. Brent loves to skate with his son Liam at the Clatskanie Skatepark which is under this big tent. The park is sorta a 90’s style design with a vert ramp, spine, hip, rails, made out of skatelite. “I try and skate everyday, If you don’t use it . . . you’re going to loose it.”
Everything he does revolves around skateboarding, ”I make skateboards on the side, have a press set up in my laundry room, which my wife hates, where I shape and sand them. I’m also a sponsored skater with Everyone Skate Company based in LA and I’m on their Legends Team along with Al Garcia and Jim Bates.”
Brent said, “I had no idea that flatland freestyle contests were still going on until Phil Larin started talking about the Round-Up and told me, “you guys should come up and compete in this.” We may both be over 40 but we are not too old to have fun, so we both registered to compete in our first freestyle contest.”
RECENT CONTEST HISTORY:

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