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Hermantown 1/2 Marathon
2005
By: Jay Jackson
Hermantown,
MN July 16, 2005
Team Aloe Up Takes 1st Place at
Hermantown inline Half Marathon
Jay Jackson of Team Aloe Up
timed his sprint perfectly to overtake a dozen skaters in the
final meters of the 1st Annual Hermantown Inline Half Marathon
on Saturday, July 16th. 100 plus skaters converged onto the
beautiful country roads of Hermantown, Minnesota early on
Saturday morning.
With a
7AM start many skaters arrived before 6AM to this very well
organized event. Skaters from Manitoba, Ontario, and as far
away as Chicago were seen warming up.
As the
first skaters began warming up, the hot and humid air started a
slow drizzle. Many skaters wondered what the 4 U-Turns would be
like with wet roads. Fortunately the mist stopped and the roads
dried out.
From
the start of the gun, Tony Coughlin (Team SK8Hard) took off with
about 30 racers quickly in tow. Various skaters continued to
jockey for position for several miles of rolling country side.
At about 4 miles into the race Coughlin started to extend his
lead as he had numerous teammates at the front of the pace line
attempting to slow the pack down so he could drift off the
front. Randy Plett, (Bont North America), Tom Peterson, (TC
Speed), Mike Anderson, (Flanders) and others finally brought
Coughlin in at the start of the second lap of the race. As soon
as Coughlin was reeled back in, Jay Jackson, (Team Aloe Up)
attempted a counter attack only be reeled back within a few
hundred yards. “It appeared once we caught Coughlin that no one
was going to be able to get away from the main pack today. I
decided if I could get up the last big hills that it would be
all about positioning for the field sprint”, said Jackson. After
the last two big climbs the pack splintered to about 16
skaters. With about 300 yards to go, positioning in the front
of the pack was in full force as veteran racers, Terry Holm,
(Hyper), Cale Carvel (Rainbow), Andre Zhuikov, (Team SK8Hard),
along with the younger Thong Nguyen and Coughlin all trying to
pick their line.
“The
last couple of hundred yards are slightly downhill and I knew
that would favor a few of us bigger skaters”, said Jackson. “I
was able to work my way through about 5 guys and just pass
Nguyen before the line.”
A
sincere thank you to Craig Frey, event organizer, the city of
Hermantown and all of the great volunteers that made this 1st
annual event a must stop for skaters next year.
1. Jay Jackson
1.
Kara
Peterson
2. Thong
Nguyen 2. Margo Carvell
3. Randy Plett
3. Lori
Wenzel
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