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Colin Thomas passed the leaders on the final turn of today's Houston Inline Marathon and then hawked at the line to finish inches ahead of Colombia's Eudes Diazgranados. It was the first marathon win ever for the 15-year-old skater, who collected a silver medal this year in the junior division of the World Championships. "It feels pretty good," he said after the race. "I'm happy." Thomas's time was 1 hour, 18 minutes and 0.39 seconds. Thomas spent most of his time during the race in the lead pack or chasing breakaways, several of which were sparked by the two Colombian skaters Diazgranados and Antonio Ruales, who finished third.
"I was just trying not to let anyone get away," said Thomas, who skates for Luigino Racing. "So I had to chase down just about every breakaway." Another skater who figured in the action was Hyper's Justin Stelly. But after a fall midway through the race, he pulled out. The two Colombians, both 17, pulled away from the lead pack on the fifth of six laps of the racecourse in downtown Houston. Skating hard, they grabbed a lead of about one-quarter mile. But Thomas, along with Kevin Quandt and Dallas Hebert, mounted a counterattack and caught the Colombians with one lap remaining. At that point, the pace slowed down. "Everyone was just trying to position themselves for the finish," Thomas said. With 300 meters left to go, Hebert and Quandt started sprinting. The Colombians went with them and passed on the inside. Thomas followed on the outside but cut to the inside on the final corner to take the lead. With 30 meters to go, "I sprinted to the line and it was between me and one of the Colombians (Diazgranados); I hawked and won." Thomas of Cypress, TX, was a member of the U.S. squad that won the track relay at the 2007 World Championships in Cali, Colombia. He finished fourth in the 1000 meters. The main bunch finished just behind the leaders with Shawn Smith and Dallas Hebert in a virtual tie for fourth place. Women's Race
Emily Scott (left) was initially declared the winner of the women's division at the Houston Inline Marathon. But a review of timing data revealed that 16-year-old Briana Kramer (right) crossed the line six-hundredths of a second ahead of her teammate. (photo: Paul Jahn) Briana Kramer and Emily Scott broke away from the small women's lead pack at the start of the final lap and built a lead of about a minute before crossing the finish line together, nearly two minutes ahead of the chase pack. Scott, 18, of Springfield, MO, was initially named the winner. But a review of timing chip data later revealed that Kramer crossed the finish line six-hundredths of a second ahead of Scott. Kramer's time was 1:24:09.39. The 16-year-old from High Point, NC was a member of this year's U.S. Junior World Team. Scott was a member of the adult World Team. Both Scott and Kramer skate for Powerslide USA. The teammates started a breakaway on the second lap that winnowed the women's lead pack from ten to four. Only Bont North America's Debbie Rice and Houston Inline's Olivia Baker were able to hang on. After the Powerslide skaters took off, Rice and Baker stayed together until the sprint, which Rice won, finishing three-quarters of a seconds ahead of Baker. Rice's time was 1:25:55.76. Masters Bont's Conny Strub won the masters women's division in a time of 1:31:29.34. Texas Flyers' Brenda Harris was second; Carol Hochstein, third. Bont North America's Norman Kirby won the men's masters' division with a time of 1:18:05.71. Team Safe's Alex Fedax was second; David Weber, third. The weather for the race was clear and mild. The temperature at the start of the pro race (9:30 a.m.) was about 70 degrees (F). In all, 180 skaters participated in the event, which included a full and half marathon and a fun skate. The full marathon was 25.8 miles. • Add/Read Comments About This Story ... Related reading
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Copyright © 2007 by Robert Burnson | ||||||||||||||
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