Mariah Duran didn’t have much on her while ripping around Dew Tour Long Beach 2019, but after finishing in first during the street semi final it was clear she had everything she needed. Unfortunately for her, and especially the fans in the crowd, Mariah took a heavy slam while warming up for the final and wasn’t able to skate her strongest for the last event.
“I think the Olympics coming into skateboarding is a really good thing, but skateboarding is so big that you don’t have to be in the Olympics.” — Mariah Duran
Still, she was clearly a crowd favorite, and despite not having a lot of lint in her pockets she was ready to break down what she did have without hesitation. She also took the time to talk about the impact the Olympics was having on the competition, from her perspective.
“I think [this Olympic qualifier] is more pressure than a regular contest, but it is also sick because it is the first one in the U.S. and I am out her trying to represent by doing my best,” said Mariah. “You want to think about it mellow, but when you do the practices everyone is super hungry. At a certain point you have to take it a little more seriously.”
Mariah was clearly taking things seriously, it was visible in her skating throughout the event. Nevertheless it didn’t seem to mess with her attitude around the venue. Mariah was relaxed when she wasn’t skating and able to enjoy all the other aspects of being a professional, regardless of the Olympic qualification points on the line.
“I think the Olympics coming into skateboarding is a really good thing, but skateboarding is so big that you don’t have to be in the Olympics,” continued Mariah. “You don’t have to strive to make it in the Olympics in order to make it in skateboarding.”
Before wrapping up on the Olympic aspect of our conversation, Mariah had a final statement to close on with regard to how it has a positive impact.
“For those people who are into super into high-level competition it is perfect for them, because it is the biggest pedestal you can get on.”
That was enough Olympic chatting, but we still needed to know what she had tucked away into her pockets before we let her get back to he board. Mariah went ahead and emptied out her purple adidas fanny pack to show off the goods. The bag, she said, was only about three weeks old and she was digging it. Especially because it is her favorite color purple and like she said, “you can’t go wrong with that.”
The first thing out of her bag was a small Dakine wallet made from cork. It was a card-specific wallet that had a mesh on one side that revealed her New Mexico driver’s license. After that came a pack of peppermint 5 Gum to keep that breath fresh.
The last items to come out were her headphones plugged into a red iPhone XRthat had a yin and yang PopSocket stuck to it.
“I got this [PopSocket] in China. It is my first one. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it, but I like it. It is weirdly convenient.”
Those were all the items in her various pockets, but Mariah also took off her multi-colored headband to throw it into the mix. The headband was a Goodwill find that she opted to add an adidas pin onto for flare.
Essentially, Mariah was rocking adidas from head to toe, and it was clearly working for her while she worked the course.
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