Planet Reports on Races... Inline Planet reports on skate races and events listed in reverse order of publication. For pre-race stories, see Race Previews under the Departments heading on the left. Italians Dominate in Rainy Rennes
 World Cup newcomer Simona Di Eugenio escaped with four others and won the sprint in today's Rennes World Inline Cup in France. MMCmicro Salomon's Massimiliano Presti made it two for four with a victory in the rain-soaked men's race. (Go to the Planet story.) (May 7, 2006) Upset in Basel!
 Underdog Athleticum Rollerblade upset the big boys in today's Basel World Inline Cup in Switzerland with a dominating performance that added drama to the World Cup's first team time trial. (Go to the Planet story.) (April 29, 2006) Finster, Barbotin Win World Cup in Paris
 Salomon's Nathalie Barbotin went on a solo breakaway to win today's Val d'Europe marathon in Paris. In the men's race, Australian Danny Finster marked his return to World Cup racing with his first-ever win. (Go to Planet story.) (April 22, 2006) Peterson, Starykowicz Win Again in the Metrodome
 Peter Starykowicz borrowed a tactic from the Indy 500 to win today's Metrodome Inline Marathon in Minneapolis. Kara Peterson finished third overall to win the pro women's division. (Go to the Planet story.) (April 22, 2006) Mantia, Bowe Win Again in Florida
 Luigino's duo lightning bolts Joey Mantia and Brittany Bowe blazed the way at the weekend's Tampa Classic Invitational in Florida. Mantia proved particularly dominating, easily winning all three of Sunday's outdoor events. (Go to Planet story.) (April 17, 2006) Jessica Smith, Max Presti Win in Korea
 Skating solo, without the help of teammates, Hyper's Jessica Smith sprinted through the women's pack with about 300 meters left in the race and claimed a narrow victory in today's Seoul World Inline Cup in South Korea. "It feels really good," she told the Planet. In the men's race, Salomon Massimiliano Presti caught Rollerblade's Jorge Botero in the final meters for the win. (Go to the Seoul coverage.) (April 9, 2006) Mantia, Bowe Rule the Mouse!
 The young World Team stars Joey Mantia and Brittany Bowe scored victories today in what turned out to be the smallest, though perhaps the happiest, Disney World Inline Marathon. (Go to the Planet story and results.) (April 2, 2006) Cheryl Ezzell Returns to Win the Road Rash
 Hall of Famer Cheryl Ezzell emerged from retirement today to win the women's division of the Texas Road Rash inline marathon. Among the men, Adam Miller was the winner for the second year in a row. After the race, Cheryl told the Planet about her return to racing. (Go to the Planet story and results.) (March 26, 2006) Surprise Winner in Vegas 10,000 Meters
A relatively unknown skater from Washington State surprised the favorites to win the 10,000 meters today in the Las Vegas High Roller Invitational. Nancy Lauritzen says that when she pulled away from the lead pack no one wanted to follow. (Go to Planet story.) (March 20, 2006) Joey Mantia Skates a Blue Streak
 Expect Joey Mantia to be strong again this year. The 20-year-old Powerslide skater clocked 44.5 seconds in the 500 meters Saturday at the Las Vegas High Roller Invitational. That's six-tenths of a second below the U.S. record, set last year by Jeremy Anderson. (Go to race highlights.) (March 20, 2006) Wolverine Women Hit Jackpot in Vegas
 The perennially powerful Wolverine women dominated the relay events at the Las Vegas High Roller Invitational yesterday. The Michigan women won the 3-lady relay and made up 3 of the members of the winning 4-lady squad. (Go to race highlights.) (March 18, 2006) Colombian Wins Season's First Marathon - Colombian  champion Julian Rivera pulled away from the pack near the finish line to win today's Mardi Gras Marathon in Lafayette, La. U.S. junior world team member Courtney Bellais won the women's race. (Go to the Planet story.) (Feb. 25, 2006) The 2005 Silver Strand Half Marathon in Words and Pics - Did you miss  last weekend's Silver Strand Half Marathon in San Diego? Don't despair. There's always next year. And in the meantime, take a look at these photos by Ken Cleaver and Larry Quimby. Larry not only let the Planet post one of his photos, but he sent us his race report to go along with it. (Go to photo and report.) (Nov. 15, 2005) Lewis, Sayasane Win Long Beach Marathon - Dane Lewis and Sara  Sayasane won today's Long Beach Inline Marathon in California. The race was marred again this year by problems caused by putting skaters and cyclists on the racecourse at the same time. (Go to the Planet story ... with finish line photos!) (See list of Top Finishers.) (Oct. 16, 2005) Athens to Atlanta Tradition Carried on at Two Weekend Events - The spirit  of the Athens to Atlanta Road Skate rolled through the Georgia countryside Sunday despite the cancellation of the official event. Thirteen skaters showed up for the Alternate a2a at a park east of Atlanta. A smaller group insisted on skating the traditional road course, traffic control be damned. (Read the Planet story.) (Oct. 10, 2005) Saggiorato, Mendez Win the Berlin Marathon - Fila's Luca Saggiorato  proved himself the master of the field sprint once again Saturday as he won the final event of the 2005 World Inline cup: the Berlin Marathon. The women's race was won by K2-Empire's Briggyte Mendez with Powerslide's Brittany Bowe just behind her. (Read the Planet story.) (Sept. 25, 2005) Saggiorato, Baena Win the Northshore Marathon - Today's Northshore Inline Marathon ended in a large field sprint with Fila's Luca  Saggiorato finishing just ahead of teammater Max Presti. ... Hyper's Cecilia Baena won the women's race, just ahead of the young U.S. racer Brittany Bowe. Protests were filed over the women's finish, which Bont's Bill Begg described as a "grab fest." (Read the Planet's report!) (Sept. 17, 2005) U.S. Junior Women Keep Winning; Argentine Women Send Rival to Hospital - The U.S. girls and Colombian women continued their domination of the 2005 World Speed Skating Championships today in Suzhou, China. ... Meanwhile, the U.S. men win a bronze, and the Argentine women get a little agitato and come out swinging. (Here's the Planet's Day Six Coverage of the World Speed Skating Championships!) (Sept. 1, 2005) U.S. Junior Women Win Four Medals on First Day of Championships - The U.S. junior  women showed surprising depth on the first day of the World Speed Skating Championships in Suzhou, China. U.S. girls won both of today's events and collected two other medals. Heather Richardson of High Point, N.C. won the 300-meter time trial. Emily Scott of Belleview, Fla., won the 15,000-meter elimination. (Here's the Planet's day-by-day coverage of the World Speed Skating Championships!) (Aug. 26, 2005) Pouring Rain, Hard Falls and Steep Climbs at the St. Gallen One-Eleven - The St. Gallen One-Eleven is the  top ultra-distance marathon in Europe and maybe the world. One of the top U.S. ultra-distance skaters, Louis Beaudoin of Berkeley, Calif., competed in the 68 mile event for the first time on Sunday. The 24-year-old electrical engineer sent back an epic report, recounting the frenzied start, his nasty spill, his fight back for position, and the daunting 20 K final hill. It's a great read! (Read it here!) (Aug. 23, 2005) Bret Whitman, Jessica Smith Win the St. Paul Marathon
The Hyper  Racing Team showed its strength today at the St. Paul Inline Marathon, taking the first two spots in both the men's and women's races. Bret Whitman finished first in the men's race with Dane Lewis in second. Jessica Smith won the women's race with Cecilia Baena in second. (Here's the Planet story including observations from Bont's Glenn Koshi, who was in the pace car!) (Aug. 21, 2005) Louis Beaudoin Wins Big in the Napa Valley Inline Marathon
Twenty- four-year-old Louis Beaudoin pulled away from the pack shortly after the midway point in today's Napa Valley Inline Marathon and went on to win by more than a minute and a half. Finishing behind him in second and third were two members of the Hyper Racing Team: Dane Lewis and Troy Atwell. ... Naomi Shechter won the women's race. (Here's the Planet story!) (Aug. 7, 2005) New Zealand Skater Steals the Show at 2005 World Games
New Zealand  speed skater Kalon Dobbin won his second gold medal today at the 2005 World Games in Duisberg, Germany. The win came in the finals of the 500 meters. So far, Dobbin has medaled in every speed skating event at the sub-Olympic World Games. Nonetheless, Argentina commands a big lead in the medal totals at the halfway point of the event. (Here's the Planet story!) (July 20, 2005) Brittany Bowe Sets U.S. Record in 100 Meters
Seventeen-year-old Brittany Bowe set  a U.S. record Monday in the 100 meter time trial during the first day of the U.S. National Indoor Speed Skating Championships in Pensacola, Fla. The Team Florida speedster skated the distance in 10.742 seconds. Her time broke the old mark, set by Julie Glass in 2002, by 18 hundredths of a second. (Here's the Planet report on the first day of Indoor Nationals!) (July 19, 2005) Botero Wins Second Gold Amid Racecourse Mayhem at Vallee de Joux
The normally well-run  World Inline Cup suffered some road rash of its own Saturday at the new Vallee de Joux marathon in Switzerland. After last minute changes, the racecourse still proved hazardous with lots of racers falling and hard feelings remaining after the finish line. (Here's the Planet story!) (July 4, 2005) Romani Gives Salomon First World Cup Win in Photo Finish in Zurich
Until yesterday,  Saab-Salomon was often the bridesmaid but never the bride of this year's World Inline Cup. Team members Pascal Briand and Franck Cardin could be counted on to regularly finish second. But no team member had managed to cross the finish line first. That changed Sunday when Salomon's new skater, Pier Davide Romani, won the Zurich World Inline Cup. (Here's the Planet story with the finish-line photo and a list of top finishers!) (June 20, 2005) Big Wheels, Broken Records and Spills at Outdoor Nationals
Driving home from  Colorado, skater and race official Jim White shared his thoughts about the recently concluded 2005 Outdoor National Championships in Colorado Springs, Colo. Among his topics: the proliferations of Big Wheels; the tumbling of records; and the new pay-your-own-way approach to the World Championships. (Here's the Planet story!) (June 10, 2005) Organizer Has Big Plans for Athens Criterium
Inline skating reappeared in this year's Athens Twilight, a sports and music festival in Georgia that used to draw some of the world's greatest skaters. But wait until next year, says organizer Charlie Bennett. "My plan is to grow the Twilight back to its legendary status!" ... Go for it, Charlie! (Here's the Planet story!) (May 3, 2005) Rain, Lightning Short-Circuits 2005 Disney Inline Marathon
Disney World  converted its annual inline marathon into a skate tour this morning due to safety concerns posed by rain and lightning. Stung by criticism of last year's event, Disney officials decided to take no chances this year. Ironically, soon after the start of the skate tour, "it turned out to be a semi-decent day," said Disney's Paul Ortolano. (Here's the Planet storylet!) (May 1, 2005) Busy Weekend in Europe Gives Hedrick a Fresh Inline Victory, Crowns a New Presti
It seems like every speed skater in Europe was competing this weekend in either the Hamburg Marathon or the Gross-Gerau Criterium. Among the winners were USA's Chad Hedrick, who showed that he can still win on wheels, and the Italian Guiseppi Presti, father of the fabulous Presti boys. (Here's the Planet storylet!) (April 25, 2005) Innovative Metrodome Inline Marathon Proves a Success
A 19-year-old  Illinois skater won the individual marathon. But the biggest show of the day was the team marathon, which attracted a cheering section that would have made the Vikings proud. ... And it all happened indoors! (Here's the Planet report of the Metrodome Inline Marathon!) (April 18, 2005) Fila Flexes its Muscle, Bont Proves Itself a Contender in Taipei World Inline Cup
Rollerblade's  Jorge Botero's sixth place finish in today's Taipei Inline Marathon was enough for him to hang on to the lead in the World Inline Cup. But hot on his heels now are Luca Saggiorato and Max Presti, who finished first and second in a | 
