With Marijke Groenewoud for the women and Harm Visser for the men, the first marathon on natural ice in Winterswijk had the obvious winners, but the most important supporting role was for a 25-year-old from Drenthe.
The first match had already been lost for the Northern Netherlands when less than a meter had been skated in Winterswijk. With sympathy, but also with some jealousy, people from Noordlaren, Nieuw-Buinen and Nieuw-Amsterdam/Veenoord looked at the Achterhoek village, where it froze slightly harder during the night from Monday to Tuesday than in Groningen and Drenthe. But that was not the only reason why the first marathon on natural ice went to the east of the country and not to the competing northern ice clubs.
The secret of Winterswijk
The 400-meter track in Winterswijk was designed with the help of the knowledge of the Technical University of Twente in such a way that the required ice thickness of 3 centimeters could be achieved very quickly. For comparison: in Noordlaren, Nieuw-Buinen and Nieuw-Amsterdam/Veenoord there was no more than one and a half centimeters on Tuesday morning.
An unmanned, continuously rotating spray arm that applied the water in atomized form to the asphalt was one part of ‘the secret’ that allowed Winterswijk to claim victory after the official measurement by KNSB natural ice coordinator Geert-Jan Muskens. The other part of the mystery was the foam concrete used to insulate the Achterhoek ice floor. This kept the higher ground temperature at bay and also allowed the ice floor to thaw more slowly.
Compliments everywhere
Nine hours after the green light, Winterswijk was completely ready. The Achterhoek ice rink looked beautiful on Tuesday evening and received many compliments. Koek and zopie were present, as well as hundreds of spectators who braved the icy east wind.
This did not apply to all skaters, because a number of (northern) assets were missing, to their own regret. For example, Maaike Verweij, the Drenthe winner of the 2021 and 2022 editions of the first marathon on natural ice, was still on the plane at the time of the start on the way back from a training camp in Tenerife. The same applied to top marathon skater Daan Gelling from Groningen, who hopes that more natural ice marathons will follow in the coming days so that he can still get his weight.
Arianna Prusscher
In the women’s section, where figurehead Irene Schouten was also missing, the North had another iron in the fire with Arianna Pruisscher from Nieuw-Dordrecht. The Drenthe woman frequently showed herself from the front, but coach Jillert Anema had to put herself fully at the service of her teammate Marijke Groenewoud. Pruisscher did that with verve. She took the lead, closed gaps and when she accidentally broke away, she meekly dropped back, so that the team strategy could ultimately be rolled out in the final.
It came down to a bunch sprint that Groenewoud, who won two gold and two silver at the European Distance Championships in Heerenveen last weekend, won with two fingers in the nose. She thanked Prusscher very much afterwards. “We played it out perfectly together. She paved the way and I was able to finish.”
Favorites role
For the men, a leading group of eight skaters emerged halfway through the race, which also included the man who has been in charge all season: Harm Visser. In the final laps, the Jumbo-Visma skater from De Westereen seemed to have to acknowledge his superiority over his fellow provincial Jorrit Bergsma, but his teammate Luc ter Haar closed the gap to the escaped Frisian, meaning that Visser also fulfilled his role of favorite on natural ice. could make.
The peloton’s hunger was far from satisfied with the first marathon on natural ice in Winterswijk. Haaksbergen hopes to be able to organize the second marathon on natural ice for Wednesday evening and there are already calls for a four-day event, with the northern ice rinks also coming into the picture again.