Working for hours in the winter cold to just miss that coveted Elfstedentocht cross. It happened to Rudy Langen from Assen in 1997 during the last Elfstedentocht. But after 26 years he finally gets a new chance, as a debutant in the musical De Tocht.
Although he had to accept the loss while cursing and ranting, Langen is over it after all this time. “I have embraced it, it is a wonderful story to experience as an amateur skater,” he says. He is eagerly awaiting the next Elfstedentocht. “We secretly train for it every year, so that we are ready when he comes.”
But before that happens, Langen will be a debutant in the Elfstedentocht musical De Tocht. This also offers him the opportunity to relive the spectacle of that time. “It is a musical that is about the Elfstedentocht in general. You can also see highlights from previous editions. They have created a story around it and it is actually about the next Elfstedentocht. It is a combination of the past and the future.”
Langen has a ‘modest role’, he says. “The tour is played by a professional cast. With an Elfstedentocht you naturally need a very large cast, who fill in the story as an audience and who skate on the ice. I and thirty other extras per show provide that filler.”
“If you go there, you will certainly experience the feeling of the Elfstedentocht. Both for the skater and the spectator. They have done that very nicely.”