When Maureen Cohen Harrington interviewed for a position as a lawyer at the Library of Congress more than four years ago, she told her future boss that she needed to work part time because she had a serious inline skating schedule to follow.
Harrington, a 41-year-old native of Silver Spring, has been a member of the Washington Area Roadskaters for 13 years, an inline skating club comprised of roughly 75 amateur and competitive skaters.
Five years ago, under the guidance of her boyfriend, Steve Dawson, also a skater, Harrington began racing.
“He encouraged me to take an extra step with my skating,Ó Harrington said. “Very slowly and awkwardly, I made the transition to racing.Ó
For her first race in April 2004, Harrington traveled to Disney World.
The Disney Inline Marathon challenges racers to a windy, 13.1-mile course through the amusement park.
“I didn’t know what I was doing at all,Ó Harrington recalled. “I didn’t know anything about strategy. I was carrying all this stuff with me like my wallet and cell phone that you just don’t carry with you if you’re serious about racing.Ó
Despite feeling unprepared and finishing three minutes over her goal time of two hours, she said the race wasn’t as hard as she expected.
But she was inspired by the “really fast and fabulousÓ skaters around her and felt a competitive drive within her emerge.
Now, Harrington is also a member of the Skater’s Quest speed team, a commitment that has taken her across the U.S. and abroad — San Francisco, South Beach, Calif., Paris, Vienna, Austria, and Barcelona, Spain, for example.
Her most recent race was the Chicago Inline Marathon on July 26, where she was the top female finisher and sixth overall in the “fitnessÓ category with a time of one hour and 42 minutes.
Her best race was the St. Paul Inline Marathon in August 2007, where she completed the 26.2 miles in one hour and 32 minutes.
Many people struggle to find time to squeeze in their hobbies around work, but for Harrington, skating is too much of a priority.
Fortunately, her boss at the Library of Congress has been “very supportiveÓ of her skating.
Currently, as the full-time assistant general counsel for the Library of Congress, Harrington works primarily on copyright issues and handled the library’s appearances in “National Treasure: Book of SecretsÓ and on “Good Morning AmericaÓ on Martin Luther King Day and Inauguration Day.
Since most races are on the weekends, skating rarely conflicts with work.
Plus, her office’s “CompflexÓ program allows her to work longer hours during the week in exchange for every other Friday off. On most days, She works 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
“I’m mostly a weekend warrior,Ó Harrington said. “During the week, I’m a lump. I used to do more, but it’s hard to find time for it.Ó
When the weather cooperates, she skates between 35 and 50 miles during the weekend.
Many Saturdays are devoted to pursuing her second athletic passion: hiking.
On April 25, Harrington challenged herself to Washington’s One Day Hike, a 62.1-mile route from Georgetown to Harper’s Ferry.
Despite the unusual, grueling 93-degree temperature, Harrington was the first female finisher and sixth overall out of 107 hikers. The hike took just under 16 hours.
The soreness and blisters Harrington gets from hiking make fulfilling her biggest skating goal more difficult: switching from fitness to racing inline boots.
Fitness boots are taller, heavier and have smaller wheels — all of which slow her down.
They also are more comfortable, which makes it hard, even painful, to switch.
“I already have about four pairs of racing boots, they just don’t like me,Ó Harrington joked. “The transition is almost like learning to skate again. You develop new muscles, and it’s a slightly new technique to deal with.Ó
Still, she plans to be committed to her racing boots and competing in the “advancedÓ speed skating category by the start of next year’s season in early spring.
“You don’t break in the boots, the boots break in you,Ó she said. “But you can’t be a serious competitor without them.Ó
