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National Roller Cup
Live Blog: 2012 Chicagoland Inline Tour and Marathon
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July 22, 2011
Planet report
12:44 am | Justin Stelly interview
For Bont USA's Justin Stelly, today's race was almost too easy.
"I used it as a training race," says Stelly, 24, of Kaplan, LA.
The only skater who has managed to beat him outdoors this year, teammate Harry Vogel, bowed out of the race at the last minute — and so did one of the other strong contenders, David Sarmiento of Adam's Test Team.
That left Stelly to dominate, and he led the race from start to finish, with the exception of a few minutes at the start.
"At the beginning, I got into third and just kind of settled into my skates and stretched a little," he says.
But then he went to the front. After leading for a while, he pulled off to the side to see if anyone else wanted to lead. But no one did, he says.
On the start of the second lap, going up a rise, "I opened up my stride and kept the pace a little high and just kept going."
Soon he had a big gap, which only grew and he rolled on to his second marathon victory of the 2012 season.
Next stop for Stelly is Outdoor Nationals in two weeks in Colorado Springs, where he hopes to earn a spot on the USARS World Team. Today's win puts him in first place in the 2012 National Roller Cup.
11:45 am | Janelle Cole interview
Bont's USA's Janelle Cole is having a great month. Last week, she finished second in the overall women's rankings at Indoor Nationals. Today, she won the Chicagoland Inline Tour with a solo victory in the marathon.
And, she's only 15.
Janelle is a member of the GR Speed Team in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she is being home-schooled.
She says today's marathon was "really a fun race."
"Everyone was together at the beginning, and we had a pretty good pace line," she says.
The pack stayed together until the last lap when Janelle attacked, twice, on the hills.
The first time, Janelle took a lead of about 100 yards only to have the pack catch her on the flat. The second time, "I looked back at the top of the hill and they were — I don't know — 150 yards back, and I just kept going."
She finished more than a minute ahead of the chase pack.
Today was her first win in a major U.S. marathon. She finished second in last year's Northshore and Chicagoland inline marathons.
11:20 am | Cole wins
Bont's USA's Janelle Cole also wins on a solo breakaway. She finishes about two minutes ahead of second place Morgan McKey of Ezeefit Sports. Next comes Melissa Dahlmann of Adam's Test Team.
10:52 am | Stelly wins
Bont USA's Justin Stelly stands up and raises his arms in the air as he crosses the finish line at least a minute ahead of the chase pack.
Justin Stelly crosses finish line
Shift Racing's Jesse Pauley from Canada won the field sprint for second place. Flyke's Tanner Worley was third. Next came three Pinnacle racers: Ty Fidler, Steffan Howard and Bill Numerick.
10:44 am | Stelly on breakaway
Bont's Justin Stelly took off on a solo breakaway and finished the second lap more than a minute ahead of the chase pack.
The chase pack includes Tanner Worley, who is now skating for the Flyke team (we were just informed), and three Pinnacle racers: Bill Numerick (leading the pack), Ty Fidler and Steffan Howard.
10:34 am | Cole leads the women
Bont's Janelle Cole leads the women after one lap. "She didn't look too tired at all," says Dawn Stoppelmoor.
There were five women in the lead pack. Here's a video of them finishing the first lap:
Find more videos like this on Inline Planet Skater Network
10:16 am | Stelly leads the men
As the men come around on their first of three laps around the Chicagoland racecourse, Bont's Justin Stelly is positioned at the front of the large lead pack.
The rain has stopped and most of the water has already evaporated. "The road looks pretty dry," says Dawn Stoppelmoor.
Just behind Stelly is Simmons' Tanner Worley, a 14-year-old indoor-outdoor skater who is currently in second place in the Tour.
There are 10 to 15 skaters in the lead pack.
9:55 am | Start in the rain
With a steady rain falling, event organizer Peter Starkowicz just started the final wave of the pro marathon: the elite women.
The top elite men started 15 minutes ago, before the rain started. But by the time the second wave (master men) took off, a light rain was falling.
"Right now, it's like a slow, steady rain," says Dawn Stoppelmoor, whose son Zach started with the first wave. "It's not a downpour or anything; it's more like a spring rain."
9:06 am | Leaders after Day 1 of Chicagoland Inline Tour
So far, Bont USA is in control of the Tour.
Bont's Justin Stelly and Janelle Cole won the first two stages of the pro tour yesterday.
Simmons' Tanner Worley, 14, is in second place in the men's tour; CadoMotus's Ryan Weiderhold is in third.
Current NROC leader Bill Numerick of Pinnacle Racing is in ninth place — too far back to have any chance to hold onto his first-place NROC ranking after the weekend.
Ezeefit's Morgan McKey, 15, is in second place in the women's tour; Calvano's Morgane Echardour and Adam's Test Team Melissa Dahlmann are tied for third.
Adam's Test Team's David Sarmiento and Bont's Harry Vogel both skipped the race.
8:48 am Sunday | Scene
It's a pleasant morning in Hoffman Estates: partly cloudy, 75 degrees (F). The fitness and advanced skaters are already out on the racecourse. Their marathon started 50 minutes ago.
The first wave of pros starts at 9:45 am.
Before they start, there will be two kids races: a 100-yard dash and a 2-mile skate.
5:30 pm Saturday | Photos from Day 1
Brent Bovitz's photos of Day 1 of the Chicagoland Inline Tour
Planet preview of the Chicagoland Inline Marathon
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