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| Men's Inline racers form a pace line near the start of the Northshore Inline Marathon in Two Harbors, Minn. CLINT AUSTIN/NEWS TRIBUNE |
2007-09-12
Kevin Pates, Duluth News Tribune
Published Tuesday, September 11, 2007
The NorthShore Inline Marathon enters its 12th year Saturday as the premier 26.2-mile race in North America. It’s held that position since the race began in 1996.
While entry numbers have remained steady — 3,313 in 2006 and about 3,250 this year — figures have dropped slightly since a record-high 3,806 finishers in 2002.
That drop seems to reflect a national trend.
The Sporting Goods Manufacturing Association notes a drop of 43 percent in recreational inline participation since 2000 in the United States. Through online interviews, the association estimates there are 6.5 million core inliners and 13 million total participants. At the height of the sport, in 1998, there were 32 million inline skaters, according to an association survey.
The third-largest North American race, the Disney World Inline Marathon in Orlando, Fla., canceled its 2008 event after having 904 participants in 2007.
The second-largest North American race, the St. Paul Inline Marathon, had 1,500 entrants last month, although there were just 1,041 finishers in rainy conditions. Entry numbers were down about 200 from 2006.
“We’re experiencing a slight depression in the sport, but to say that there’s been a 43 percent drop the last seven years would be an exaggeration,” said Rick Abrahamson, who owns Abo’s Skate Shop in Duluth and is chairman of the NorthShore Inline Marathon board of directors. “We’re still drawing a lot of people here to race and the event we have is incredible, and we’re working hard at maintenance and retention.”
St. Paul Inline Marathon general manager Adam Kocinski says that race, in its four years, has paralleled the NorthShore Inline Marathon — no growth, but only minimal decline in numbers. St. Paul added a companion 10-mile race to act as a feeder system for the marathon, just as the NorthShore added a half-marathon in 2004. The NorthShore Inline Half-Marathon has about 400 entries this year.
“It’s a little demoralizing not to be growing, but we’re not going away anytime soon,” Kocinski said.
When officials from Disney announced the end of its race last month, no reason was given.
“Our goal and focus is always to provide fresher, newer endurance events for our competitors. We value the sport of inline skating and may explore adding an inline element to our endurance series in the future,’’ Disney said in a statement.
NorthShore Inline Marathon executive director Chuck Carlberg, who has an annual budget of about $290,000, says the race always has been focused on the recreational skater, and that that group has remained loyal to the race. He says that because entries have stayed consistent and sponsorship commitments are up, he considers the race to be healthy.
At one time, the NorthShore race was a member of the World Inline Cup, which brought the best international racers to the Northland, but because of financial considerations, that arrangement stopped after 2005. The NorthShore was then to be a member of the American Roller Cup series, but when Disney canceled, the proposed series fizzled.
This year’s prize money purse is $10,400, with $1,000 going to the top man and woman. New this year is a $10,000 bonus for breaking the course record for men (57 minutes, 18 seconds) and women (1:10:26).
“Certainly we’d attract a deeper elite field if we were connected to the World Cup, but we’d rather spend our money on making this a better race for our core customers. They pay our bills,’’ Carlberg said. “Certainly the interest in inlining is not like it used to be, but we’re holding our own and I consider that a victory.’’
America’s best inline skater, Florida native Joey Mantia of Federal Way, Wash., is a fan of the NorthShore Inline Marathon and said he’d be entered Saturday with or without the course-record bonus offer.
“It’s been on my list of things to do the last few years because it’s the best race in North America,’’ said Mantia.
The only inline marathon races believed to be larger than the NorthShore are Incheon, South Korea, with about 10,000 entrants, and Berlin, Germany, with about 8,000.
Published Tuesday, September 11, 2007
The NorthShore Inline Marathon enters its 12th year Saturday as the premier 26.2-mile race in North America. It’s held that position since the race began in 1996.
While entry numbers have remained steady — 3,313 in 2006 and about 3,250 this year — figures have dropped slightly since a record-high 3,806 finishers in 2002.
That drop seems to reflect a national trend.
The Sporting Goods Manufacturing Association notes a drop of 43 percent in recreational inline participation since 2000 in the United States. Through online interviews, the association estimates there are 6.5 million core inliners and 13 million total participants. At the height of the sport, in 1998, there were 32 million inline skaters, according to an association survey.
The third-largest North American race, the Disney World Inline Marathon in Orlando, Fla., canceled its 2008 event after having 904 participants in 2007.
The second-largest North American race, the St. Paul Inline Marathon, had 1,500 entrants last month, although there were just 1,041 finishers in rainy conditions. Entry numbers were down about 200 from 2006.
“We’re experiencing a slight depression in the sport, but to say that there’s been a 43 percent drop the last seven years would be an exaggeration,” said Rick Abrahamson, who owns Abo’s Skate Shop in Duluth and is chairman of the NorthShore Inline Marathon board of directors. “We’re still drawing a lot of people here to race and the event we have is incredible, and we’re working hard at maintenance and retention.”
St. Paul Inline Marathon general manager Adam Kocinski says that race, in its four years, has paralleled the NorthShore Inline Marathon — no growth, but only minimal decline in numbers. St. Paul added a companion 10-mile race to act as a feeder system for the marathon, just as the NorthShore added a half-marathon in 2004. The NorthShore Inline Half-Marathon has about 400 entries this year.
“It’s a little demoralizing not to be growing, but we’re not going away anytime soon,” Kocinski said.
When officials from Disney announced the end of its race last month, no reason was given.
“Our goal and focus is always to provide fresher, newer endurance events for our competitors. We value the sport of inline skating and may explore adding an inline element to our endurance series in the future,’’ Disney said in a statement.
NorthShore Inline Marathon executive director Chuck Carlberg, who has an annual budget of about $290,000, says the race always has been focused on the recreational skater, and that that group has remained loyal to the race. He says that because entries have stayed consistent and sponsorship commitments are up, he considers the race to be healthy.
At one time, the NorthShore race was a member of the World Inline Cup, which brought the best international racers to the Northland, but because of financial considerations, that arrangement stopped after 2005. The NorthShore was then to be a member of the American Roller Cup series, but when Disney canceled, the proposed series fizzled.
This year’s prize money purse is $10,400, with $1,000 going to the top man and woman. New this year is a $10,000 bonus for breaking the course record for men (57 minutes, 18 seconds) and women (1:10:26).
“Certainly we’d attract a deeper elite field if we were connected to the World Cup, but we’d rather spend our money on making this a better race for our core customers. They pay our bills,’’ Carlberg said. “Certainly the interest in inlining is not like it used to be, but we’re holding our own and I consider that a victory.’’
America’s best inline skater, Florida native Joey Mantia of Federal Way, Wash., is a fan of the NorthShore Inline Marathon and said he’d be entered Saturday with or without the course-record bonus offer.
“It’s been on my list of things to do the last few years because it’s the best race in North America,’’ said Mantia.
The only inline marathon races believed to be larger than the NorthShore are Incheon, South Korea, with about 10,000 entrants, and Berlin, Germany, with about 8,000.
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