NorthShore Inline Marathon Race Report

Race Date: Saturday, September 13, 2025 – 9:04am

My first outing at the NorthShore Inline Marathon was a frenzied, anxious lead-up. My training was literally zero. I didn’t inline skate one time over the year, except the day before the race to make sure my skates were still operable and my feet wouldn’t wither and die in the boots. 6 days were between finishing Superior 100 and NorthShore Inline – my feet were tender having been heavily bashed for 26 hours straight. Testing my skates, I felt rarely-used muscles in my lower legs and hips recruited to stabilize my rolling body on three 125mm urethane wheels per boot. I signed up due to FOMO. My sister and brother were both registered. I had worked and volunteered for the event many, many times and in a split-second decided it would be super fun. Well, with mere hours until the race as my family arrived in Duluth, nothing was fun and I was really nervous.

Andrew and I picked Emily up from her hotel in the morning with plenty of time to get breakfast and coffee and make the bus to the start. I brought a light set of warm-ups and sandals, left my phone in my van and the key on the tire in the DECC parking ramp. It was right down the ramp and right onto a bus. My siblings and I rode in the back row through the humid morning mist. The forecast was about perfect – a nice pushing tailwind, cloudy and cool. We arrived with so much time to spare so simply found seats and sat. I was nervous but ready to go. Andrew and Emily looked ready to go. Emily had an agenda – she wanted to beat her fastest time and go under 1:50. She said miles in the 3’s would get us there. Andrew and I were on board as best as we all could with the goal to stick together as best we could. I dreaded putting my skates on but the time came to make moves, we were all antsy and I squeezed in. My drop bag was sealed, dropped off and we got in line for the start. It was fun seeing Alivia and Greg, my co-volunteers at the start line. They saw me on the skates while they remained in the safety vests. I had a little bit of FOMO but was excited to rip the race. After planning, setting up and tearing down the finish line so many times, and seeing all the waves go one by one, it was really fun being on the other side. It all seemed so fast. Out of nowhere, we entered the huge mass and our wave started. “3, 2, 1, GO!”

The crowd lurched ahead and I was conscious of the Bibtag rubber timing mats. We were off! The start was exhilarating. It’s a bit of a downhill and my head was on a swivel trying to focus on the huge crowds ahead of me, the road conditions, not falling down, and where my siblings were at. I wasn’t pushing hard at all and going fast. Scary fast. The hill flattened out and I got into a comfortable zone. My stride felt smooth. We crossed the Grandma’s Marathon start line as a unit – me, Emily and Andrew. A little bit of a bottleneck formed, which was stressful, as an ambulance was preparing someone in a stretcher. Yikes. The first mile went by so fast, just over 4 minutes. The second mile was seemingly just a few strides, as I tucked my arm behind my back and crouched down in aero speed skating position. 3 and a half minutes – right on track. The pack was scattered and just as I expected, nobody was really in a draft line. It was easy enough to monitor my speed to stay close to my siblings, which was my main goal. The pace seemed easy, controlled and smooth, and my feet felt fine.

Knife River came in a flash and I didn’t stop for water. I had a baggie of brite crawlers in my waist pouch and no water on me but knew I had a few options for water later in the race. The miles flew by and I enjoyed the tumultuous, moody Lake Superior waves crashing on shore as we sped down the Scenic Highway 61. Several mile splits in a row were under 4 minutes. I confirmed with Emily that we were moving good, feeling good, right on track. I felt myself get personally invested in finishing under 1:50 and started thinking strategy. It was fun watching other skaters come and go and it really seemed like our group was moving nice and steady. Through halfway, things were looking perfect for our threesome. We were all smiles, right on track with about 53 minutes logged for the first half. I was yelling at my siblings, checking in on how they were doing, trying to get Emily excited to dig deep if needed. I took a water bottle at Lakewood, which was kind of a fun experience. It was a smooth handoff with the volunteer. I saw another racer hold their bottle behind their butt with both hands and it was indeed a nice, ergonomical position.

I figured the miles leading into Brighton Beach would offer the fastest and easiest skating until the late stretches of the race. London Road was typically kind of chunky. As if I would really know… Emily had finished the race three other times at least, and I was the first timer. I tried to push us down the final stretches of the Scenic Highway 61, and the wind was doing its part as well. We were making good time. I asked Emily if she wanted some candy, and she took the baggie. I told her she should eat the whole bag for energy. Andrew asked if he could have one or two. I didn’t eat any of them. Oh, well, a sacrifice. We started logging slower miles through London Road. There were more spectators on course, which was fun, but it was sure enough harder skating. It just felt like a little more of a grind and I was trying to push Emily to focus and not squander the time we built up. We need a faster mile! I don’t think she cared for me yapping at her. Andrew was just chugging away silently behind. A little slower of a mile, a little slower, then a 5+ minute mile near 40th Avenue East. I dreaded this part of the Grandma’s Marathon course every year. We had another 5+ minute mile around Glensheen and up Lemon Drop Hill, which I knew as just a killer from Grandma’s. I tried to rile Emily up. She had one or two more gummi worms and I tried to encourage her to eat them. She said they were so sweet! Yeah… that sweet, sweet sugar. I was a bit ahead, excited to get on the freeway, and zoomed through the 26th Avenue East aid station crouched low. Onto the freeway, and it was excellent. I tucked in down the hill to get onto I-35 proper, and let my bearings roll fully out as I waited for my brother and sister to catch up. They did, and I was excited to go, yelling and hollering that we were almost there. I figured it was probably annoying so stopped with the pump-ups. The freeway was so smooth and fun, and there didn’t seem to be as many people around us all of the sudden. I heard the band from a ways back, and eventually saw the UMD marching band in the cusp of the big freeway tunnel. Approaching the entrance, I could feel the sound waves bouncing around everywhere and reverberating through my chest. It was awesome! Once I passed the big band, the echoes into the tunnel were interesting and trippy – it was such a cool experience. I had a goofy smile on my face through all of the tunnels, and checked my watch as we exited towards Lake Avenue. We were really close to Emily’s 1:50 goal but certainly had to hustle. A few roughly 4 minute miles in a row was encouraging. Up the overpass, and I recalled NYC freestyle skater Sonic’s story of not being able to turn or stop and hitting the barrier on the opposite side of the bridge over I-35. We easily made the turn, crossed over the bridge and went down the other side with no problem at all. Emily, Andrew and I conglomerated between the DECC and Aquarium, and hit a massive wind gust turning around towards the bay. For the first time all day, we were going northeast, directly into the beautiful wind that had pushed us all day. That was rough, but a good reminder of the prime conditions that we had enjoyed. One last push, I checked my watch, and we were under 1:50. Let’s go! The final push around the corner, I went wide, noticed the announcer line, and waited for Emily to arrive in my peripheral vision. I heard our names called by my old boss at NorthShore Inline Marathon Inc., former Executive Director Skeeter Moore. We came across the line with several other racers.

The roll-out area was fine, I looked around to see Andrew smiling like a goober, and Emily looking proud and tired and happy. I got my medal, and regaled in the entire event experience. It was an awesome experience! Emily went straight to her 363-day-old baby James and our dad. It was awesome seeing Emily complete the race, perhaps a good test of motherhood/personal life balance for her. Emily nabbed a personal best, just seconds over 1:50.

I loved sharing the experience with my siblings, especially after they had helped crew me a few months earlier at Voyageur 50 Miler. I skated into the DECC, got a bit of food to eat, took a leak, and tried to get my drop bag but the line was enormously long. Andrew was in the line – I bailed and chit chatted with friends. The line was absolutely not moving and I figured my drop bag with a change of clothes and my sandals was a long way off and I could get it later. I remembered that I had my key at my minivan so went around to the parking ramp to get my skates off. My feet held up wonderfully, and in general it was a minor toll on my body. There weren’t really any other options out there… the smallest pains would have seemed impossible to deal with.

After the race, we went back to my house for a first birthday party for my nephew, Baby James. It was a joyous occasion, and a super fun weekend. It’s hard to think whether I’d rather skate the race like that again, or race it in the paceline which sounds very fun, or go back to volunteering. As it turns out, which is the story of my life, FOMO caused me to sign up for the race but I felt like I was missing out not setting up arches and scaffolding. FOMO if ya do, FOMO if ya don’t! All I know is NorthShore is a classic Duluth endurance racing event, and one that everybody should be a part of one way or another. I’ll leave it at that!

GPS Data

Race Results

Place: 536/1075
Time: 1:50:17.13
Pace: 4:13

Inline Skates: Rollerblade Endurace 125