Team Safe Rocks Greg Levien
Team Safe showed both strength and numbers at the Greg Levien 50k Sunday, April 25, 2004, in San Mateo, Calif. SAFE skaters Scott Wolf broke away to win the ProMen's field 1:31:20, and Kim Perkins won the Pro Women's field in 1:34:14. The race kicked off the five part Dan Burger 50k Series.
Make no mistake: the Dan Burger 50ks may look like a small regional series, butanyone who's skated the hilly, five-lap course knows it's a serious test of strength, endurance, and smarts. The race attracts more skaters in the Pro category than on any other level, and competition can be rabid.
On Sunday, the game was to wear out the sprinters. After a fairly laid-backstart, the attacks began in earnest on the second hill. With temps in the 80s,the heat forced several skaters into early retirement. In the fourth lap, Wolf accomplished a decisive breakaway, finishing solo more than a minute and a half in front of the pack with the help of teammate Dan Christman. With 4 miles to go, as Grant Foster finished a long pull, Christman led Wolf to front of the pack, where Wolf took off as Christman slowed the pack. Foster gave chase, but Christman, Alan Marcossen and Ricky Blas reeled him in. Christman outsprinted him the final 200 meters to take 2nd, with Foster 3rd andBlas 4th.
In the women's race, the story was all about 13-year-old Nastassia Hamor. In hersecond-ever outdoor marathon, she hung with the men's chase pack until the 4th lap, to finish 2nd woman, 13th overall. Mechele Busby took 3rd with a strongfinish, and Perkins, who swept last year's Series, set a new personal recordtime for the course.
Another great success focuses on Veteran skater Tom McCue. After undergoing knee surgery just a few weeks before the race, he suffered an accidental kick to the same knee during the first lap, yet valiantly finished the grueling race. The team skated on BONT's new Invasion Generation 2 wheels -- visitwww.bont.com.
RESULTS --GREG LEVIEN 50K /DAN BURGER #1
1. Scott Wolf -- TEAM SAFE
2. Dan Christman -- TEAM SAFE
3. Grant Foster
4. Ricky Blas
5. Alan Marcosson -- Pyro Apparel
6. Louis Beaudoin -- LA Speed
7. Steve Blair
8. Kim Perkins -- TEAM SAFE
9. Andrei Kroupkin
10. Dana Eads -- TEAM SAFE
11. Brian MacKay
12. Chris Adams -- Salt Creek Mortgage
13. Nastassia Hamor -- TEAM SAFE
14. Kimon Papahadjopoulus
15. Jeff Ballinger
17. Mechele Busby -- TEAM SAFE
24. Dennis Cummings -- TEAM SAFE
29. Tom McCue -- TEAM SAFE
