NROC

2008 Metrodome Inline Marathon
David Sarmiento and Kara Peterson win solo event

By Planet staff
March 16, 2008

David Sarmiento and Kara Peterson shot to the lead in the National Roller Cup (NROC) with victories in today's Metrodome Inline Marathon in Minneapolis.

Sarmiento, 26, of Colombia, set a solo Metrodome record with a time of 1 hour, 14 minutes and 38.96 seconds. His time beat the old record (set by Peter Starykowicz in 2005) by 1 minute and 41 seconds.

Tom Peterson, 41, finished five seconds behind Sarmiento to claim second place. Sarmiento and Peterson were also members of the winning team in the time trial event.

Tom's wife, Kara Peterson, 38, finished a mere 18 seconds behind Sarmiento to win the women's race. Her time was 1:14:56.

It was more than four minutes before the next skater, Morgan Williams, finished the world's only indoor inline marathon. His time was 1:19:02.

NROC Leaders

The victories for Sarmiento and Kara Peterson put them in first place in the men's and women's pro divisions of the new National Roller Cup, each with 60 points.

In second place, with 50 points a piece, are Tom Peterson and Rebecca George. George finished five minutes behind Kara Peterson. (Full NROC results, including pro and performance scores, will be posted Monday or Tuesday.)

Solo Skaters Beat the Teams

The times for the teams in the time trial were slower than those for the top skaters in the solo marathon. As a result, the team times will not dislodge the leaders from the top positions in the NROC rankings.

Usually, the winning team is faster than the top solo skaters at the Metrodome. But this year, the top men's team, Adam's Inline 1, was more than a minute slower than Sarmiento while the top women's team, Flanders, was 15 minutes slower than Kara Peterson.

Tom Peterson Interview

Sarmiento and the two Petersons, Tom and Kara, skated together for most of the 70.7 laps of the solo marathon. The three are members of the Adams Inline racing team.

They took a spot in the back of the line for the staggered start of the race. In this way, they hoped to keep other pro skaters from drafting in their pace line, Tom Peterson said after the race.

But the strategy wasn't completely successful. After they passed Morgan Williams in the early goings, he latched on to the back of their paceline.

"We were concerned about Morgan," Tom Peterson said. So they decided to shake him.

Tom Peterson took off on a flyer on about the 15th lap and gained a lead of about 100 yards. Several laps later, Sarmiento bridged the gap, leaving Kara Peterson and Williams behind.

A little later, Kara Peterson broke away from Williams and caught her husband and Sarmiento.

The Adams Inline trio went on to build a big lead, lapping Williams several times.

Victory assured, they relaxed at the end of the race. Both Sarmiento and Tom Peterson hoped to save some energy for the team time trial in the afternoon.

"David pulled the last four laps," Peterson said, "and I told him on the last lap that I probably wouldn't be able to hold on. He said, 'Whoever wins, wins,' and then he took off. ... He's just incredible."

Sarmiento and Tom Peterson train together and recently returned from a trip to Colombia where they skated with that country's top skaters.

Team Time Trial

Three hours after the solo marathon, Sarmiento and Tom Peterson were members of the Adams Inline team that won the team time trial event.

The other members of the Adams Inline 1 team were Dave Swan, Matt Meyer and Thong Nguyen.

The team suffered a setback in the marathon's first lap when Nguyen dropped out due to a problem with his wheels. But the team soon caught rival Aloe Up, which had started five seconds earlier, and the race was on.

The two teams traded leads for the next 35 laps. But Adams Inline jumped to a 20 second lead by rushing through the mandatory water stop. The team completed the water stop (without taking water) in about 10 seconds. Aloe Up, on the other hand, took about 30 seconds.

After the water stop, Adams Inline began adding about five seconds to its lead on each lap. Before long, it lapped Aloe Up, and the race was essentially over, although the two teams continued to battle for position.

Adams Inline finished with a time of 1 hour, 15 minutes and 50 seconds.

Aloe Up (Morgan Williams, Jeff Terwilliger, Andy Kostka, Randy Plett and Chad Johnson) took second with a time of 1:17:27.4.

Media Machine 2 was third in 1:19:40.2.

The only women's team, Flanders, posted a time of 1:29:46.

On the Concourse

The marathon took place on the upper concourse of the Metrodome sports stadium.

A crowd of about 125 spectators watched the team time trial event.

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