National Marathon at Lake Morey, Vermont
January 19-21, 2002
And they're off! Peter Christopher takes the lead at the start of the 25K.
Marathon Skater's Lament
 by Jim Daniska
Speedskaters are a most interesting breed, it takes talent and training and skill to succeed.
There's short track and long track but the best one you see, is marathon skating for me.

And it's way ho, it's 15 below, my lungs are on fire and I can't feel my toes.
My cheekbones went numb a half hour ago, but it's marathon skating for me.

Short trackers think their meets are the best, with those short little races and hour-long rests.
They think a 3000 is a tortuous test, but for us it's a short little warmup at best.

And it's way ho, it's 15 below, my lungs are on fire and I can't feel my toes.
A blizzard just hit and we've got drifting snow, but it's marathon skating for me.

Now metric is graceful, it's skating so pure, no ruts, no cracks and no elbows for sure.
You skate all alone, just the clock as your foe, but there's no packs to jump in and pick up a tow.

And it's way ho, it's 15 below, my lungs are on fire and I can't feel my toes.
My back muscles ache and my legs feel like stone, but it's marathon skating for me.

I think of the Pettit, how I love that place, where there's no wind or snow to mess up your pace.
'Cause I'm trying to skate with a gale in my face, this isn't much fun now you see.

And it's way ho, it's 15 below, my lungs are on fire and I can't feel my toes.
My Gatorade's frozen, there's 10 K to go, maybe this isn't for me.

The finish is near, I can see it ahead, my legs hurt so bad, I wish I was dead.
Before I try this again, someone shoot me in the head, no more marathon skating for me.

And it's way ho, it's 15 below, my lungs are on fire and I can't feel my toes.
I've got blisters and frostbite but It's over you see, no more marathon skating for me.

Now I finished the race a few hours ago, the pain's mostly gone, haven't lost any toes.
And I feel like I could take on the Elfstedentocht, it's marathon skating for me.

And it's way ho, it's 15 below, my lungs are on fire and I can't feel my toes.
I might not win any medals, but who cares about those, it's marathon skating for me.
Copyright © 2001 by Jim Daniska

Lining up at the start of the 100K ultramarathon:
(left to right) Peter Christopher, Willem Langenberg, Jessica Hill, Siobhan Fitzpatrick, Carla Langenthal, Jake Maarse, Jamie Hess, Andrew Love, Anne Diekema
Race Age Group Name Position Time
      Age Group Overall  
5K Men Junior 16 & under Sean McEvoy     no time
  Master 40-49 Scot MacKeil 1 1 12:10
    Charlie Wibiralske 2 4 14:26
  Master 50-59 John Froumy 1 7 17:02
  Master 60-69 Dudley Weider 1 3 12:56
    Bill Stone     no time
           
5K Women Senior 17-29 Kim Seaman 1 5 14:27
    Bridget Logan 2 8 18:40
  Master 40-49 Pat Driscoll 1 2 12:53
  Master 50-59 Emily Bryant 1 6 15:11
    Linda Gray 2 10 21:08
  Master 60-69 Deborah Franz 1 9 19:42
           
10K Men Master 30-39 Karl Franz 1 2 26:15
    Mike Barre 2 5 33:53
  Master 40-49 Frank Thum     no time
  Master 50-59 Keith Woodward 1 1 22:35
    Rich Caffrey 2 4 31:54
    David Gray 3 7 35:27
    Jim Woodberry     no time
    Paul Sternfels     no time
  Master 60-69 Peter Franz 1 3 31:16
    Jack Daggitt     no time
           
10K Women Master 40-49 Thea van der Geest 1 6 35:08
    Kate Smith     no time
  Master 50-59 Karen Kostal 1 8 41:02
           
25K Men Junior 16 & under Alex Cook 1 19 53:48
    Matt Hickson     no time
  Senior 17-29 Peter Christopher 1 2 48:16
    George Wright 2 14 51:35
    Don Longueuil 3 22 55:07
    Jose Ardila 4 32 59:59
    Jason Benta 5 39 1:04:50
    Steve Lovett 6 53 1:17:00
  Master 30-39 Rob Kramer 1 1 48:16
    Mark Kandola 2 4 48:17
    Andy Dahlstrom 3 5 48:17
    Andrew Love 4 18 53:47
    David Phillips 5 20 53:50
    Simon Cote 6 24 55:20
    David Muller 7 26 55:43
    Matt Vincenti 8 48 1:10:50
    Joe Holland     no time
    Mark Aniszewski     no time
  Master 40-49 Bob Tysen 1 3 48:17
    Dan Snipes 2 8 49:32
    Jamie Hess 3 13 51:33
    Jake Maarse 4 17 53:15
    Bud Eichorn 5 23 55:12
    Edwin de Bruijn 6 30 57:55
    Pete Thompson 7 31 59:23
    Peter Doyle 8 33 1:00:10
    Chip Kruger 9 35 1:00:20
    Andrew Strauss 10 35 1:00:20
    Arthur Milano 11 40 1:05:10
    Laurent Holt 12 41 1:05:30
    Brian Remillard 13 44 1:08:00
    Scot MacKeil 14 45 1:08:10
    George Springston 15 54 1:22:40
    Tim Reilly     no time
    Bill Eisenmenger     no time
  Master 50-59 Willem Langenberg 1 11 51:30
    Vince Morris 2 15 53:00
    Bernard Doth 3 25 55:23
    Jim Daniska 4 27 56:46
    Gaetan Rochette 5 28 57:44
    Charlie Coon 6 42 1:06:20
    Pete Hutchings 7 46 1:08:30
    Tom Ward     no time
    Ed Burns     no time
  Master 60-69 Bob Fischer 1 9 50:52
    Pierre Gagne 2 10 51:08
    Tony Zegers 3 16 53:08
    Dick Ring 4 21 53:55
    Dudley Weider 5 42 1:06:20
    Garry Corwin 6 59 1:37:30
           
25K Women Junior Kristin Bedford 1 12 51:31
  Senior Carla Langenthal 1 7 48:20
    Jessica Hill 2 38 1:02:10
    Yvette Barrett 3 60 1:41:59
  Master 30-39 Beth Bedford 1 6 48:18
    Nancy Muller 2 46 1:08:30
    Mary Lavanway 3 49 1:11:10
    Rita Silver 4 52 1:14:10
    Diana Stone 5 56 1:27:00
    Siobhan Fitzpatrick     no time
  Master 40-49 Martha Cochran 1 33 1:00:10
    Kathie Zapotocki 2 35 1:00:20
    Jane Kenyon 3 49 1:11:10
    Melissa McEvoy 4 55 1:22:55
    Hence Bollinger 5 58 1:32:40
  Master 50-59 Carole Moore 1 28 57:44
    Kathy Jones 2 49 1:11:10
    Suzanne Ward 3 57 1:30:10
           
50K Men Senior Peter Christopher 1 5 1:38:53
  Master 30-39 Rob Kramer 1 1 1:38:53
    Andy Dahlstrom 2 2 1:38:53
    Mark Kandola 3 3 1:38:53
    Joe Holland 4 7 1:40:15
    Andrew Love 5 9 1:44:40
    David Phillips 6 18 1:53:46
    David Muller 7 22 1:56:35
    Simon Cote 8 24 1:58:45
    Mark Aniszewski     no time
  Master 40-49 Bob Tysen 1 4 1:38:53
    Dan Snipes 2 8 1:40:32
    Jamie Hess 3 16 1:49:48
    Bud Eichorn 4 20 1:56:18
    Jake Maarse 5 21 1:56:24
    Bill Eisenmenger 6 29 2:04:05
    Laurent Holt 6 29 2:04:05
    Peter Doyle 8 32 2:09:07
    Andrew Strauss 9 34 2:09:18
  Master 50-59 Stephen Gunther 1 10 1:44:51
    Willem Langenberg 2 11 1:44:52
    Vince Morris 3 17 1:52:24
    Michael Hartnett 4 23 1:57:17
    Bernard Doth 5 25 1:58:50
    Gaetan Rochette 6 27 2:03:50
    Jim Daniska 7 31 2:05:45
    Rod Willmot 8 35 2:15:48
    Rich Caffrey 9 41 2:48:47
    Tom Ward 10 42 2:53:02
  Master 60-69 Bob Fischer 1 12 1:44:53
    Dick Ring 2 14 1:49:42
    Pierre Gagne 3 15 1:49:44
    Dudley Weider 4 36 2:18:33
    Garry Corwin     no time
           
50K Women Junior Kristin Bedford     no time
  Senior Carla Langenthal 1 13 1:44:55
    Jessica Hill 2 26 1:58:57
  Master 30-39 Beth Bedford 1 6 1:39:14
    Anne Diekema 2 37 2:24:38
  Master 40-49 Kathie Zapotocki 1 28 2:04:03
    Martha Cochran 2 32 2:09:07
    Jane Kenyon 3 38 2:30:40
    Thea van der Geest 4 40 2:42:11
  Master 50-59 Carole Moore 1 19 1:54:10
    Kathy Jones 2 38 2:30:40
    Suzanne Ward     no time
           
100K   Peter Christopher 1 1 3:50:01
    Andrew Love 2 2 3:57:02
    Willem Langenberg 3 3 3:57:05
    Jamie Hess 4 4 3:59:20
    Jake Maarse 5 5 3:59:55
    Carla Langenthal 6 6 4:02:17
    Jessica Hill 7 7 4:15:00
    Anne Diekema 8 8 5:41:02
    Siobhan Fitzpatrick     no time
    Blake Rodgers     no time

Posted on January 24, 2002 by Jamie Hess