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DULUTH — After 25 years, the women’s course record at the North Shore Inline Marathon finally fell, to 2023 victor Gabriela Rueda. Rueda, a Colombian and a 2018 champion at the Youth Olympic Games, covered the distance in a record of 1 hour, 4 minutes, 54.79 seconds, smashing the mark of 1:10:26 set by Heather Gunnin in only the event’s third iteration in 1998. The time qualifies Rueda for a $10,000 bonus for breaking the record.
However, fellow countrywoman Karoll Arias pushed Rueda all the way to the finish line, finishing a half-second behind. The duo dominated the field, finishing more than 10 minutes ahead of the third-place women’s finisher and faster than all but three of the male participants. Elite skaters are pictured near the 20-mile mark of the NorthShore Inline Marathon along London Road on Saturday in Duluth.
Clint Austin / Duluth News Tribune The men’s winner was Hamilton Patino of West Warwick, Rhode Island, who also represents Colombia internationally. Patino’s time was 1:02:08.19. He ended up about 30 seconds ahead of runner-up Viktor Hald Thorup, a Danish skater and 2018 Winter Olympian. ADVERTISEMENT Hayden Groves was a close third, the 19-year-old from Berkley, Michigan coming in just three second after Thorup. There were 963 finishers for the marathon alone in its 27th skating, plus another 269 for the half marathon skate for the events, which trace the Lake Superior shoreline from Two Harbors to the finish line beside the William A.
Irvin in Canal Park. A group of elite skaters forms a draft line near the 20-mile mark of the NorthShore Inline Marathon along London Road on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023, in Duluth. Clint Austin / Duluth News Tribune Elite men's racers Viktor Hald Thorup of Denmark, left, and Hayden Groves of Berkley, Michigan, are pictured near the 20-mile mark of the NorthShore Inline Marathon along London Road on Saturday in Duluth.
Clint Austin / Duluth News Tribune
