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12:14: Recap | Who says you can't skate both ice and inline? Chicagoland Inline Marathon (unofficial) Inline Marathon Elite Men (open pro)
Elite Women (open pro)
Master Men
Master Women Veteran Men
Veteran Women
full results (not yet available) Today's Chicagoland Inline Marathon was full of Olympic ice skaters, including a gold and a silver medalist. Winning the woman's race was U.S. longtrack ice skater Jilleanne Rookard, a Vancouver Olympian. Winning the men's race was U.S. longtracker Justin Stelly, who won after outsprinting two Olympians: Canadian gold medalist Olivier Jean and Switzerland's Roger Schneider. It was the first inline race ever for Olympic silver medalist Trevor Marsicano. The 21-year-old from Ballston Park, NY, skated with the lead pack for two laps before falling off the pace. Not bad for a skater who has never drafted in a paceline before. "He said he actually wants to be the first ice skater to switch to inline," said teammate and friend Jilleanne Rookard. Men's race: The men's race started with a mishap. Il Peloton's Olivier Jean clicked skates with Swiss longtrack skater Roger Schneider shortly after the start. Jean, who won a relay gold in Vancouver, fell. He got back up and started skating but had lost quite a bit of ground. Bont's Justin Stelly, 23, of Lafayette, LA, said the pace in the lead pack was uneven. "There were a lot more attacks than I expected," he said. On the last lap, Jean caught back up and Il Peloton's Sergio Almeralla dropped off the back. Approaching the finish line, Schneider, who holds the world record for inline marathons, started sprinting first. Stelly went after him with Colombia's Mauricio Sierra right behind him. "Mauricio was right on my heels, so I hawked but I hawked a little early because it was hard to tell where the line was so I jabbed again." Sierra was second; Jean, third; Schneider, fourth. Women's race: After the Bont women missed the start, there was not much question about the finish. Ezeefit's Jilleanne Rookard was the only skater left at the front with world-class experience. She led the pack of young skaters, including Janelle Cole, who finished third in Saturday's 10K. "I felt like the old lady in the group," said Rookard, 27, of Woodhaven, MI. "We had a good pack," she said. "At one point, we got a little nervous because we saw that the Bont women were only two minutes back. But the young girls in the back, especially Janelle, kept pushing the pace." The three Bont skaters, Debbie Rice, Erin Jackson and Sophie Webb, had missed the start. "We got there two hours early and we were sitting 50 yards from the starting line," says Rice, 42, of Palmetto, FL. "We got up to warmup and someone yelled that our race went off five minutes ago. So we started without even warming up." Jackson dropped out on the third lap. "We caught all but three of the skaters," said Rice. Rookard won the sprint for first. Cole was second; Webb was third; Rice, fourth. Rookard took a break from two weeks of intense ice training in Milwaukee to skate the event. She said she plans to skate at least two more inline marathons this year. "It feels really good to be back," she said. 11:15 am | Winners: Ezeefit's Jilleanne Rookard — in her return from long-track ice — wins the women's race. (Time: 1:23) Janelle Cole is second. Powerslide's Tony Muse wins the master's race after a tough sprint. Nikko Ramkissoon is second. Cado Motus' Zach Stoppelmoor wins the freshman race. (Time: 1:25) Bont's Debbie Rice and Sophie Webb finally cross the finish line five minutes after Rockard. 11:04 am: Bont's Justin Stelly wins the field sprint easily. Mauricio Sierra is second. Olympic gold medalist Olivier Jean of Il Peloton is third. "Stelly was in control of the sprint," says Ezeefit's manager Glenn Koshi. "He was looking back and just did enough to win. It looked pretty easy for him." Jean finished third despite falling during the race. Adams Inline's Ty Fidler, a newcomer to the elite ranks, finished just five seconds back. Stelly finished in 1 hour and 13 minutes and change. 10:58 am: Ezeefit's Jilleanne Rookard and Janelle Cole (unattached) are in the women's lead pack of four of five women. Asphalt Beach's Jessica Wright and Candy Wong dropped back. Bont's Erin Jackson dropped out of the race. But teammates Debbie Rice and Sophie Webb keep pushing and are now only about 20 seconds behind the women's lead pack. (Maybe not?) 10:54 am | Top finishers advanced marathon: Men:
Women:
10:43 am | Men's leaders: The men's lead pack just finished its second lap. Bont's Justin Stelly was in front again of the pack of eight. They've been on the course for 48 minutes. A minute back, two stragglers give chase. Not sure who they are. The master-veteran's pack is another four minutes back. There are about 15 skaters in the pack, including Hoigaard's Herb Gayle, Powerslide's Tony Muse and Jim Larson. Cado Motus' Zach Stoppelmoor, an 11-year-old junior skater, is just eight minutes behind the leaders. 10:25 am | Bont women missed the start: There was an apparent miscommunication. The race director started all the elite waves together, contrary to the schedule that called for two minutes between the elite starts. But apparently no one told the Bont women (Debbie Rice, Erin Jackson and Sophie Webb). So now they are trying to make up the lost time. They are about five minutes back! 10:19 am: Elite men finish their first lap. There are seven men in the lead pack. Then a little gap. Then a chase pack of eight. As the leaders finish the first lap, they are all standing up, waiting for someone to lead. Bont's Justin Stelly is in front. 10:12 am | Top finishers, half marathon: Men:
Women:
9:56 am: The elite marathon is underway. They'll do three laps of the 8.7-mile course through North Hoffman Estates and the AT&T complex. 9:25 am: The lead pack of the advanced marathon crosses the finish line at the same time as a group of half marathoners. There's no sprint. The leaders are spread out. The winner is Matt Kufer of Extreme Speed. 9:23 am | 10K Winners: Men: Stu Cole, John Currie, Thomas Merchant, Jim Tietz, Joe Rush and Matthew Brooks Women: Angela Crawford, Kimberly Kowalczyk, Pamela Kowalczyk 8:55 am: The lead pack finishes its second (of three) laps. It's still a tight pack of 23 skaters. "No one is breaking away yet," says Dawn Stoppelmoor. 8:50 am: The first five finishers in the half marathon sprint across the line. A few minutes later, a skater finishes on quads. 8:30 am: The lead pack of the full marathon goes by, having finished its first lap. The advanced field is spread out.
Advanced pack in the Chicagoland Inline Marathon photo: Dawn Stoppelmoor The sun is shining now and there's a breeze. 8:22 am: The full marathoners, half marathoners and 10K skaters are all out on the course together. They started at different points on the course, so it's a little hard keeping track of who's who. The half marathon leaders go by with Peter Hirt and Morgan Lofner in front. 8:10 am: The recreation, fitness and advanced skaters just started. 7:45 am | Scene: The sun is trying to peek out from between clouds this morning about Hoffman Estates, site of today's Chicagoland Inline Marathon. The marathon for recreational, fitness and advanced skaters is about to start. The elite marathon starts at 9:45 a.m. In all, about 250 skaters are registered for the full marathon; 230 for the half.
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