It’s freezing, so there seems to be only one real question left. Is it almost possible to skate? And what about a possible marathon on natural ice in skating-crazy Noordlaren?
Nice and nice, a feeling temperature of -10. But you can’t skate on that. So when chairman Jan Geert Veldman (54) of the ice skating association De Hondsrug took another look at ‘his’ skating rink on Monday morning, the farmer saw the water sprayed that night drain away almost as quickly. This is nothing, Veldman thought. Three times nothing.
When the mercury drops below zero, skating fever quickly breaks out in Noordlaren. What do you want. The village has a rich past when it comes to outdoor skating and is at the forefront in freezing temperatures. Noordlaren never avoids the traditional battle for the first marathon on natural ice, including national attention. Nobility obliges.
‘It has to go well’
But this Monday afternoon you can shoot a cannon in the village. When the sun carefully breaks through the cloud cover, you really see how watery the thin ice floor on the asphalt still is. Although there are already fences to keep overly fanatical prying eyes at a distance, there is no ice skating here yet.
And if appearances are not deceiving, it will be quite a job to achieve that this week. “It won’t be our fault,” says Veldman. “We initially focus on a day of skating fun for the village. But we don’t have much time. It has to go well.”
If skating does happen this week, it will be at skating rinks such as those in Noordlaren and flooded meadows. After Wednesday, the temperature seems to rise considerably again. So it has to be fast, fast, fast. And it can also be done quickly, as Noordlaren has proven more than once in the past.
This week, several alarm clocks are going off in the village in the middle of the night. Everything to prepare the ice rink behind meeting place De Rieshoek as quickly as possible. The passionate volunteers of the ice skating club could also have worked at Tempo-Team, so to speak. “We just need some help,” Veldman says. “We really need more freezing cold to open things up.”
‘We don’t give up’
In any case, they hardly take a possible marathon into account in Noordlaren. The heaviest frost is predicted in the east of the country. In addition to Noordlaren, Nieuw-Buinen and Veenoord, Burgum, Puttershoek, Haaksbergen and Winterswijk are also traditionally in the race.
“If it is a marathon, it will be held on Thursday in Haaksbergen or Winterswijk,” Veldman thinks. “I just got off the phone with the people from Nieuw Buinen. They are the same.”
‘Bitterballen were already in the fridge’
Although the farmer always has something to offer. That is also tradition. It would not be the first time that Noordlaren has stolen the first marathon like a thief in the night. Take January 2017. It was freezing, but Veldman bluffed with a straight face that Noordlaren would not compete with Haaksbergen this time, the top favorite at the time. Farmer’s cleverness, as it turned out, because after an all-nighter, Noordlaren cunningly walked away with the honor. A surprise attack that Veldman still looks back on with pride.
That was then. But marathon or not: is the De Hondsrug ice skating club ready for new ice fun? To ask the question is to answer it. Veldman: “We already had the bitterballen in the refrigerator. In case that. Excuse me, I thought when I saw that things weren’t going well at the ice rink yet. I always say this: if the tip of the nose does not get cold, there is still a long way to go. But on the other hand: everything can be different again on Tuesday.”