| Planet News Archive Week of Oct 16, 2005 Sunday
(Oct. 16, 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) Monday
(Oct. 17, 2005)
Prois Captures the Action at Long Beach - Fortunately for skaters,  professional photographer Darlene Prois was in California over the weekend to watch her husband and daughter compete in the Long Beach Inline Marathon. She shot lots of great pictures. Here's what she's sent us so far. Come back later in the week for more. (Go to the photos.) (Oct. 17, 2005) Official Motorcycle Led Master Men to Wrong Finish Line! - Members of the lead pack of master  men report that an official event motorcycle led them to the wrong finish line of Sunday's Long Beach Marathon. As a result, they were not included as part of the race results. The four members of the pack were Grant Foster, Dennis Humphrey, Scott Swaney and Andy Zack. Humphrey reached the finish line first. The four were reportedly at least 15 seconds ahead of the next group of master men, which was led by Chris Adams, the official winner of the division. (Go to the Forum discussion.) (Oct. 17, 2005) Tuesday
(Oct. 18, 2005)
More Photos of the Long Beach Marathon - Photographer Darlene  Prois filled the Planet mailbox today with another batch of her brilliant photos of the 2005 Long Beach Inline Marathon. Try as we might, we couldn't get them all posted today. So we'll have to post the rest tomorrow. But in the meantime, here's the first bunch of new arrivals. (Go to photos.) (Oct. 18, 2005) Matzger, Shechter Win North American Marathon Series - Twincam's  Eddy Matzger and K2-Empire's Naomi Shechter finished on top of the first annual North American Inline Marathon Series. The series, organized by Race & Roll magazine, awarded points to registered skaters based on their finish in seven U.S. and Canadian marathons. Matzger and Shechter, both 39, finished on top in the pro divisions. Among the other winners was K2-Empire's Miguel Patino in the pro masters division. ... The winners will split $1100 in prize money. (Go to final NAIMS standings.) (Oct. 18, 2005) On the Forum:
How Do You Make Skaters Mad? - Have them share a racecourse with a bicycle tour and then lead some of them to the wrong finish line! ... Skaters wanted to like the Long Beach Marathon this year. Now they are not sure they want to go back. (Read the discussion!) Wednesday
(Oct. 19, 2005)
The Look of a Winner ... and Other Photos of the Long Beach Marathon! - Most of the photos in the final batch of Darlene Prois' photos of the 2005 Long Beach Inline Marathon are of the finish. Among them is a wonderful shot of Sara Sayasane, the winner of the women's race, grimacing her way to the finish line. The photo speaks volumes about what it takes to win. It also says a lot about the skill and artistry of a wonderful photographer. Thanks, Darlene! (Go to photos.) (Oct. 19, 2005) Astrophysicist Wins World Downhill Cup in Ohio - Wearing skates with  six 80mm wheels, Warren Focke won Sunday's Inline Downhill World Cup in Bainbridge, Ohio. Focke, an astrophysicist at Stanford's linear accelerator in Menlo Park, Calif., won two of the three heats and finished second in the other. Scott Peer took the silver medal; Mark Henley, the bronze. ... Focke used a frame with five 90 mm wheels in one of the qualifying heats but reverted to his 80mm frame for the finals. He said the bigger wheels felt faster but made braking more difficult. (Go to Mark Henley's race report.) (Oct. 19, 2005) Thursday
(Oct. 20, 2005)
The Planet Podcast With World Champion Joey Mantia! - This year, the  young U.S. skater Joey Mantia proved himself to be one of the top inline racers in the world. Returning from a bout of mononucleosis, he won three individual gold medals at the Inline World Championships in China. In this, the Planet's first-ever podcast, Mantia talks about his early days as a rink rat, his skates, the World Championships and his plans for the future. (Go to the Joey Mantia podcast.) (Oct. 20, 2005) Canada Road Race Morphs Into Halloween Skate Weekend - Leave it to San Francisco's  Godfather of Skating, D. Miles Jr., to transform a simple road race into a four-day skate festival. What started out as a late season add-on to Miles' series of Canada Road races has become the "Halloween Inline Surprise," just one slice of a four-day festival of skating. The weekend starts with a special costumed edition of the Friday Night Skate (Oct. 28); continues Saturday with the Halloween Roller Disco in Redwood City; moves Sunday to Canada Road for road skates of 10, 30 and 50 kilometers; and ends Monday with a Halloween skate through the costumed masses of the Castro. ... Amazing! (Here's the Godfather's announcement.) (Oct. 20, 2005) Friday
(Oct. 21, 2005)
How to Grow Inline? ... Target 40-Year-Old Women, Take It Back to the Street - Attendees at last week's  United Skate Schools Group conference in Long Beach, Calif., mulled ways to spark a resurgence of inline skating. One idea was to target 40-year-old women as a primary demographic. Another was to highlight the sport's fitness benefits. Skate education pioneer Dean Kaese said skaters should do the same thing they did 20 years ago when they first popularized the sport: "We skated at conferences and trade shows. We showed up on beach boardwalks with products people could try. Our passion for inline skating was obvious. We need to do the same thing again." (Go to ussg conference press release.) (Oct. 21, 2005) News Alert: Iowa Town Mulls Downtown Skate Ban - The central Iowa  town of Eagle Grove is considering an ordinance that would ban rollerblading, skateboarding and bicycling downtown. Click here to send the town an email opposing the ban. You might want to suggest that instead the town enforce existing laws against vandalism. (Go to the Planet's skate law department.) (Oct. 21, 2005) On the Forum:
Experience Flattens Driveway - Sk84fun's driveway seemed like a double-diamond ski slope when he first buckled on inline skates a few years ago. But "since then, our driveway has miraculously flattened out!" ... (Read sk84fun's "First Time on Inline Skates" story.) | | | Go to the Planet News Archive | | |
