The Seventh Annual Northshore Inline Marathon

Sept, 14th 2002, Duluth, MN

What can I say? It was chaotic, it was dangerous and it was FUN!!!!

4,400 skaters strong, this is an event for everyone no matter how many you wheels you skate on. With thirteen waves starting with the big Euro pros that came over, to nine waves for Rec and Fitness skaters. It was the second time for me.

The morning of the race dawned dry and 60 degrees, balmy for a September morning in Duluth. If you had watched the weather, all week they had been predicting rain, but fortune favored the skaters that morning. You could feel the excitement in the air as people prepared, gathering their gear, making last minute wheel changes.

At the start line, people gathered into their waves. I was in Rec Wave three (right behind Fitness one and two). The gun went off and it was mass chaos. At first I just tried to find my own space to skate. There were so many people clicking skates. Also, they had "repaired" the road and there were tar snakes tripping skaters up. I saw four or five fall.

After about five miles, groups started to form. I got in on one and we cruised down the road. Pace lines were 30-50 skaters strong. At times the skaters in the back would start going faster than the front. At these points everyone had to put their hand on the back of the person in front of them to keep from crashing into them. I was towards the front of the group and could feel the pressure of everyone pushing.

Unfortunately, the groups were so big that they weren't working well together. They'd follow behind one person until they sucked them dry. At these points things would get really slow. I'd step out of line and try to bridge up to another group. I was always hoping to get a few people to come with me and get a smaller group together that would work better together. Most of the time I'd end up by myself though, people seemed happy to stay in the group.

About mile twenty I had my own fall. A crack in the road grabbed my back wheel and put me on my butt. Luckily, no one crashed into me while I was down. I heard someone yell "Skater Down!" and I turned to watch as miraculously the sea of skaters parted to either side of me.

After the fall, I thought I was done. My legs felt like lead and all I wanted to do was make it to the finish line. But something in me refused to quit. I chased down my group and managed to catch back on. At the last hill I passed most of my group for the finish.

I ended up with a time of 1:46:33, my best marathon time. I was super happy. This is the best race in the U.S. and one that is open to every level of skater. I encourage everyone to sign up today for next year, book a hotel room and start looking for deals to Duluth. You will NOT be sorry you went!

For more information on the North Shore Marathon go to: www.NorthShoreInline.com

Laura