Canada’s Barry
Publow sweeps both events at US National Marathon Speedskating
Championships
Lake Placid,
New York - January 8-9, 2005 - Ottawa’s
Barry Publow captured the overall title in both the 25 km and 50
km events at the Dimon
Sports International Marathon in
Lake Placid, NY.
This event was designated as the
National Marathon Championship
by US Speedskating.
These two races were also events number three and four of
the Marathon Skating
International (MSI)
11-race points series. With three wins and a second place
behind fellow Canadian Jeff Bakal, Publow, 34, is proving to be
the dominant marathon skater early in the series. A member of
the Bont North America Inline Team, Barry is also the National
Coach for Roller Sports Canada.
Being Canadian, Publow (Team
Breakawayskate.com/Bont) was not eligible to be crowned the
official US champion despite his back-to-back wins. That title
goes to Bostonian Rob Kramer (Okolo Sports) - the first American
finisher in both the 25 km (4th place) and 50km (2nd
place).
In Saturday’s 25 km race the
action started early with skaters from Team Breakawayskate
controlling the front. Publow and teammates Aaron Arndt, Derik
Beier (both Canadian Inline Team members), and Adrian Loewen led
the early laps. Publow charged off the front several times to
try and break the field, but Kramer, his teammate Jim Cornell,
and Canadian Youri Juteau all helped to bridge gaps. With the
main field down to less than a dozen skaters Publow made the
decisive move by attacking hard with 16 to go and. Kramer
chased in earnest 150m behind as the two skaters played
‘pursuit’ for the next 10 laps. In the final laps Publow
managed to extend his lead to 250m to cross first in 41:23.
Aaron Arndt came around Kramer in the final 100m to take second,
with Kramer having to settle for a well-deserved third – or so
it seemed. Breakawayskate’s Adrian Lowen had managed to launch
clear of the chase group and also passed Kramer in the final
50m, making it a 1-2-3 for the team and for Canadian skaters.
The drama for Sunday’s 125 lap,
50km event began earlier than expected as Publow almost missed
the start. Knowing the previous days winner had no warm up,
Rob Kramer attacked hard less than half a lap into the race.
Publow towed the pack back up and tried to sooth the field into
a steady tempo. Juteau accelerated a few times to liven the
pace, but the field eventually settled. At the 10km mark the
first serious move took place as Publow attacked with 99 laps to
go. The main group splintered, but Kramer chased hard to
eventually hook on with Publow just 50m ahead of the field.
When Kramer looked back to see the progress of the chase Publow
sensed opportunity, accelerated and pulled away. A vigilant
Kramer punched the gas to stay close, but after several laps
Publow had closed to within 150m of the main field and extended
his lead over Kramer by a similar margin. Two laps later Publow
rejoined the pack and his teammates with a one lap advantage.
Kramer’s lieutenant Jim Cornell dropped back to help him try and
bridge back up, but Publow, Arndt, and Beier kept the pace
high. Kramer dropped Cornell, who was soon swept up by the
field, and with his lead now down to less than 100m Kramer stood
up and rejoined the pack.
At the 65 lap mark the lead
skaters agreed to take a neutral lap for ‘feeding’. Once the
action resumed Publow attacked hard and soloed for the next 8
laps to gain another lap up on Kramer. Several small groups now
merged to form a composite field of skaters on different laps.
It was a resurgent Kramer who attacked next, since he and rival
Arndt were on the same lap. Publow marked the move and sat on
for 9 rounds until he and Kramer lapped the remnants of the main
field. With Publow 2 laps up on Kramer, Kramer one lap up on
Arndt, and Arndt one lap up on Cornell, the finishing order had
already been decided. Publow scooted away from the field with
600m remaining to finish in 1:26:32. Kramer came across 90
seconds later for second place, while Arndt, Cornell, and Juteau
rounded out the top five.
After 4 events Publow extends his
lead in the MSI
series with 3 wins and a second place. The next event on the
circuit is the North American Marathon Championship (25k and
50k) to be held on Vermont’s
Lake Morey
the weekend of January 15-16, 2005. For event and series
information visit www.marathonskating.org.