https://northshoreinline.com/nsim-weekend-info/

The NorthShore Inline Marathon is in its 24th year. Legend has it that the event started with a casual conversation among local athletes at former Olympic skier George Hovland’s house. The event launched in 1996, with 1,500 skaters taking part. The race quickly became the largest in North America, attracting world champions and future Olympic medal winners. Today it is the world’s 4th largest inline race, behind the likes of Berlin, Germany; Paris, France; and Seoul, South Korea.

The NorthShore Inline Marathon has been recognized repeatedly for excellence. In 1997, it was featured on the cover of inline skating authority Fitness & Speed Skating Times out of Pompano Beach, Florida. In 2000 and in 2001, the magazine named the NorthShore Inline Marathon as the best inline race in the world. It has the distinction of having been the only inline World Cup event held in the United States, and currently hosts the National Championships.

The 26.2-mile full marathon basically follows the famed Grandma’s Marathon course, with one difference – athletes travel onto the I-35 tunnels at Lemon Drop Hill. They cross the finish line just inches from Lake Superior, in front of retired ore ship William A. Irvin.

To offer the beautiful course to other active life styles, the board approved the addition of a Rollerski event established in 2011. The NorthShore Event weekend also became host to the Wheels Off Half Marathon Run beginning in 2012 as well as the Tunnel 10k Run in 2013. So all in all the 24th annual NorthShore weekend events consist of:  Kids Sprints, Inline Half Marathon, St. Luke’s Wheels-Off Half Marathon Run, Rollerski Marathon, Inline Marathon, Tunnel 10k Run, and Combined 39.3 Mile, where skaters do both half and full courses for 39.3 miles and compete for the fastest combined half and marathon time.