"Alternatieve elfstedentochten"
The “elfstedentocht” was not the only skating race that has been organized through the years in the Netherlands. In the province North Holland a race over 50 km was organized in 1917. In 1920 this race was extended to 100km and was held again in 1924. From 1940 onwards a race over 115km was organized, starting in Alkmaar and this race has been organized 9 times more. In Friesland, besides the “Elfstedentocht” a race called the “Eleven lakes” of 103 km started also in 1940 and is 4 times more organized. In Groningen the “Noorder Rondritten” of 150 km was also for the first time organized in 1940. Another was started in 1946: the “Noordwesthoekrit” of 85km and in 1947 followed the 100km race in Loosdrecht. While several more started in 1956 and later.
These races have in common with the “Elfstedentocht” that they can only be organized if it is freezing enough in the Netherlands. On the other hand these races are shorter and so they are easier to organize than a 200km tour through a whole province along 11 cities. In 1963 the “Elfstedentocht” and many other races were organized but after that it took a long time till the next “Elfstedentocht” and many other races could be organized (1985). Fortunately in between some other races could be organized for example in 1970, 1972, 1976 and 1982 but not every year. For the people who train for these races this is of course very frustrating. So one was looking for solutions of this situation in different directions.
In the early 70th the situation changed drastically by the construction of skating rinks of 400 meters with artificial ice. The fist was built in 1961 in Amsterdam. In 1962 followed one in Deventer. There were so much interested in skating that in the first 425 days that the Jaap Eden track in Amsterdam was open a million people came to skate. This means that there were in average more than 2000 people per day who came to skate. Not only people who trained for the races came but also members of skate clubs from all over the country. Given the extreme popularity of the skating tracks in Amsterdam and Deventer quickly other cities created their own skating tracks.
Then in 1963 the heroic “Elfstedentocht” took place and these two events increased the popularity of skating, racing and tour skating, even more. In that tour were 11000 participants, 568 participated in the race. These people had now the opportunity to train from October till March every year on the artificial ice tracks.
Because of lack of natural ice the long distance skaters, so called "marathon skaters”, first organized their own races outside the public hours on the track in Amsterdam. This situation changed when the Ice club Eindhoven organized officially three races for marathon skaters in the season 1971/1972. In 1973 the Dutch Skating association created a commission for the organization for marathon skating. Also commercial firms like Heineken saw the attraction of this branch of the skating and started to support the commercial organization of these races which led to a national competition. In these races on artificial tracks the marathon skaters normally had to skate 50 to 120 rounds of 400m.
However for real long distance skaters racing 20 or 50km was not what they wanted. They wanted races over 100km to 200km under less perfect circumstances than on an artificial track. Therefore there were people looking for other possibilities abroad to organize 200km races and tours, the so called “Alternatieve Elfstedentochten”. The first was organized in Lillehammer, Norway in 1974. It was a race of 189 km. The next year this race was repeated but the weather was so bad that the tour was shortened to 64km because of the snow. In 1976 the race could be done again. However, one already was looking for another location for the next race. So in 1977 the first 200km tour was organized in Oulu, Finland. Later it was also organized in Lahti, Rovaniemi and Kuopio and the last turned out the best place and therefore the race in Kuopio is now a yearly event. On the next pages I will report about the very difficult races in the north of Europe and the two starts in these races
A new period started with the detection of the Weissensee in Austria. The first “Alternatieve Elfstedentocht” has been organized in 1989 and that was such a success that from then on every year thousands of Dutch skaters test their skating capacities on that lake. In general, one can be sure that there is rather good ice, the surroundings are beautiful and the weather is mild. The video below illustrate the situation.
A new period started with the detection of the Weissensee in Austria. The first “Alternatieve Elfstedentocht” has been organized in 1989 and that was such a success that from then on every year thousands of Dutch skaters test their skating capacities on that lake. In general, one can be sure that there is rather good ice, the surroundings are beautiful and the weather is mild. The video below illustrate the situation.
This has led to a real Dutch skating festival in the month January in this area. For illustrative purposes I present below the program for the year 2016.
19 januari 1e Alternatieve Elfstedentoertocht (200km)
19 januari Weissensee Tour (100km)
20 januari Trainingday
21 januari Open Austrian Championship (42,195 km)
22 januari 2e Alternatieve Elfstedentoertocht (tot 200km)
23 januari KPN Open National championship (men: 100km, women: 70km)
24 januari Rest-/trainingsday
25 januari Team pershute
26 januari 3e Alternatieve Elfstedentoertocht (200km)
27 januari KPN Grand Prix I: Alternatieve Elfstedentocht (200km)
28 januari Criterion
29 januari 4e Alternatieve Elfstedentoertocht (t200km)
30 januari KPN Grand Prix II: Aart Koopmans Memorial (men: 100km, women: 80km)
There is so much interest in this activity that 4 “Alternatieve Elfstedentochten” in a week are organized besides national championships for marathon skaters. Below I will report about some people who realized records for races of 200km on the Weissensee.
19 januari 1e Alternatieve Elfstedentoertocht (200km)
19 januari Weissensee Tour (100km)
20 januari Trainingday
21 januari Open Austrian Championship (42,195 km)
22 januari 2e Alternatieve Elfstedentoertocht (tot 200km)
23 januari KPN Open National championship (men: 100km, women: 70km)
24 januari Rest-/trainingsday
25 januari Team pershute
26 januari 3e Alternatieve Elfstedentoertocht (200km)
27 januari KPN Grand Prix I: Alternatieve Elfstedentocht (200km)
28 januari Criterion
29 januari 4e Alternatieve Elfstedentoertocht (t200km)
30 januari KPN Grand Prix II: Aart Koopmans Memorial (men: 100km, women: 80km)
There is so much interest in this activity that 4 “Alternatieve Elfstedentochten” in a week are organized besides national championships for marathon skaters. Below I will report about some people who realized records for races of 200km on the Weissensee.
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