Official Point of View

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The Long Beach Marathon

"An Official Point of View"

Coming into this race I was expecting big things. I had heard the hype from Dan Joyce (Race Promoter and Rollerblade Representative) all year. I realized very quickly his plans and desires had become a reality. I worked the Life Expo for the two days prior to this event (yes it is that big of an event to have two days of registration and an expo).

Everyone who is anyone from the skate industry was there. This included Bont Skates, Explore Wheels, Hyper Wheels, Miller Skates, Mogema, Rollerblade, and Verducci. Big-name skaters were also spotted roaming the expo hall. Botero, Brandt-Glass, Ezzell, Giquel, Hedrick, Lewis, Matzger, Muse, Presti, and Vogel were there mixing with the crowd and renewing acquaintances. Proof positive that this event was truly World Class.
The morning of the race was amazing! The bad weather that had been predicted for race day never appeared. As the sun came up over the start line, there was not a cloud in the sky.
As I came up to the start line, and took it all in, the cyclists were preparing to start the Tour of Long Beach, I could feel their excitement in the air. There were about 500 cyclists participating in this years event. It was great to see them off and then watch the Inline skaters milling around and warming up for their event.
As I moved about, welcoming skaters and seeing faces I had not seen in years, I noticed that I too was getting the adrenaline rush I am familiar with getting before a race. It was great to see the professional athletes taking the time to stop and talk to the other skaters and spectators (both young and old) that admire them so much. It was also great to see the competitors from different teams having conversations as if they were hanging out at a party. The camaraderie within the skating community is amazing!
I spoke with the Race director and confirmed that we were 5 minutes from the start. I walked around one last time to check to see that all had their race numbers on the right hip. And yes even a Pro or two had theirs on the wrong hip. As the one minute warning was given, you could just feel the tension on the starting line. As the gun went off, my heart rate jumped, and I could sense the excitement as the crowd cheered. We were off. The official start of the 2000 Long Beach Marathon. The race was amazing from the start. The pro pack started to separate instantly, as Team Fila/Verducci and Team Rollerblade took control. Team Hyper, ECBeast, Twincam/Explore/Salomon were right along with them as the pack split in half before the first mile marker. Everyone had a common goal and that was to win.

The pace was fast, by Mile One a pack of about 25 skaters had emerged as the leaders and they seemed like they really wanted to separate themselves from the rest of the field quickly. I found it amazing myself to see Tony Muse in the second pack. That was really let me know how fast the pace was. They even took the uphill onto Ocean Street at a pace that would have left many skaters behind on flat land. It was at this point that I noticed the combined sound of all of the skaters skating with the new clap skates, this was a sound I had never heard during a race before. More than half of the lead pack were on Clap-style skates. By Mile Three a two-man breakaway by Team ECBeast took the first shot at shaking this truly “World Class” field. The remaining skaters seemed content with the pace and let them go. At times their lead was grew to 500 meters. Between Miles Five and Six there was a U-turn that allowed us to see the size of gap, which had grown since the last time I looked back.
After the U-turn was a gradual uphill that helped the breakaway stay away. At Mile 6.5 was the first big
hill. It shook a couple of skaters and shrunk the lead pack to nineteen. The race proceeded through residential areas, with streets narrow enough to allow the breakaway to be out of sight of the chase pack. The pack would not allow this, they pick up the pace, intent on catching the two breakaway skaters.
By Mile Nine, just before the skaters made the round about to travel over the bridge crossing Alamitos Bay, they caught the breakaway. The downhill here was fast. Speeds were approximately 40 mph. After a few more turns the racers rolled onto the famous Pacific Coast Highway. The pack was keeping a good pace, ranging from 25-30 mph.
Mile Ten though Fifteen is traveled on a street called Studebaker road. The pace is picked up and the speed was amazing considering the headwind. Mile Twelve sees what appears to be a multi-team breakaway of 5 skaters from 5 different teams. But it appears to just be another cat and mouse game for the leaders. The pack catches up and teammates allow their fellow members to get back into the group. At this point, Team Rollerblade goes to the lead and takes control the race temporarily.
Mile Fifteen allows the skaters to enter El Dorado Park where many of these skaters train when they visit Southern California. However to make the Marathon work logistically they will now skate in the opposite direction. The path through the park is tight, with additional congestion caused by the overtaking of the Bike riders I had previously mentioned. I had expected a new breakaway at some point inside the park, but this was not to be.
Mile 19 takes us out of the park. As we head back onto city streets, the group loses one more skater. The lead pack, now at 18, will remain at this number to the finish. Somebody in this group is going to win. No one team or person is controlling pace. The whole group is working to keep the pace high.
Mile Twenty-One takes the skaters through another residential area with people on their lawns cheering and yelling words of encouragement. Some have music blasting to motivate all of the marathon participants. The skaters did not disappoint the crowds, with a pace that only a few are able to match.
Mile Twenty-Three brought out one of the more interesting things I have ever seen in a race. Eddy Matzger skating to the front of the pack being headed by Rollerblade. Once ahead and to the left of the pack he pulled out his digital camera and snapped a picture. Chad Hedrick posed the question: "What are you doing Eddy?" Eddy's response was to take a picture of Chad and then work his way back into the back. I had noticed him taking pictures earlier, but thought that rather bold, and there were many comments about it after the race.
As they approached the finish, the momentum of this 18 skater freight train, was propelled even faster by the smell of the finish line that was less than two miles away. All the big names are still in there:
Botero, Downing, Lewis, Vogel, Lacey, Rabeau, Wood, Flesher, Schwind, Dobbin, Whitman, Miller, Nelson, Hedrick, Matzger, Giquel, Presti, and NPC Points Leader Steven Krawulski.
Mile 25 and a half put them onto Atherton (the home stretch). As they flew through the Bellflower intersection, the pace was incredible. I could feel that it is “all or nothing” now. Rollerblade is near the front with 1000 meters to go. As they come down to the finish, Team Fila/Verducci soar into the lead positions and attempt a “1 - 2 - 3 finish. Max Presti gets the victory with Chad Hedrick a close second. Downing and Lewis (Team Hyper) cross side by side. Upon further review (Specifically the high tech photo taken by FlashResults), we see that Lewis takes Third away over Downing by ten one thousandths of a second! The remaining 14 skaters come across the line shortly after the leaders. Prize money was paid twenty deep.
I have witnessed a great event and the competition was amazing. It has lived up to all of the pre-event hype and exceeded my expectations about what this event should be. Every skater that I spoke with loved the race course. Loved the atmosphere. Many have already made plans for next year.
I was able to give you this “Official Point of View” by acting as an on course official, right along side the skaters the entire time. I would like to thank Dan Joyce, Rick Babington, Heather Lacayo, and Bryan Hays for letting me be a part of their "TEAM". I would also like to thank The Long Beach Marathon, Lowes, Rollerblade, and USA Inline Racing for inspiring me to write this article.