NorthShore Inline Marathon

When the gun goes off to start the 2007 NorthShore Inline Marathon on Saturday, September 15, women skaters will have an extra incentive for winning in record time. The Inn on Lake Superior announced that is offering a $10,000 cash prize to the woman who sets a new course record.

The current NSIM course record was set in 1998 by Heather Elliot–Gunnin at 1:10:26. She averaged 22.32 miles per hour on the 26.2-mile course down the north shore of Lake Superior, from Two Harbors to Duluth.

"The NorthShore Inline Marathon is an important event for our region" said Nikki Anderson, general manager of the Inn on Lake Superior. "Adding this incentive to the women's side of the race will bring some of the best skaters in the world to the NorthShore. The $10,000 prize for a new women's record will add to the excitement for spectators and all race participants."

With the addition of the $10,000 bounty for a new women's record, the NorthShore Inline has the potential to have one of the largest payouts of prize money in the sport of inline skating. Earlier, a $10,000 bounty was offered by K2, a top skate manufacturer, for a new men's record. Also, $11,095 in prize money will be presented to this year's elite field of racers in a variety of age divisions in the elite category.

Interest in the course record challenge is already attracting attention of the world's elite skaters.

"Heather's record has stood since 1998. She is a tough competitor and one of the world's best skaters," said Debbie Rice, an elite U.S. skater for Team Bont. "Now, the incentive is there to take her record away.

"This bounty will bring in some of the best in the world to compete for this unprecedented prize."