This morning skaters of all levels skated from Two Harbors, MN to Canal Park in Duluth, MN while competing in the 2018 North Shore Inline Marathon. In the Elite Division, Ken Kuwada of Argentina completed the race in 56:56.12. Although this is the fastest time recorded for a NSIM, the finish line was 900 feet shorter this year. This means Ken’s time will stand as the new record for the new course. Corinne Stoddard of Tacoma, Washington took first place in the women’s elite Division. There were 72 men and 12 women competing on the elite level this year.
The North Shore Marathon itself had 787 competitors of which 439 were men and 348 women. Matt Kitzis of Kakauna, WI took 1st place in the men’s division, while Sara Smith of Thomasville, NC clenched 1st place in women’s. It was nice to see aggressive skaters such as Derek McClain, Mike Lufholm, Myles Cotter-Sparrow, Mark Sundell and Eric Cruz cross over disciplines to compete in the marathon. Legendary aggressive skater Tom Hyser placed 13th overall and 1st place in the 40-44 age group, while Tracy White placed 15th overall and 2nd in the 40-44 age group.
Elite Men’s Top 3 Finishers
1. Ken Kuwada (ARG) – 56:56.12
2. Justin Stelly (Murray, UT, USA) – 57:49.17
3. Sebastian Guzman (VEN) – 57:49.18/p>
Elite Women’s Top 3 Finishers
1. Corinne Stoddard (Tacoma, WA) – 1:12:09.22
2. Franchesca Pasquarella (Orlando, FL) – 1:12:09.26
3. Kelsey Helman (Hagerstown, MD) – 1:12.12
Men’s Top 3 Finishers
1. Matt Kitzis (Kaukauna, WI) – 1:08:19.41
2. Aivin Guzman (McGaheysville, VA) – 1:08:20.97
3. Josiah Hendrickson (Bemidji, MN) – 1:08:22.22
Women’s Top 3 Finishers
1. Sara Smith (Thomasville, NC) – 1:08:27.98
2. Giorgia Birkeland (White Bear Lake, MN) – 1:09:35.43
3. Erin Topley (Minneapolis, MN) – 1:16:48.78
Recap Video of the Official Livestream Broadcast
Links
You can see the full list of results here.
Beautiful day for the race and a sweet tailwind! The finish line got moved due to construction on a seawall. The full marathon was 900 feet short unfortunately so technically no record.
Totally dishonest and crazy to create a new distance just to protect the old record of Chad Hedricks , why they had to do it???? the interesting thing was to have Chad Hedricks record to permit the improvement of it, Makes no sense!