It will be night work for Skating Association Nieuw-Buinen. The board is doing everything it can to get the track open this week, and hopes for the first marathon on natural ice.
There is no ice on the concrete base yet. But the prospects are good. “Coming night we will spray,” says Monique Wessels of skating association Nieuw-Buinen. “We build up the ice floor layer by layer. It is very important that we start at the right time. We keep a close eye on the weather stations. We pick the most positive ones. We rely on that.”
They need three centimeters of ice in Nieuw-Buin to run a marathon. All preparations have been made. The crush barriers are around the track. The kluun mats are rolled out towards the canteen. “We are going for the first marathon on natural ice. The honor to also have that title for once”, Wessels is hopeful. “A few years ago we had a big mouth and said we can do it. Now we want to make it happen.”
Other ice cream associations in Drenthe also keep a close eye on the weather. In Gieten they do not go for the marathon, but for the skating pleasure of children. “The purchase of chocolate milk and frankfurters still has to be done. But otherwise we are completely done,” says Harm Pepping of the ice rink in Gieten.
Still, he takes a gloomy view. “The ice rink is a flooded grassland. To open it must freeze for at least three nights. I don’t think it will work this week.”
Pepping looks a little jealous at his colleagues in Nieuw-Buinen who are now in turmoil. “We also want to harden our track. We are busy with that. The permits have been applied for and the local residents have been informed.”
Pepping hopes to start construction of the new track in 2024. “It will be an official 400-meter track. But for a marathon, I shrug my shoulders.”
In Nieuw-Buinen they prepare for a long, cold night. According to Wessels, everything will be fine. “Warm soup, occasionally warming up by the heating and above all being cozy with each other.” And then hope that they are ahead of their major competitors. “Noordlaren and Haaksbergen have much more experience. But with our perseverance and enthusiasm we may be able to go a long way this year.”