By Nicolette Helling & photojournalist Harry Baker, FOX 21 News

DULUTH - In a sport where Mother Nature can make or break your race time, today's weather was perfect for inline skating.

Over 3,000 racers on wheels crossed the finish line in Saturday's NorthShore Inline Marathon.

You could hear fans yelling and bells ringing up and down the course.

And though the largest inline marathon in the western hemisphere has been in Duluth for 14 years, there were plenty of first time fans on the sidelines.

Pam Lind of Two Harbors was one of them, and said she was impressed with the athletes teamwork.

"The first ones that came through this morning had a train of about six or eight people," said Lind. "And they were going fast!"

With skater fan support noticibly weaker than it was for runners at this year's Grandma's Marathon, organizers are hoping to see more fans like Lind.

"I think it's great and I'll watch every year," said Lind.

Tara Alfonsi is the executive director for the NorthShore Inline Marathon.

"I would love to turn this race into more of an event weekend like they have where the whole community turns out and just has a great time and supports the athletes," said Alfonsi. "The community already does a pretty good job of that, but 

I would really like to that to grow."

There may have been fewer fans along the course, but there was no shortage of enthusiasm at the finish line.

"It's just really cool to see all the people come in," said one volunteer.

And while the marathon was an exciting finish, there were some surprising results for the half marathon.

Kelsey English, who is only ten years old, was the first female to finish the half marathon.

She said her secret is skating behind people bigger than she is.

"The person took me right to the finish line so that's why I like skating with people," said English.

Five hundred volunteers were on hand at Saturday's race, many of them staked out at the finish line looking for injuries.

But with no serious injuries reported, organizers are breathing a sigh of relief and looking forward to spicing things up for next year's, 15th anniversary race.