NYC 100K 2002

New York City Marathon 100K
National Championships, September 21, 2002
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All the King's horses and all the King's men could not bring down the Matzger machine at the New York City Marathon 100 kilometer National Championship, September 21, 2002, in Brooklyn's Prospect Park.

The TWINCAM/Salomon racer took on an international field stacked with top guns, including previous champions like 2001 winner Jarmo Valtonen, 2000 winner Fourth Lacey, and 1999 winner Phillipe Boulard.

Most thought that without his teammate Dan Burger, Eddy would sit in and bide his time. But starting on lap 1, Matzger attacked ruthlessly on the course's major hill, causing the peleton to jettison skaters each time like ballast out of a downward-dropping hot-air balloon. "My strategy was to push the pace on the hill," said 2nd place finisher Boulard in a post-race interview "but Eddy attacked so hard so many times I could only chase."

16 laps later, with only three to go and two skaters still in contention, Matzger found himself engaged in a tactical battle with Boulard, who tried everything in the book to shake and bake the American before the finish. "I'm cooked," Boulard gasped from 10 meters back in a vain attempt to make Eddy pull hard enough to tire himself out so he could launch on the final hill and break clear.

Matzger was too sharp, however, and kept the pace hard enough to prevent any surprises. When it came down to the final meters, Matzger had pre-massaged the opposition with a few wicked fast accelerations and still had the superior legs for the sprint. "I think Eddy's big wheels made the difference in the sprint," conceded Boulard.

"I won this race for Dan," explained Eddy to the crowd after finishing in 2 hours 59 minutes. "My strategy was to be in such good physical condition and make the hill climb so hard that no one would have any energy left for foul play at the finish."

The NYC 100K wasn't just about pitched battle with wheels on asphalt. It was also about having a great excuse to come on tour to the big Apple. With 50 Canadian skaters, as well as others from Mexico, El Salvador, Colombia, France, Switzerland, Italy, the Netherlands, and Finland, the NYC Marathon boasted one of the broadest, most fun-loving collection of skaters ever. Check out results and write-up on Peter's Inline Racing Web Page as well as the NYC Marathon website.

Start line	Fly-by	Stacked pack
Early break	Mistresses	Pro women
Me banana man	Glorious	Lo-lo-lo!
Fierce puller	Happy pain	Shakin and bakin
Woman's winner	Surging	First platter

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