Jenny Sjoblom-Hinsa (1960-2014) R.I.P. Shes been out of state living in Florida these past few years so not many of you may remember her. I used to refer affectionately to her as Crazy Jenny, or alternately as Rhinelanders Inline Skate Queen. For quite a few years my summer cross training was considerably skewed toward inline skating by this amazing woman. For much of that time she was on a mission to inline skate 10,000 miles (!) in one calendar year. For a couple of years she was getting close before snow in December shut down her chances. Even then she would go out in the December cold and skate ice free patches of road. That will sound like obsession but Jenny was a terrific masters athlete. For all the years that I knew her, her two other passions where the A to A (Athens to Atlanta) 85 mile (!) open road (i.e., no formal traffic control) super marathon in the state of Georgia. Ive done at least one training skate at that distance with Jenny and her friend the Lovely Laurel during the run up to that summer time competition. Laurel was a school district employee in Crandon. Every September Jenny, her husband Pete, Laurel, and I would skate the Northshore Inline Skate Marathon (just 26 wicked fast miles!) into Duluth, MN, on the Grandmas Marathon course. Laurel would win her age group and set course records reliably. Jenny would skate with the citizen racers and consistently turn in the fastest overall womens time--easily out skating the professional women. She was modest about her talent. (She easily out skated my best times with her double pump technique that left me far behind and green with envy.) Shed just shrug off any suggestions that she should pay for a professional license and show the pro women that it was she that was the boss. Jenny epitomized for me the word enthusiasm. Broken down into its Greek consituent words and translated, it means literally filled with the divine spirit. That is sport and sportswomanship at its best. Jenny, by the way finally got her 10,000 miles in a year before she hung up her skates...
Posted on: Mon, 01 Dec 2014 01:15:42 +0000
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