Scott,
This was my first year skating A to A and I must say I am addicted. I skated the full distance and except for some muscle cramps during the second half, I had a great skate.
From the first fast downhill all the way through to entering Piedmont Park, I loved it. I must say, the most hilarious part was when the 3 legged dog started chasing our group. He tried, but I think he gave up when he realized he couldn't jump the ditch separating us. I especially loved the downhills ...when in a pack we were flying. Talk about screamers! I'm from Florida and have never experienced such speed! The course was very well marked and even when I dropped off the pack's pace, I had no problems finding my way to the finish line. The weather ....well, as you know we couldn't have asked for anything better!
It was just an incredible day! I'm am already looking for to October 6, 1996!
-------<Tom>---------
dash12@jax.jaxnet.com
PS...You can publish this online if you would like!
I made the trip to Athens for the first time this year. Thank goodness is wasn't raining. I hadn't skated in over a week because of the hurricane sweeping through Florida, and I had just remolded my boots and hadn't even had a chance to try them out. Needless to say I had many trepidations about skating the half distance. I had never even gone 38 miles at one time before.
The start was fabulous. Eddy Matzger with flags on his skates and a pitchfork in his hands was typical "Eddy". He always makes a race fun to go to. What a thrill it was going through the streets of Athens, over 300 of us, hootin' and hollerin' at 7 AM. Everyone was joking and in great spirits...then came the hills.
I never realized how hard it was to skate uphill. I've never gone up anything that steep before for that long. It was as if they would never end. When you came to what seemed to be the top, you expected a downhill, but NO...it was flat for about 20 yards and then up you went again.
I skated with a friend of mine from Chicago till the first checkpoint where I had to stop and adjust blister pads that were falling out of my skates. Feeling strong after the first 15 miles. I was shocked.
Then we hit the gatorback that I had heard so much about. I hooked up with Valerie, one of the organizers, and we went through most of it together. That made it much easier. By the end, I had almost lost one axle nut and my right frame was flapping in the wind. Fortunately I had picked up my tools from my wife at Checkpoint 1, so I stopped and fixed everything.
By the time I hit checkpoint 2, I had a monstrous blister on my left foot. Some friendly skater there gave me a doughnut ring bandaid and on I went.
It seemed the race would never end. The last three miles were brutal. We all kept looking for the finish and it just wouldn't come. Finally we started seeing skaters skating toward us looking for their friends. They said it was only a mile away. Then there was a 1/2 mile sign by the side and it was like a bolt of energy going through me. I started skating hard and fast, and I actually sprinted to the finish.
As I crossed the line, (hands held high for any photo opportunities), tears welled up in my eyes and I started hyperventilating. I was so happy to have finshed the race that everyone back home had told me I couldn't complete. It was definitely one of the high points in my life. I now know exactly what I can accomplish and what I am made of. A friend from Chicago told me I would be hooked after my first race there, and that I would want to come back every year. He was absolutely right. I've raced many times before, but nothing was as fullfilling as Athens to Atlanta. I will be back again next year.
My compliments to everyone involved in that everything seemed to run smooth from the pre-race meeting to the awards ceremony. We had to leave to get back to Orlando for work Monday morning, but the awards seemed well organized and ran almost on time. For over three hundred entrants, everything was wonderful. I can't wait till next year.
Best Wishes,
Skater Rob Bitler
Team Rainbo
Orlando, FL
I completed this year's marathon and thought it was an incredible event. The weather couldn't have been better. The course was more than I expected (both hill sizes and the incredibly smooth surfaces, except for the 6 mile section after checkpoint 2). I had planned to come and join the event last year but I unfortunately came down with bronchitis about a month before the event. I vowed to come this year no matter what obstacles were in my way and I did. I drove down Friday night from Rochester, NY (1000 miles!) after classes (at Rochester Institute of Technology, for Mechanical Engineering) and got there a few hours before the pre-race meeting, then went to bed shortly after (1:00am). Then we raced away Athens at 7:15 on the dot (thanks to Henry and Valerie Zuver) and crossed the finish line 7 hours, 4 minutes, and 51 seconds later, backwards with a group of four other race weary soilders who stuck together for the last 20 miles or so (in true A-to-A spirit pulling each other along when we started to lag behind) and got down and kissed the finish line glad to be sitting down in a few minutes later relaxing in my bear feet in the Georgia sunshine! After sitting for a while and then picking up my mug for finishing I hopped in my car and drove back to Rochester (another 1000 miles!) for Monday classes (sore feet and all) . That was the most intense weekend trip I ever took!
I'd like to thank those guys who were in that rag-a-muffin group of tired feet and ankles that stuck together 'till the finish:
I'll see you all next
year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(But this time I'll have trained before so I can finish in
6 hours, 4 minutes, and 51 seconds.)
On 15 Oct 1995, Scott M. Jones wrote:
> If you skated with us, we'd love to hear what you thought of
> the event.
Great great GREAT! But could you arrange some rain for next year?
Seriously, though, I thought you put on an excellent race. The traffic control seemed better this year than last (my thanks to one policeman who followed our pack for about 45 minutes, jetting ahead on his motorcycle to stop traffic for us at every major intersection). However, the last 15 miles of the race, where you're the most exhausted and need it the most, traffic control was all but absent both this year and last year (and I finished in the top 40 overall). Particularly around the Highland Ave area, it would be great to have some volunteers to help keep the strollers and pedestrians from crossing blindly across our path. And what about those major Atlanta intersections near the end of the race?
I know it must be harder to keep the roads open for us when we are all strung out, as at the end of the race. But I'd like to hear your comments!
- Kelly <sk8away@hooked.net>
Kelly McCown <sk8away@worm.hooked.net> writes:
>On 15 Oct 1995, Scott M. Jones wrote:
>
>> If you skated with us, we'd love to hear what you thought of
>> the event.
>
>Great great GREAT! But could you arrange some rain for next year?
Well, we tried to get a water truck to spray down the course in front of the lead pack, but it didn't work out. ;-) Sorry you missed out on the experience. ;-)
>Seriously, though, I thought you put on an excellent race. The trafficI hate to put words in Henry's mouth but in the past he's said that dealing with the conditions of an "open road course" is just part of the "skate". Highland Ave. is particularly busy in the afternoon, but we are a small event compared to the Olympics, the bicycle race, and even the larger running races. It's not that we can't find volunteers but we could find ourselves on "thin ice" for instituting a lot of crowd control on Highland Ave., especially given the nature of the clientele there. Another possibility is to route away from Highland Ave. but that would leave out one of the more interesting parts of the city. Keep in mind our first concern has to be the safety of those totally uninvolved in the event. This has to come ahead of setting new records for the course or whatever. This is why Henry de-empasizes the "race" aspect of the event (remember the pre-"race" meeting?). FWIW, most of our potential safety problems have come from support vehicles and not from skaters.
However, your points are quite valid and I will pass these comments along. Maybe we can arrange something for Highland Ave. and Monroe Drive for next year. But Henry has chosen to keep the event on a fairly small scale (I think this is a good thing!) and it limits our abilities (politically) in terms of traffic control.