A smiling Bill Blank skated his way to the finish line of the NorthShore Inline Marathon. The Lutsen native has competed in all 20 of the NorthShore races, making him a model of consistency.
Lutsen’s Bill Blank made it 20 for 20 when he finished the NorthShore Inline Marathon on Saturday, September 19, crossing the line in two hours, 38 minutes in the 26.2 mile race.
“I’m not as fast as I used to be,” he said. “Back some years ago, I finished the course in around 1:45, maybe 1:50. It helps to have a tail wind. We had to fight the wind at times this year. I skated with a friend and we drafted off of each other. Not a lot. I haven’t done that before, but it did help.”
Blank is one of 47 people who have completed all 20 races. He finished 12th in the over 70 age group.
“That’s really not that good, but I’m not that competitive. I enjoy looking around during the race, taking in the sights and scenery. Some people skate the race as hard and fast as they can, and I respect that. But I like to enjoy the course, the people in the race and the crowd cheering us on. That’s why I don’t draft much. It takes away from seeing everything.”
Bill and his wife Beth are retired. The former owners of Solbakken Resort sold the business some years ago, but both are still active in the community. Bill serves on the Gitchi-Gami Trail Association board, and skates on the Gitchi-Gami trail two to three times a week. Beth has served on many community member boards and is a former columnist for the Cook County News-Herald.
“I will be 71 in January. I guess I must be looking old because people would ask me how old I was when I was out on the course,” he said with a laugh.
Back in the 1990s Bill ran Grandma’s Marathon four times. “I have great admiration for that race,” he said. The inline marathon follows the Grandma’s course, so he knew the route well before he skated it.
“I still run once in awhile, just to make sure I still can,” Bill said. “To get ready for this race I skated two to three times a week. I slowly added distance each week until I got up to 24 miles in practice. I also bike some and in the winter cross country ski. I’m not exactly what you would call a ‘hard core’ trainer though.”
Today Blank skates on the Gitchi-Gami bike trail, but in the past he would drive to Grand Marais and skate on the wide shoulders along Highway 61 going east of town. “That was nice, but I would have to watch for small pebbles along the shoulder.
Hit those and you could take quite a tumble.”
With number 20 in the books, Blank has every intention of skating the next race and as many as he can after that.
Bart Swings, 24, of Belgium won the race in 58 minutes, 49 seconds, about a minute and half off the course record set by Chad Hedrick in 1998.
Leave a Reply