The ice skating association in Winterswijk, Gelderland, hopes that a marathon can be skated on natural ice on Wednesday.
The competition is possible when there is 3 centimeters of ice. “At the moment there is 1 centimeter,” says Auke Spijkstra, chairman of the Winterswijkse IJsvereniging.
“It snowed and froze less hard than we thought,” said Spijkstra. “We have now stopped spraying. We will continue again as soon as we can.”
The ice skating club’s spraying team started preparing the 400-meter track for a possible marathon on Sunday evening. It is expected that this will take three nights. The ice rink has therefore not previously been accessible to skating enthusiasts.
Seven locations in the race
According to the KNSB skating association, Winterswijk is not the only one hoping for the organization of a marathon. “Other tracks are also busy, so we do not just focus on Winterswijk,” says Geert-Jan Muskens, natural ice coordinator at the Dutch skating association.
There are seven locations that have a chance to organize the first marathon on natural ice. These are Veenoord, Puttershoek, Winterswijk, Haaksbergen, Noordlaren, Nieuw-Buinen and Burgum. “Given the weather forecast, Winterswijk and Haaksbergen currently seem to have the best credentials,” says Muskens.
“It will depend on the growth of the ice at the various clubs. As soon as a track has 3 centimeters of ice, we will assess this and then determine when we start. There is a whole logistics behind this in terms of materials and people. For example, measuring on Wednesday morning means driving on Wednesday evening or the next morning. The weather forecast also plays a role here, of course.”