Thursday, October 14, 2004
Long Beach inline marathon
October 10, 2004

A 5am wake-up call seemed way too grizzly, so I managed to wake myself up at 4.30am to avoid the annoying sound of the alarm clock. I lazed around in bed, readying myself mentally for the marathon. I had slept remarkably well compared to a lot of a ‘sleepless night’ reports I heard. A hot shower and a shot of Starbucks woke me up more than I really liked so early in the morning. My room mate Gerry Kimmel and I made our way to the start line just as dawn broke. The cyclists had already taken off in the dark of morning to ride the 26.2 miles over the bridges, along the beach, through suburbia with a return to the beach for the finish.
The two of us split our ways at the start line. I skated around looking to joint my team mates, Alicia Taggart, Kim Foster and Stacey Eldridge (Bont Northamerica/Rudy Project) so we could warm up together. It wasn’t hard to spot the red Bont suits; I quickly found the girls. Before we knew we were lined up at the start line and as if released from a slingshot we took off the line. An intense frenzy broke out with skaters jockeying for position, elbowing, pushing and shoving. I also heard some serious profanities. Rock’n roll! I thought to myself as we proceeded to skate over the first bridge.
The sky had stayed clear all night and the absence of the usual early morning fog at this time of the year was a great relief to many of us. The temperature was manageable and the course wasn’t slippery, which made skating over bridges and the rough roadways a cakewalk compared to previous years. We very quickly arrived at the beach front, sped along, slowed down, sped along, slowed down and sped along again. It was a serious interval work out. Every second the pack moved along at a snail’s pace our bodies went into quick recovery mode. Several skaters had dropped off as we entered the suburbs of Long Beach. The big surges continued as the pace line passed the half way mark and snaked around u-turns. We pushed our wheels over the very rough roads and pathways, jumped over potholes and slid through damp sections. Indeed, it was a technical and challenging course.
A big surprise awaited us early into the race. We caught up with the hundreds of cyclists who had undertaken to ride the marathon route. It certainly made for an interesting time. We flew by them continuously warning them to stay to the right. Most of them did but the odd person would linger and stay put in the left side where we were supposed to pass. Some creative maneuvers were called for. At some point we jumped across the coned off area and slalomed through a couple of cops to avoid hitting the bike riders. Before anyone even knew what had happened we safely passed the cyclists. Unfortunately later into the race one of my teammates and a couple of other pro ladies got stuck behind some of the bikes when the pack surged into high speed and made their way through and around the pedaling enthusiasts. This apparently happened to a great number of skaters. To make life even more interesting, a couple of miles away from the finish line a definite linger of hot dog smell filled our senses. Before I knew, out of the steady stream of cyclists one older cyclist darted clear across our racecourse to grab one of those doggies. I yelled on the top of my lungs warning this hungry athlete to clear the path. He froze as we sped between him and the other riders. Phew, that could have been an ugly hit.
Finally we approached the last stretch along the ocean on Ocean Blvd. The sun was rising behind us and the shadows of the skaters were long and fell toward the front, which made it an easy spot what was going on behind in the pack. All we had to do is watch the ground out of the corner of the eye and wait for the cat to pounce. As soon as the shadows behind started moving faster and with intent it was time to move those legs for that final sprint and at the same time maneuver skillfully past the cyclists. By then, the first pro ladies pack had already reached the finish with Kelly Martinez (K2/Empire) taking the win. In the lead group was also the remarkably strong pro master lady Peggy Girgenty (Hyper) to secure her title.
Joey Mantia (Hyper) pocketed the win in the pro men division and Norm Kirby (Bont NA/Rudy Project) brought the pro masters win home. To the approach of the final sprint there was apparently some confusion as to which lane the pro men were to choose. The cyclists were pointed to take the left lane and the skaters were to skate on the right side. This created chaos as some skaters stayed in the bike lane and the others switched to the right, loosing their position in the field and which put them out of contention for the win. Oh, well, there is always next year….although there is talk this may have been the last Long Beach inline skating marathon for many speculative reasons. It would be a pity since this one was such a ‘classic’.
Come Visit Strub Sports Designs

A 5am wake-up call seemed way too grizzly, so I managed to wake myself up at 4.30am to avoid the annoying sound of the alarm clock. I lazed around in bed, readying myself mentally for the marathon. I had slept remarkably well compared to a lot of a ‘sleepless night’ reports I heard. A hot shower and a shot of Starbucks woke me up more than I really liked so early in the morning. My room mate Gerry Kimmel and I made our way to the start line just as dawn broke. The cyclists had already taken off in the dark of morning to ride the 26.2 miles over the bridges, along the beach, through suburbia with a return to the beach for the finish.
The two of us split our ways at the start line. I skated around looking to joint my team mates, Alicia Taggart, Kim Foster and Stacey Eldridge (Bont Northamerica/Rudy Project) so we could warm up together. It wasn’t hard to spot the red Bont suits; I quickly found the girls. Before we knew we were lined up at the start line and as if released from a slingshot we took off the line. An intense frenzy broke out with skaters jockeying for position, elbowing, pushing and shoving. I also heard some serious profanities. Rock’n roll! I thought to myself as we proceeded to skate over the first bridge.
The sky had stayed clear all night and the absence of the usual early morning fog at this time of the year was a great relief to many of us. The temperature was manageable and the course wasn’t slippery, which made skating over bridges and the rough roadways a cakewalk compared to previous years. We very quickly arrived at the beach front, sped along, slowed down, sped along, slowed down and sped along again. It was a serious interval work out. Every second the pack moved along at a snail’s pace our bodies went into quick recovery mode. Several skaters had dropped off as we entered the suburbs of Long Beach. The big surges continued as the pace line passed the half way mark and snaked around u-turns. We pushed our wheels over the very rough roads and pathways, jumped over potholes and slid through damp sections. Indeed, it was a technical and challenging course.
A big surprise awaited us early into the race. We caught up with the hundreds of cyclists who had undertaken to ride the marathon route. It certainly made for an interesting time. We flew by them continuously warning them to stay to the right. Most of them did but the odd person would linger and stay put in the left side where we were supposed to pass. Some creative maneuvers were called for. At some point we jumped across the coned off area and slalomed through a couple of cops to avoid hitting the bike riders. Before anyone even knew what had happened we safely passed the cyclists. Unfortunately later into the race one of my teammates and a couple of other pro ladies got stuck behind some of the bikes when the pack surged into high speed and made their way through and around the pedaling enthusiasts. This apparently happened to a great number of skaters. To make life even more interesting, a couple of miles away from the finish line a definite linger of hot dog smell filled our senses. Before I knew, out of the steady stream of cyclists one older cyclist darted clear across our racecourse to grab one of those doggies. I yelled on the top of my lungs warning this hungry athlete to clear the path. He froze as we sped between him and the other riders. Phew, that could have been an ugly hit.
Finally we approached the last stretch along the ocean on Ocean Blvd. The sun was rising behind us and the shadows of the skaters were long and fell toward the front, which made it an easy spot what was going on behind in the pack. All we had to do is watch the ground out of the corner of the eye and wait for the cat to pounce. As soon as the shadows behind started moving faster and with intent it was time to move those legs for that final sprint and at the same time maneuver skillfully past the cyclists. By then, the first pro ladies pack had already reached the finish with Kelly Martinez (K2/Empire) taking the win. In the lead group was also the remarkably strong pro master lady Peggy Girgenty (Hyper) to secure her title.
Joey Mantia (Hyper) pocketed the win in the pro men division and Norm Kirby (Bont NA/Rudy Project) brought the pro masters win home. To the approach of the final sprint there was apparently some confusion as to which lane the pro men were to choose. The cyclists were pointed to take the left lane and the skaters were to skate on the right side. This created chaos as some skaters stayed in the bike lane and the others switched to the right, loosing their position in the field and which put them out of contention for the win. Oh, well, there is always next year….although there is talk this may have been the last Long Beach inline skating marathon for many speculative reasons. It would be a pity since this one was such a ‘classic’.
Come Visit Strub Sports Designs
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