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2005 Texas Road Rash: U.S. Marathon Season Begins With Adam Miller and Stephanie Combs Winning the Road Rash By Robert "Just the Factoids" Burnson Adam Miller of Team The 22-year-old native of Independence, Mo., finished the inline marathon in 1 hour 15 minutes and 1.6 seconds. His teammate, Ryan Chrisler, crossed the finish line about 13 seconds later, to claim second. Last year's winner, Randy Bowman won the sprint for third place, finishing 18 seconds behind Chrisler. He had been injured during his warmup before the race. Top Women Stephanie Combs, a 15-year-old from Houston, Texas, was the first female to cross the finish line. Her time was 1 hour 17 minutes 51.2 seconds. Following her were Gianna Guerino and Brenda Harris. Weather Conditions Heavy rain fell on Saturday night in Round Rock soaking the racecourse, a five mile loop around Old Settlers Park. The pavement was a little wet at the start of the marathon but dry by the finish, said race organizer Richard Littrell of Hill Country Speed. City workers flagged wet spots so racers could skate around them. During warmups, three skaters, including Bowman, fell on the slick pavement. Bowman ended up with a Texas-sized patch of road rash on his left shin. "He said that by the end of the race, he was kind of feeling that sting and that burn," Littrell said. Marathon Narrative The marathon started on time at 7:45 a.m. and went off without a hitch, said Littrell, who served as the race announcer. On the first lap, a lead pack of about 22 skaters formed, he said. By the second lap, the lead pack had thinned out to about a dozen. On the third lap, the leaders, among them Bowman, Miller and Chrisler, picked up the pace, and more skaters dropped back. "One of our local skaters, who is on the fringe of pro and advanced, said he tried as hard as he could to hang on (with the lead pack) for the first three laps, but that on the third lap, when they turned it on, there was no way to keep up with them," Littrell said. On the last lap, when Littrell spotted the leaders about a half mile from the finish, Miller was several seconds ahead of Chrisler. Further back was a group of three or four skaters, including Bowman, fighting for third place.
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... Copyright © 2006 by Robert Burnson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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