National Roller Cup

Live Blog: 2012 Minnesota Half Marathon Inline

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August 4, 2012

Planet report

9:40 am | Rain

With all skaters off the racecourse, the rain finally starts falling.

9:19 am | More on the pack sprint

With a big pack and narrow lane, position was everything in the sprint of today's men's race.

Simmons Racing's Alex Fedak, 47, of Oklahoma City, had attacked on a hill before the finish line and taken the lead. But once the pack caught him, he "rotated" to the back of the pack.

"That was my big mistake," Fedak said.

Soon the pack started to accelerate for the finish, and on the narrow road, Fedak couldn't move up in the pack of 15 skaters.

"I just didn't get position for the finish," he said. "It was all about position. The guys who had good position did well. But I couldn't get position so I just kind of rolled through (the finish line). I wish I had made a move a little earlier because I had everything left."

8:40 am | Sarmiento interview (and men's race recap)

"Attack and attack and attack — that's how the race was," says the winner of today's men's race, David Sarmiento of Adam's Test Team.

But Sarmiento wasn't the one attacking. Plagued this season by a sore back, he has only trained lightly, so "I was just waiting for the sprint," he says.

Shortly after the start of the race, a Twincam skater attacked, accelerating ahead of the pack. Next a Hoigaard's skater went off the front. Then Craig Rodriguez (the previously unidentified skater wearing the Bont skinsuit) broke away.

But each time, the pack caught up.

As the finish approached, the pack was back together and started to speed up. "Hernan Diaz was behind me and then, with about 200 yards left, I was in front and I just skated as hard as I could," Sarmiento says.

Diaz, 52, of Swanee, Kansas, finished second. Here's how he describes the finish:

"We (Sarmiento and Diaz) didn't sprint. We just accelerated to a very high speed in the last mile.

Sarmiento was a little worried about his back, Diaz said. "He said, 'In case, I don't look good. You have to go.' But then when we got near the finish line, he says, 'I'm good, I'm good, I'm good.'"

Bont USA's Norm Kirby, 45, of Colorado Springs, finished third, just behind Diaz.

The win will likely move Sarmiento into second place in the 2012 National Roller Cup behind Bont USA's Justin Stelly.

Sarmiento, 30, of Sleepy Eye, MN, says that because of his injured back, he may hold off racing until the Northshore Inline Marathon, Sept. 15 in Duluth. "It's up to my back," he said.

8:18 am | Video of men's finish

Find more videos like this on Inline Planet Skater Network

8:13 am | Peterson repeats

A good day for Adam's Test Team. Team member Kara Peterson, a 42-year-old Minneapolis police officer, won the women's race, finishing all alone, a few minutes ahead of teammate Melissa Dahlmann.

8:09 am | Mad finish

It was a fast field sprint for the men. Adam's Test Team's David Sarmiento won.

8 am | Breakaway videos

Find more videos like this on Inline Planet Skater Network

Find more videos like this on Inline Planet Skater Network

7:50 am | Half way

An unidentified skater was about 70 yards in front of the lead pack at the halfway point in the race. We're not sure who he was. He had a Bont logo on his black-and-white skinsuit. The pack was within striking distance and looking hungry.

In the women's race, Adam's Test Team's Kara Peterson and Melissa Dahlmann were skating together and minutes ahead of the women's pack.

Find more videos like this on Inline Planet Skater Network

7:39 am | They're off

The pro men started first ... about 75 of them. Then a few minutes later, they started the 15 or so pro women.

The racers skate south on the road course overlooking the Mississippi River. Then they loop back, passing the starting line, and do another turn-around before heading for home.

Still no rain.

2012 Minnesota Half Marathon album

7:15 am | Rain wheels or not?

The roads are dry now. But it's supposed to start raining again at race time (7:30 am). "So everybody's going back and forth between rain wheels and no rain wheels," says Adam Bradley, owner of Adam's Inline.

Aside from the threat of rain, it's a pleasant morning with temperatures in the 60s.

Planet preview of the 2012 Minnesota Half Marathon

 

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