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Team Safe's Dennis Humphrey broke away from the lead pack on the final hill to win the Godfather's 100K Inline Challenge in San Mateo, CA, by about a minute — or so he thought. Turns out he still had one lap to skate. The sign used to tell skaters how many laps to go had misled him. Two laps earlier, it had indicated two laps remaining when, in fact, there were three. Thinking they were done (and glad to be — after nearly three hours on the racecourse), they milled around the finish line for several minutes. Humphrey and Fedak started the Team Safe celebration while Patino changed his infant son's diaper.
But then racer Danny Dunne arrived at the finish line and gave them the bad news. Although a lap behind them, he could tell by looking at his watch that they still had one more lap to go. After some grumbling, Humphrey, Fedak and Patino headed back out onto the road course. Twenty minutes later, Humphrey crossed the finish line — first again, and this time for real. Just behind him was Fedak; then came Patino, two minutes later. Humphey's time, including "coffee break," was 3 hours, 18 minutes and 44 seconds. Humphrey, 52, of Albany, NY, also won the Godfather's Challenge in 2005. Humphrey, Fedak and Patino were part of a lead pack that formed on the second lap of the 10-lap race. The pack also included Twincam's Eddy Matzger, Team Safe's Rob Motta and Bont North America's Grant Foster. Foster dropped out of the race after five laps to claim first in the 50K event. Motta fell behind the leaders during the sixth lap; Matzger, who has won the event several times, fell behind on the eighth lap. Motta caught Matzger on the last lap to claim fourth place. Matzger was fifth. Naomi (Shechter) Patino won the women's 100K with no real competition. She stayed with the men's lead pack at the start of the race but found the pace too fast and dropped back into one of the chase packs. "I could have hung with the pack for five or six laps but not for 10," she said. After the race, Team Safe was awarded the California Cup, which goes to the team that collects the most points in the California Cup inline Racing Series. The weather was nearly ideal for racing: clear and cool at the start with almost no wind, but warming to the mid-70s by the end of the race. The Godfather's 100K and California Cup is organized by the California Outdoor Rollersports Association. ... Comment Related reading
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Copyright © 2007 by Robert Burnson | ||||||||||||||
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