National Roller Cup

Live updates from the racecourse
2010 Ottawa Inline Festival

By Planet staff
Sept. 5, 2010

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Field sprint at the end of the half marathon

Final sprint in half marathon

5:33 pm | Doucet, Echardour win the half: Speed Skate World's Peter Doucet won today's Triple Crown ... and not just on the basis of points, he won all three races.

He completed his sweep minutes ago with a win in the half marathon.

Il Peloton's Sergio Almeralla, last year's Triple Crown winner, finished just behind Doucet to claim second and redeem his 17th place finish in the full marathon.

Adrian Loewen was third. Aaron Arndt finished nine seconds back in fourth place.

Speed Skate World's Morgane Echardour won the women's half marathon, spoiling a perfect day for Martine Charbonneau, who won the 10K and full marathon. Nonetheless, Charbonneau's second-place finish was enough to win the women's Triple Crown on points.

Third in the half marathon among the women was Asphalt Beach's Candy Wong.

5:01 pm | Final race - half marathon: Il Peloton's Sergio Almeralla and Peter Doucet are in the lead at the half way point of the final event, the half marathon. In third is Adrian Lowen of Ottawa.

Martine Charbonneau is once again leading the women.

Before the race we asked Doucet how he was holding up after two races. "After the 10K I was feeling like a truck ran me over," he said. "But at this point, I'm feeling as well as everyone else."

Start of the half marathon

4:30 pm | Doucetian victory in the marathon: One thing you've got to say for Speed Skate World's Peter Doucet, he knows how to read a race.

A less experienced skater might have spent his energy chasing the whole race, but the 32-year old from Mississauga played a brilliant waiting game that, along with some very strong legs, propelled him to victory in today's inilne marathon.

Shortly after the start of the race, Stephane Tremblay of the Ottawa Skate Club shot off from the right side of the peloton. "I said, OK. Let's see how long I go go before they catch me," says the 39-year-old mathematician.

Doucet saw him take off but didn't get excited. "Stephane likes to lead. He always does. So my idea was to let him go and hope that the other teams would chase and decrease the work load for me."

It worked. For a couple laps, Tremblay pushed hard and built a big lead. At one point, he was one minute and 45 seconds ahead of the lead pack.

But eventually, he started to tire, skating alone with the wind in his face on the uphill portion of the racecourse.

With a little more than one lap to go, Doucet and Il Peloton's Sergio Almeralla took off from the front of the pack and went after Tremblay.

They were getting closer to him when Almeralla tired and dropped back.

"I was watching Stephane and managing my energy and reelling him in slowly," Doucet says.

He caught him before the final turnaround about seven kilometers before the finish. "Then I slowed down a little so he could stay in my draft."

Doucet pulled away at the end to finish 11 seconds ahead of Tremblay.

4:17 pm | Charbonneau interview: K2/Empire Speed's Martine Charbonneau, the winner of the women's marathon, says her goal today was just survival.

"This year I didn't do so much skating," says Charbonneau, a 32-year-old graphic designer who lives in Montreal. "So today, I just wanted to see if I was in good shape and could still stay with the guys — and I was able to."

She hung with the chase pack for the full 42 miles. "Usually in the race, I try to do some of the work for the pack. But today I just wanted to survive and so I stayed in the pack."

She finished ninth overall with a time of 1:13:40.07.

Field sprint for the second chase pack

Finish of the inline marathon

3:20 pm | Doucet, Charbonneau win marathon: Speed Skate World's Peter Doucet wins the marathon at the 2010 Ottawa Inline Festival.

Doucet caught and passed Stephane Tremblay on the final lap of the marathon and finished about 15 meters ahead of him.

Il Peloton's Morgan Williams, 47, of Toronto, won the field sprint for third. Teammate Sergio Armeralla finished at the back of the pack.

Martine Charbonneau won the women's race. Speed skate world's Morgane Echardour was second. Shannon Hegarty was third.

It's starting to blow now. Looks like a storm is on its way.

Leaders at the end of three laps

3:00 pm | Third lap: Stephane Tremblay remains in the lead. But Peter Doucet is now just 12 seconds back. Next, leading the chase pack, is Sergio Armeralla. There are now 17 skaters left in the chase pack. Martine Charbonneau is one of them.

One lap to go.

2:43 pm | Second lap: Stephane Tremblay of Saint-Jérôme, QC, is still away on his solo breakaway. But Il Peloton's Sergio Armeralla and Speed Skate World's Peter Doucet are giving chase and appear to be closing the gap. They're about 20 seconds back.

The chase pack is another 500 meters back. Speed Skate World's Morgane Echardour is at the back of the pack. Martine Charbonneau may have been ahead of her, tucked in with the men.

Chase pack at the end of the first lap of the marathon

2:30 pm | First lap: Stephane Tremblay finishes the first lap far ahead of the other skaters. He's about a minute ahead of the chase pack of about 30 to 40 skaters. The Pauley brothers, Jade and Jesse, are in the lead.

A few drops of rain are falling, which won't help the skaters on the tight turns.

The start of the inline marathon

2:04 pm | The marathon: The second event of the Triple Crown, the marathon, is underway.

The race is four up-and-back loops on the Rockcliffe Parkway. We'll be providing updates at the end of each lap.

Peter Doucet wins the 10K

1:50 pm | Doucet wins 10K: Speed Skate World's Peter Doucet wins the sprint for first place. Leonardo Frusteri of Toronto is second and Vincent Meunier of Aylmer, Quebec is third.

Doucet's time is 16:37.07.

Martine Charbonneau wins the women's 10K, tucked into the men's chase pack. Speed Skate World's Morgane Echardour is second, 50 seconds back; Shannon Hegarty is third.

Charbonneau's time is 16:39.76.

1:20 pm | Numbers: How many skaters registered for today's events? ... 78 for the marathon, 12 for the 5K, 45 for the 10K and 55 for the half marathon.

Photo: Nathalie Larouche

1:15 pm | Start of the 10K: The horn sounds, the crowd yells and the skaters take off in the first race of the of the 2010 Ottawa Inline Festival, the 10K.

"They were eager but surprisingly subdued," said Nathalie Larouche at the start/finish line in Ottawa.

She blames this on the cool weather and cloudy skies, provided by Hurricane Earl.

At least during the 10K, the skaters will be battling strong winds on the Rockcliffe Parkway.

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