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Don Patton Three years ago, Don Patton's doctor advised him to lose some weight. "He suggested walking for 30 minutes three times a week, but I thought that would be a little boring," said Patton, a manager at Disney World in Orlando, FL. Patton wasn't sure what to do. But then he noticed that Disney was organizing an inline marathon. "And I thought that sounded like fun." So instead of walking, Patton started skating. He began on the trails near his home in Clermont using an old pair of Ultra-wheels. A few months and lost pounds later, he skated the half marathon at Disney. "I thought it was great," he said. His time was 1 hour and 27 minutes — not blazingly fast, but not bad for a recovering couch potato. After the marathon, Patton was hungry for more. He worked on his technique with the help of his growing circle of skate buddies. He also joined the Florida branch of the Redline Speed team. The following year, he started skating full marathons. And as his times dropped, so did his weight. He skated the 2005 Long Beach Marathon in 1 hour and 49 minutes; the 2006 Disney in 1:47; the 2006 Saint Paul in 1:39; the 2006 Northshore in 1:37; and last month's Sguiggy in a very respectable 1:24. Meanwhile, his weight had dropped from 245 to 180 pounds, his ideal weight. "I'm definitely enjoying it," the 42-year-old said about his new skate life. And he's not slowing down. "I've got just two months this year when I don't have a race." Patton is just one of the skaters who have been drawn to the sport by the popular Disney World Inline Marathon. Another is 49-year-old Vicki Sue Merry. Since retiring from the Navy a few years ago, Merry has taken up running marathons in a big way, competing in 39 full and about 30 half marathons. But she also likes to try new things, and when she noticed that the 5th annual Disney Inline Marathon (this Sunday) fell on her 50th birthday, she decided to give it a try. "I pulled out my old skates, and I said, 'You can do this.' " She will be skating the half marathon on Sunday. "I'll celebrate my last day of 49 in the park and then celebrate turning 50 by skating Disney." She hasn't decided yet whether she will continue to skate marathons. "That depends on how I do Sunday," said Merry, who lives in the Pensacola area. But regardless, she plans to keep skating, which she has been doing a couple times a week to get ready for the half marathon. "I do like it," she said. "It's relaxing. And I'm going to keep doing it for the cross-training benefits. It's really great for my balance."
Merry won't be the only birthday girl on the racecourse Sunday. Mary Wiggen and Carol Vaneman, friends from northeast Florida, will be skating the full marathon to celebrate their 60th birthdays. The women are new skaters and not exactly sure what to expect. But they have been training together a few times a week and are confident — or at least hopeful — that they will be able to complete the 26.2-mile race in the alloted three hours. "We're able to maintain a seven minute a mile pace, so we think we'll be OK," Vaneman said. About 1000 skaters are expected to line up for this year's half and full marathon, said Disney spokesman Marques Edge. The event provides skaters with an entire weekend of activities, including an expo (10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at the Milk House) and the All-Star Kids Classic races (1 p.m. Saturday). Skate legend Eddy Matzger will speak during the expo. For the second year in a row, former inline champs Joey Cheek and Derek Parra will be on hand to sign autographs and hand out trophies. Related reading: Help the Newbies! | ||||||||
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