The A2A race in the USA
In the USA yearly an inline tour goes from Athens to Atlanta, A2A, in the state Georgia. The distance is around 87 miles which is 142.7 km. The map below shows the track going from the right, Athens, to the left, Atlanta. Underneath the map, the differences in heights are presented. Especially the end of the race is very challenging in this respect.
It will be clear that this aspect makes this inline race very different to Dutch inline skating races. How one should skate up and down these hills is very well explained in the following video by the best skater in this race Eddy Matzger.
Eddy Matzger
Eddy Matzger was born in 1967 in the USA. In 1988, when he was in college he detected that he liked skating and used them to go to college and anywhere else. In the summer of 1988, he went to Holland to visit his grandmother, the mother of his mother, who became 80. During that visit he witnessed for the first time a speed skating race on inline skates with 5 wheels. The skaters were very fast and there was a large crowd around the track. He was very impressed. He stayed in Holland 3 weeks longer and tried out to skate on these skates.
Back at home he started to skate on ice like the Dutch. There he got in contact with the skating coach Dianne Holm who had won gold medals in ice speed skating in the Olympic Games in Sapporo in 1980. He says:” She straightened my skating style: she made me skate with my hips more and use gravity. She taught me to get my knees together, so that I would push with all of my weight behind every push.” He learned from her that skating is all about balance. It's not a question of what kind of skates you have ... or how strong your legs or ankles are ... or how fit you are: it's about finding your balance. You use your strength when you have to, but otherwise skating is basically about being on vacation, relaxing. And that makes all the difference. If you learn to relax, you save energy for when you really need it.
Dianne Holum taught me that a secret to skating fast is being able to skate super, super slowly. Training with her, we would have these slow-motion races. And the goal was to be on one skate or the other, not both, at all times. That was one of the most important rules, because skating is about being on one skate or the other, never both at the same time, unless you are coasting downhill.
She encouraged me to shoot for the Olympics. But I was still having more fun as an inline skater. It was my first love.”
After this experience, having learned a lot about skating he participated for the first time in the A2A race and he became 5th. The next year he became already the winner in the A2A race. He liked speed skating of long distances the most therefore he is not so much interesting in world championship inline skating.
The table below shows what an incredibly qualified inline skater Eddy Matzger is. He started to participate in this race in 1989, when he was 22 years old. In that race he became 5th. Till 2022 he participated each year in the race. In these 31 races he won 12 times. Only 6 times he did not finish as one of the first 4. That means that he was in 31 races 25 times between the best 5. This is an incredible result. At the age of 55 he still became second in the race..
Eddy Matzger was born in 1967 in the USA. In 1988, when he was in college he detected that he liked skating and used them to go to college and anywhere else. In the summer of 1988, he went to Holland to visit his grandmother, the mother of his mother, who became 80. During that visit he witnessed for the first time a speed skating race on inline skates with 5 wheels. The skaters were very fast and there was a large crowd around the track. He was very impressed. He stayed in Holland 3 weeks longer and tried out to skate on these skates.
Back at home he started to skate on ice like the Dutch. There he got in contact with the skating coach Dianne Holm who had won gold medals in ice speed skating in the Olympic Games in Sapporo in 1980. He says:” She straightened my skating style: she made me skate with my hips more and use gravity. She taught me to get my knees together, so that I would push with all of my weight behind every push.” He learned from her that skating is all about balance. It's not a question of what kind of skates you have ... or how strong your legs or ankles are ... or how fit you are: it's about finding your balance. You use your strength when you have to, but otherwise skating is basically about being on vacation, relaxing. And that makes all the difference. If you learn to relax, you save energy for when you really need it.
Dianne Holum taught me that a secret to skating fast is being able to skate super, super slowly. Training with her, we would have these slow-motion races. And the goal was to be on one skate or the other, not both, at all times. That was one of the most important rules, because skating is about being on one skate or the other, never both at the same time, unless you are coasting downhill.
She encouraged me to shoot for the Olympics. But I was still having more fun as an inline skater. It was my first love.”
After this experience, having learned a lot about skating he participated for the first time in the A2A race and he became 5th. The next year he became already the winner in the A2A race. He liked speed skating of long distances the most therefore he is not so much interesting in world championship inline skating.
The table below shows what an incredibly qualified inline skater Eddy Matzger is. He started to participate in this race in 1989, when he was 22 years old. In that race he became 5th. Till 2022 he participated each year in the race. In these 31 races he won 12 times. Only 6 times he did not finish as one of the first 4. That means that he was in 31 races 25 times between the best 5. This is an incredible result. At the age of 55 he still became second in the race..
Some times he did not win
I like to mention some occasions that he did not win. The first time it happened, in 1991, because two Dutch skaters were ahead of him Haico Bauma and Jacob Swart, two quite successful Dutch marathon skaters on ice.
In 1993 he was beaten by the American Dong Glass and Eric Hulzebosch who arrived a second later, but one second before Eddy. In 1997 the Dutch Skater Marcel Oosten was the fastest in the A2A. In 1988 he had been second in the first Elfstdentocht on inline skates.
This seems to suggest that the Dutch inline skaters could quite well compete with the American skaters in speed skating races of long distances. I could not find information that Eddy Matzger participated in the Open Dutch Championships, the Barthehiem skeelertocht, which was won 8 times by Eric Hulzebosch.
Eddie Matzger reported that he was several years after each other in the winter in The Netherlands and participated in Dutch Marathon races on ice and that he only after a long time won a race in the top class of marathon skating on ice. It seems that this is indeed a more general problem as suggested by another very good inline speed skater in the USA, Francisco Ramirez, which I will quote in a later story about this issue.
Comment
It is surprising that in the early years of this long speed skating race some people from Europe participated in this heroic race. However, this participation quickly reduced in the later years. This race was comparable with the Elfstedentocht in The Netherlands. This was an alternative now that the Elfstedentoch could not be organized any more. However for different reasons this did not happen. Probably the main reason is that the best skaters had sponsor contracts and this race costed only money and did not contribute to the promotion of the sponsors brand..
I like to mention some occasions that he did not win. The first time it happened, in 1991, because two Dutch skaters were ahead of him Haico Bauma and Jacob Swart, two quite successful Dutch marathon skaters on ice.
In 1993 he was beaten by the American Dong Glass and Eric Hulzebosch who arrived a second later, but one second before Eddy. In 1997 the Dutch Skater Marcel Oosten was the fastest in the A2A. In 1988 he had been second in the first Elfstdentocht on inline skates.
This seems to suggest that the Dutch inline skaters could quite well compete with the American skaters in speed skating races of long distances. I could not find information that Eddy Matzger participated in the Open Dutch Championships, the Barthehiem skeelertocht, which was won 8 times by Eric Hulzebosch.
Eddie Matzger reported that he was several years after each other in the winter in The Netherlands and participated in Dutch Marathon races on ice and that he only after a long time won a race in the top class of marathon skating on ice. It seems that this is indeed a more general problem as suggested by another very good inline speed skater in the USA, Francisco Ramirez, which I will quote in a later story about this issue.
Comment
It is surprising that in the early years of this long speed skating race some people from Europe participated in this heroic race. However, this participation quickly reduced in the later years. This race was comparable with the Elfstedentocht in The Netherlands. This was an alternative now that the Elfstedentoch could not be organized any more. However for different reasons this did not happen. Probably the main reason is that the best skaters had sponsor contracts and this race costed only money and did not contribute to the promotion of the sponsors brand..