MSI News
Your Source for Marathon Skating News
Updated 16 March 2010
Headlines:
Swiss and Kazak Dominance in the Silver Skate Festival Ice Marathons
The US National Marathon, February 20 & 21
The North-American Ice Marathon Championship Races, February 13 & 14
Marathons Return to Lake Morey with Success, January 30 & 31, 2010
"Skate Vermont" at Lake Morey Marathon (photos)
Lake Placid Marathons: December 19 and 20, 2009
Marathons Return to Lake Morey in January
Québec City Marathon Report
Sergio Almeralla Wins Season's First 40K Marathon
A Brief History of Pack Style Speedskating
Marco Smits Joins Vancouver Olympic Broadcast Team
News from MSI President Willem Langenberg
Swiss and Kazak Dominance in the Silver Skate Festival Ice Marathons
By Willem Langenberg
Edmonton, Alberta- For two days – February 20 and 21, 2010 – skaters raced, danced and frolicked on the ice of Hawrelak Park in Edmonton. Visitors to the Park also wandered through the snow sculpture park, stepped into teepees to see native arts and crafts and to play games, went on horse driven hay rides, listened to musicians, watched performing artists and ate authentic Dutch cuisine and French Canadian sweets. Park attendance records were broken on both Saturday and Sunday due to relatively warm weather (and sunny skies on Sunday) and due to the many competitive, recreational and cultural activities. On Saturday night the Park was set on fire by the burning of sculptures made of twigs, wood and cloth as the culmination of the ’24 Hours to Ignition’.
The Silver Skate Festival started off its skating events with the 1K Challenge. We started under impeccable ice conditions, thanks to the City of Edmonton staff who shaved the ice on our 1k track prior to the start of the race. The ice was a little slow however, as it had hoar frost on it from the humidity in the air that morning. We started under overcast skies and a slight wind and temperatures in the -15 range, but it warmed up to -5 C.
This year’s edition saw participants from the US, with Anna Ringsred, Kazakhstan with Natalya Rybakova, Switzerland with Jan Caflisch, and Holland with Marinus de Weerd. We also had one skater from Eastern Canada: Rosie Chong from Waterloo, Ontario.
In the 1K Challenge, Jackson Hill beat Jan Caflisch (son of the ice maker of the famous speed skating track in Davos, Switzerland) to the line, followed by Aaron VanderReest.
However, in the 25k which followed the 1k, Jan Caflisch dominated the field crossing the line first with an 80m lead on Natalya Rybakova and Anna Ringsred. The 25k started out at a fast pace with Jan taking the lead, followed by Rejean Lavoie, Anna Ringsred, Ray Cislo, Brian Johnston, Rick Dikstra and Stacey Mateika. Rejean dropped off after leading the second lap and the 6 skaters formed the lead pack. We took turns on the lead until about 3 laps to go, when the 3 musketeers broke away, never to be seen again! There was a competitive womens race happening between Connie Pope, Carolyn Lambert, Susan Cameron and Mia Atienza. Connie was able to nip out Carolyn at the finish. Congratulations to our youngest skater this year, Aron Koeman 10, who had a fastest lap speed of 28 kilometers per hour and completed the 25k in 1hour and one minute! Aron’s brother Kees, 13 finished one second earlier.
Our eldest statesman in the 25k was Marinus DeWeerd, 71, from the Netherlands. Marinus completed the race in 1 hour and 5 minutes with a fastest lap speed of 26 kilometers per hour.
On Sunday we had sunny skies and temperatures warming up to around -1. In the 10K the racing was close with Jan Caflisch crossing the line just skate lengths ahead of Natalya Rybakova and Anna Ringsred. Once again, the tempo started out fairly quick with about 23 skaters sticking together for the first lap. With one lap to go, Jan, Natalya and Anna were able to break away from Rejean Lavoie and Blaine Hill, who broke away from Jeff Russenholt and Brian Johnston. Special mentions go to youngest skaters in the 10k , Celina Chabot, 10 who completed the course in 32 minutes and forty nine seconds, with a fastest lap speed of 24 kilometers per hour. Other younger skaters in the 10k included Riesa McCumsey 10, Haley Benwood 11 and Sasha Russo, 12. Our fastest junior skater was Jessica Wakeford, 16 who finished in twenty minutes and 53 seconds with a fastest lap speed of 31 kilometers per hour, followed by Adeline Maunder, 14 in twenty one minutes and 14 seconds and a fastest lap speed of 33 kilometers per hour and Sophie Croteau, 16 who finished in twenty one minutes and 19 seconds and had a fastest lap speed of 33 kilometers per hour also.
Camden Chabot, 15 was our fastest Junior male skater with a time of 19 minutes and 56 seconds, and a fastest lap time of 34 kilometers per hour. Willem Langenberg, 65 was our eldest statesman in the 10k, completing the race in twenty one minutes and fifty seconds with a fastest lap speed of 30 kilometers per hour
The overall championship over the 10K and 25K was won by Jan Caflisch for the men and Natalya Rybakova for the woman, showing Swiss and Kazak dominance of the Silver Skate festival marathons. The overall Master Men title was for Brian Johnston and the overall Master Woman’s title was for Connie Pope.
Complete results of the marathons are listed on myLaps.com.
It was decided to reduce the entry fees this year and no sanction from the Alberta Amateur Speed Skating Association or Speed Skating Canada was taken out to try to get the number of participants up. The races were also shortened, substituting the 50k with a 10k event. The result was that there were 33 skaters in both the 10 and 25k events, although they were different skaters. These numbers were up from last year, when there were 27 skaters in the 25k and 14 skaters in the 50k. There also were some younger skaters in the 10k.
Although the events were not sanctioned and participants did not need to be members of a club, most skaters were members of speed skating clubs.
Skaters young and old enjoyed the Silver Skate Festival this year.
On Saturday the Edmonton Speed Skating Association (ESSA) also hosted the Kortebaan Sprint races, sponsored by the Netherlands Consulate. The Ard Schenk Kortebaan Cup for Men was won by Jackson Hill, while the Marianne Timmer Kortebaan Cup for Woman was won by Anna Ringsred.
The US National Marathon
By Lisa Sjogren, Pioneer Speedskating Club of Bemidji, MN
Bemidji, Minnesota, February 21, 2010- The US National Marathon closed out the 2009/2010 ice marathon skating season in the United States. Held on Lake Bemidji, the weather for Saturday’s 25k race was absolutely pristine. Danny Fredrick (Roseville, MN) won the 25k with a track record of 45:42.91. Sunday’s 50k race saw a light dusting of snow. Erik Wardenaar (Golden Valley, MN) won the 50k with a time of 1:45:14.38. Full results are posted here.
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The US National Marathon on Lake Bemidji. |
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The ice was fast thanks to the ice crew of Dave Cermak, Norm Johannsen, and Erik Sjogren who spent the week prior to the marathon flooding and preparing the oval for the skaters. One competitor said of the lake ice, "...this is the best lake ice in North America, this race, this ice should be the focal point of the marathon season."
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Left, above: Winners of the fun races held during the National Marathon in Bemidji. MSI News would like to thank the marathon organizers for encouraging such participation by younger skaters and for introducing them to the sport. These are the future stars of marathon speedskating.
Photos from the event may be viewed here. Photos in this article by Tom Simonet.
The start and finish area of the 2010 North American Champsionship marathons held on the Assomption River in Joliette, Quebec (Photo by Nathalie Larouche, from her Joliette album.)
The North American Ice Marathon Championship Races
By Gaétan Rochette (translated by Frank Cherry)
Joliette, Quebec, 15 February 2010 - On the Thursday before the race when I traveled to Joliette to take care of the final arrangements for the race, I was still skeptical that the weather and ice quality were going to be favorable to us. But I was immediately assured by the ice master who assured me that he and his team would deliver the best ice possible. He kept his promise and we had exceptional natural ice spread over the 1.9 km track prepared especially for our races.
The overall North American Championship winner among women and the winner in her age categroy for the 50K, Kathie Zapotocki receives the gold medal from Roch LaSalle, President of the Festi-Glace organizing committee, in the main tent of the two-weekend festival in Joliette, Quebec. Suzanne Dionne was the first woman to cross the finish line in the 50km. Kathie beat Suzanne by .5 seconds for the combined times of the two races.
(Photo by Pierre Gagné)
The weather on Saturday was sunny and hardly cold at 10:00 AM when 41 skaters moved to the starting line for the 25 km North American Championship race with 13.1 laps in front of them. From the start the lead pack was made up of 11 skaters working together on the upwind stretch and coasting downwind to the tight turn. The MSI Timing system showed that most of the skaters scored their fastest laps early in the race. The lead pack soon solidified into 5 skaters : Jim Cornell, Constant Montpellier, Tom Keane, Brian Johnston, and Nate Feinberg. Among the ladies the lead pack of 11 skaters was comprised of Kathie Zapotocki, Suzanne Dionne, and Carole Moore who took turns to maintain a brisk rhythm.
Meanwhile the men’s pack stayed together until the 11th lap when Nate Feinberg was dropped. On the 13th lap Constant Montpellier pressed the pace, especially creating space on the upwind stretches and on the turns, overcoming a fall on the second last lap, to finish with a roaring sprint reaching 35 km/hour with a record last lap of 3 :14, a thoroughbred finish. For the women Kathie eclipsed Suzanne by 0.9 seconds to claim the victory. The men’s age group 60-69 was the largest with Yves Garneau arriving first and capping off a very successful race Series. The largest age group among the women was 40-49, with 4 skaters.
Right after the 25 km Championship race the organizers offered 3 recreational races of 2 km, 4 km, and 10 km to allow local skaters the chance to skate the course and experience the emotion of an ice skating marathon.
On Sunday morning at 8 :45 the mercury moved up a notch but so did the wind, gusting to 18 mph. Twenty-two skaters got ready for 26.3 laps of the same course for a 50 km challenge. As is customary in longer races the packs skated together for the first three laps and began to fragment only after lap 6 when a large group of 18 skaters powered through the course. To the surprise and admiration of most, four local skaters hung in with this pack, including Carl Blanchette, only 15 years old, with Gille Mirandette and Jean Deguise from the Joliette area, and Jacky Pilote from Latuque. This was their first attempt at marathon skating and they showed that they came to show their stuff!
The leading men’s peloton in the 50K, heading down the Assomption River (left to right): Tom Keane, Jim Cornell, Brian Johnston, Charles Beaudoin and Willem Langenberg)
(Photo by Anna Delaney)
By the 7th lap the lead pack had 5 skaters followed by two other packs close behind, including the 3 skaters from Joliette who stayed together until the 20th lap. At lap 19 the race was in the hands of Tom and Jim—Brian being not able to hold on. At that point Jim morphed to an all-out sprint to claim first place followed by Tom, then Brian. Jim finished with a margin of victory of more than 2 minutes.
The women, on the other hand, used a different strategy: work together, stay together. Kathy Feinberg, Kathie Zapotocki and Suzanne Dionne took their turns for seven laps when Kathy Feinberg dropped off. At the finish, Suzanne inched out Kathie Zapotocki by a thin 0.3 seconds.
As for the overall North American Championship: Combining both long races, the women arrived in first place with a lead of 0.5 seconds. Kathie Zapotocki is the 2010 female Champion. As for the men, the calculation is easier: Jim Cornell beat his closest competitor by 1:34:301.
The award ceremonies were done quickly. For the 25 km the medals were given at the host hotel, the Château Joliette, at a cocktail party sponsored by the hotel. Awards for the 50 km were given in the Big Tent of the Festi-Glace ice celebration.
Sincere thanks to CARA and Ms Francine Trepannier and also to the City of Joliette represented by His Honour Mayor René Laurin for the generous support to this successful event. They provided the ice and other logistics which made the event possible. Special thanks to the Ice Master, Mr. Luc Lachapelle who turned mediocre ice into really great ice in the space of a couple of days.
MSI is very pleased with the event which, given its high standard and amenities, should have had more skaters. We congratulate all skaters who participated in this last race in the Eastern Division and we give best wishes to the organizers of the last race in the MSI Series to take place next weekend in Edmonton, Alberta.
Marathons Return to Lake Morey with Success
By Frank Cherry and Neal Hundt
Fairlee, VT, 31 Jan 2010- Last summer Lake Morey Resort made the decision to capitalize on their unique location in front of one of Vermont's largest lakes by making ice events the centerpiece of their winter social program. MSI began working with the resort to plan the first ever “Skate Vermont at Lake Morey” weekend. Designed to make Lake Morey a showcase for long-distance skating, the resort quickly embraced the idea of having marathon racing complement a weekend of activities designed to celebrate winter.
The last weekend in January saw enthusiastic skaters arrive at the Lake Morey Resort hotel to participate in two days of ice festivities. Unlike other venues in the MSI Series, the marathons on Lake Morey were hosted by a hotel. Once arrived, skaters had no need for a car for the entire weekend (though some did venture out to explore the area, to pick up hard-to-find gear at The Nordic Skater, stock up on baking supplies at the King Arthur Flour Company, or sample award-winning restaurants).
Said one MSI skater: “It's wonderful stepping outside the Lake Morey Resort onto the lake (see photo, right). You have miles of ice to explore. Race during the day. Moonlight skate at night. Eat and relax in between. Everything you need is right there!"
Two dozen skaters attended a workshop on Saturday morning designed for those with no speedskating experience. Beginning indoors with “dryland” training, Taconic Speedskating club coach and long-time marathoner Bud Eichorn went over basic skating posture and technique. Co-taught by local resident and former US National Speedskating team member Hilary Linehan, the class continued its lessons outdoors on the ice. The workshop concluded with a race on the 1-kilometer oval that the resort created for MSI.
While 31 marathon skaters prepared for the early afternoon running of the 25K, another on-ice competition was underway. Local residents and hotel guests were treated to a “Taste of the Lake,” eight local restaurants that set up camp on the ice with food for the public to sample, then vote, on the culinary creations created especially for the event.
The 25K marathon took place under sunny but cold skies. Participants came from all points: from major areas in Canada (Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec City) as well as the United States East Coast (Boston, New York, and Virginia). Jim Cornell continued to dominate the men this season with a first place finish, while Katherine Kwiecen was first to finish the race among women.
Following Saturday’s marathon, all “Skate Vermont” attendees enjoyed the warmth of the hotel’s lobby and public area. Locally brewed ales were on tap in the hotel’s Steamboat Lounge, as were free Green Mountain coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. Awards were presented to the best chef for “Taste of the Lake” and to the top skaters in the 25K (complete results can be found at myLaps.com). Friendship and camaraderie continued into the evening, with dinner, dancing to live music, and relaxation in the hotel’s hot tub and pool.
Saturday’s strong headwinds on the north-bound side of the skating oval did not dampen enthusiasm for another marathon. With temperatures in the single digits (Fahrenheit) on Sunday morning, 19 skaters entered and finished the 40K. Kathy Feinberg was the first woman over the finish line, while Jim Cornell added another first place medal to his collection.
While the 40K was in progress, a group of marathoners and friends took a skating tour of the lake. Billed as the longest skating trail in the Northeast U.S., it circles the lake and provides fine vistas of the surrounding mountains. Remarking about the choice of Lake Morey for the Series, a veteran MSI skater said “There are few places one can skate an entire lake, dog running beside, bald eagles overhead, and listening to the ice sharing it's wintry secrets in funky techno sounds as it shift beneath us.”
Many people helped make speedskating’s return to Lake Morey a success. Congratulations go to Lake Morey Resort Marketing Director Christine Cecchetti for organizing the marathon and the entire “Skate Vermont” weekend. Her co-worker Barry Larson, braved snow, rain, and cold weather to create a fine 1-kilometer oval. Electronic timing was provided by MSI’s Gaétan Rochette, this time from the comfort of his car parked trackside on the 8 inch thick ice. Gaétan was assisted by Pierre Gagné, who arrived earlier in the week to inspect the quality and safety of the ice for racing. On-site race registration was provided by Nicole Cherry.
Given the cancellation of the Ottawa marathon and the absence of a Big Rideau marathon this year, Lake Morey was a welcome and timely edition to the MSI Series. See you in 2011 at the second annual “Skate Vermont” at Lake Morey marathon!
Skate Vermont at Lake Morey 25k Marathon, 1/30/2010
A selection of photographs from Philippe Candelier's collection: Coach Bud Eichorn demonstrates posture in the Saturday morning workshop designed for newcomers to speedskating, below left. Hilary Linehan demonstrates the cross-over technique, below right.
Jim Cornell leads the pack in the 25K, below left. Racing towards the finish, below right, is
Fred Schweikert, Canadian Olympic ('92 and '94) skater Pat Kelly, Tanya Hoferek, and John Ambrose.
Lake Placid Marathons: December 19th and 20th, 2009
Two days after the Lake Placid region broke the record for coldest day, the weather “sweetened up” and skaters were able to enjoy a weekend of near-perfect marathon conditions, with merciful winds and rock-hard ice.
The race was organized by Linda Sausa of the Lake Placid Skate Club with support and timing provided by MSI. (Shameless plug: Linda has opened the Lake Placid Skate Shop in the space formerly occupied by Dimon Sports, with speed, Nordic, and figure skate rentals and more.)
Overall 92 racers participated; some skated all three distances, an impressive feat that was formerly the domain of Jake Maarse of Ottawa.
Sergio Almeralla copped the 10 K in 18:25, edging out Glenn Corso. A flash of daylight later Benoit Letourneau and Chris Windham (age 15) crossed the line. First ladies were Patti Walsh and Kathy Feinberg.
In the 25 K Sergio, benefiting from serious inline training, nosed out Jim Cornell. He finished in 46: 44 and posted the fastest lap speed of 39.03 kph. First lady was Carole Moore finishing in 51:18.
The 40 K was notable in several respects. Mindful of the distance, the pack did a number of “demonstration” laps at a sober 48 seconds, with skaters sizing up the competition. For a good number of laps the lead pack had an improbable 22 skaters. As the race progressed the pack was whittled down to 4 skaters (Jim, Sergio, Glenn and Benoit) who showed mutual respect by working together and superior sportsmanship by waiting when one or another fell. In the end Jim Cornell prevailed, barely, over Sergio. Glenn took a fall on the last lap and finished with Benoit.
Once again Carole Moore was the first lady, finishing an amazing 8th overall. She just eclipsed the pack comprised of Yves Garneau, the only skater from the city of Quebec, Suzanne Dionne, and Bailin Xie (age 13). A loose tongue reported that when Bailin, easily the youngest skater on the ice, took her turn at the front of the pack, there were audible groans as she picked up the pace.
MSI salutes our young skaters, Chris Windham and Bailin Xie, for their skating prowess.
In the interest of celebrating some of the back-of-the-pack skaters, we would like to recognize the achievement of Florinel Balteanu, from Ottawa, both for his perfect record of attendance last year as for his skating improvement by moving smartly up into the ranks.
From the wires of the Team Ubu Press Corps, yours truly, Frank Cherry.
Want more news about the Lake Placid Ice Marathon? See our other story and photo journal of the weekend's marathons.
Marathons Return to Lake Morey in January
By Neal Hundt
Fairlee, Vermont, 15 Dec 2009- Marathon skating returns to Lake Morey this coming January after nearly a six year absence. Lake Morey Resort, Fairlee, VT, will present a weekend of speedskating fun for elite, recreational, and new skaters alike. Marathon Skating International has been tabbed to provide logistic and timing support for the races.
Seeking to establish itself as the premier destination for skating on natural ice in the United States, Lake Morey Resort will host MSI marathons for the premiere of its annual “Skate Vermont at Lake Morey” weekend. Weather permitting, MSI will run chip-timed 25K and 40K marathons on a one-kilometer oval that the Resort will maintain along the southeast shore of one of Vermont’s most beautiful and accessible lakes.
To encourage more participation in long-distance skating, MSI will offer, free of charge, a “Speedskating 101 Workshop” on Saturday morning, January 30, 2010, to introduce newcomers to the sport. Recreational skaters will receive expert instruction from U.S. Speedskating-certified coach Bud Eichorn of Taconic Speedskating Club, NY. Local championship speedskater Hilary Linehan will also serve as a workshop instructor. Together they will teach basic speedskating technique in an indoor session in the resort hotel. Skaters will then take to the ice for additional instruction and practice. The morning will culminate with two speedskating races, 2-K and 5-K, for workshop participants and all recreational skaters.
The 25-K marathon takes place on Saturday afternoon, January 30, at 1 PM; the 40-K follows on Sunday morning at 9 AM. Spectators may gather trackside or in the warm comfort of the Lake Morey Resort hotel parlor which overlooks the skating oval, the south end of the lake, and the mountains beyond.
“Skate Vermont at Lake Morey” offers more than racing. There will be food and live entertainment, a torch-light parade, and the 4.5 mile skating trail (the longest maintained in the US). Snow sculpture competition, pond hockey, and cross country skiing will take place throughout the weekend. Rounding out the activities are spa facilities at the resort, including Jacuzzi, sauna, and fitness center.
Download the compete schedule of “Skate Vermont at Lake Morey” events. To register for skating events, please visit skatevermont.eventbrite.com. Payment for marathon registration is due upon on-site check-in at the MSI table in the hotel lobby. For Lake Morey Resort special room rates, resort information, and reservations, visit lakemoreyresort.com/Specials.
Québec City Marathon Report
By Gaétan Rochette, Race Director, Québec14 Dec 2009
Saturday Evening's 25 km
The starting gun went off a couple of minutes late in order to give the Zamboni time to put finishing touches on the ice. Fifty-three skaters enjoyed exceptional conditions, favored by light winds and a comfortable -1 degrees C.
From the start the lead pack, comprised of Jim Cornell, Youri Juteau, Martin Haire, André Gagnon and Sergio Almeralla set a blistering pace. The pack pushed and shoved all through the race and provided spectators with an exciting show. Competition was no less intense with the ladies, Martine Charbonneau, Anika Bédard, and Suzanne Dionne.
In the home stretch the lead pack was whittled down to Cornell, Juteau, and Almeralla with Cornell just edging out his pack-mates at the finish. While with the women it was Martine Charbonneau (Montreal), finishing just ahead of Madison Roy, 19 years old and completing her first marathon, and Anika Bédard. (photo courtesy of Il Peloton)
Sunday's 40 km
Sunday’s carbon copy weather provided optimal conditions for the 31 racers to show their stuff. Per custom, the 40 km started at a slower pace than the 25 km, and a large pack of 14 skaters set a steady but demanding pace. By lap 10 a few skaters found they were not able to hang on, and the pack dropped to 7. At lap 16 the leaders were Sergio Almeralla, Jim Cornell, Youri Juteau, Hans Postuma, and André Gagnon. Later attrition left Sergio, Youri and Jim alone in front for the rest of the race. At crunch time Sergio made one more escape and finished first with good separation from his two competitors.
Participation by the ladies was very impressive: of the 19 ladies who did the 25 km, 12 signed on for the 40 km. The men’s age group 60 to 69 had few compeitors.
The race committee was very pleased with the event and looks forward to seeing everyone at our next race at Lake Placid, December 19 and 20.
Sergio Almeralla Wins Season's 1st 40K Marathon
By Ursula Almeralla
6 Dec 2009, Ste-Foy, Quebec- Il Peloton's Sergio Almeralla won the first ice marathon of the season, the 40km Quebec City long track marathon at the Gaétan Boucher oval in Ste-Foy on December 6th (pictured, left). Skating in near perfect conditions, Sergio battled with American Jim Cornell and Montreal's Youri Juteau.
"I fell twice in the last 10 laps, which was hard, but I knew from that race that I had gas", said Sergio about the 25K which took place the night before. "So when I prepared for the 40K I decided I would go out there with everything I had and see if Jim and Youri had the legs". Sergio broke away three times, staying out in front by half a lap for long stretches of the race before being reeled in by Jim and Youri. With 26 laps to go, he broke away for a final time. Jim and Youri shortened the gap in an exciting final effort with about 10 laps to go, but it was not quite enough to catch and the jig was up with three laps to go. (Photo courtesy of Il Peloton)
A Brief History of Pack Style Speedskating
By Willem Langenberg21 Nov 2009, Edmonton, Alberta- Mass start (pack style) racing is probably the oldest type of speed skating in history, although the format of the oldest international speed skating race (a competition in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands, on January 23rd 1885) was a mass start for 2 racers in a knock-out format (similar to the present day ‘Kortebaan’ sprint racing over 160 m) on a 1600 m long track with one turn-around midway. For the first world championships (in January 1893 in Amsterdam) a mass start format was used in which there were heats for pairs and a final for the fastest 4 winners (possibly also in pairs) per distance. Separate racing lanes, such as used now in Olympic Style competition, were not introduced until 1899. In North America mass start racing was the only format until 1962 (mass start is still the main format for short track). Time trialing in pairs (Olympic Style) has been used in the Olympic Games since the first Winter Games in 1924, with the exception of the Games of 1932 (Lake Placid), where all the speed skating races where mass start.
The first marathon skating race in the world was a 117 mile race held in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, in 1884. Marathon racing became popular in the Netherlands with the introduction of the 11 Cities race (200 km) in 1909. Since 1970 marathon speed skating has become a regular staple of the Dutch calendar, but progress of marathon skating outside the Netherlands has been slow. Alternative 11 Cities races have been held outside the Netherlands since 1974 (mainly in Scandinavia, but also in Canada in 1983, 1984, 1985, 2004, 2005 and 2006). Marathon races with international participation have been a regular component of the Oval Finale in Calgary since its start in 1991. A regular marathon speed skating series for North America was introduced by MSI in 2001.
The Dutch Skating Union (KNSB) has been lobbying trying to include a marathon (mass start) race in the World Cup program since 2006. In 2006 Pascal Briand (France) won a 40 lap demonstration race during the World Cup in Heerenveen and Arjan Stroetinga won a similar 10 km race during the 2009 World Cup in Heerenveen. Similar demonstration marathon races were held during the 2007 and 2008 Junior World Championships in Innsbruck and Changchun, although the Chinese version resulted in chaos (possibly because of the lack of chip timing). It is not clear if the experiment with marathon racing at the Junior World Championships is considered a failure by the ISU, because there was no mass start (marathon) race at the 2009 Junior World Championships and it is uncertain if similar races are planned for the future.
At present there are plans considered by the ISU to include a mass start in the regular World Cup program for the 2010-2011 season. The precise format of this race still needs to be determined (Proskating, vol.16, No. 4, p.25). MSI is fully in full support of these plans of plans that include mass start (marathon) style events in the current World Cup, Junior World Cup, Canadian Cup and American Cup series events.
9 Nov 2009, Portland, Ontario- Marco Smits, former MSI president and founder of the International Big
Rideau
Lake Speed Skating Marathon, has been hired by the Canadian television
network
CTV to be part of their Vancouver 2010 Olympic broadcasting team.
Smits will join Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium as their long
track
speedskating researcher.
"I'll be working behind the scenes as an editorial researcher and that
really
suits me," Smits said. "This is a great honour and opportunity for me.
I probably won't see a lot of live action. I think I¹ll be working inside a
studio during most of the races."
The Olympic Winter Games take place from Feb. 12 until Feb. 28. Speedskating
events are scheduled almost every day.
Canada is expected to win several medals in long track speedskating,
possibly
the first Olympic gold medal ever won on home soil.Marco Smits Joins Vancouver Olympic Broadcast Team
News from MSI President Willem Langenberg
15th Oct 2009, Edmonton, Alberta- MSI will organize a training camp in the Netherlands at the FlevonIce facility (see video, www.flevonice.nl/winter). The December 7 to 12 camp concludes with a chip-timed tour (choice of all distances up to 200K). FreeSkate will sponsor all MSI skaters by waiving the entry fee. MSI is arranging a group rate at the nearby hotel Dorhout Mees. Transportation to Amsterdam is the responsibility of the individual. Joint transportation from Schiphol airport to Biddinghuizen (possibly by public transit) can be arranged. Interested skaters should contact me as soon as possible.
The program for the North American championships at Joliette (Febr. 13-14) is evolving. MSI will provide the organizers with a championship protocol. It promises to be a wonderful weekend with events suitable for the whole family.
Portland Outdoors let us know that the organizers of the International Big Rideau Lake Speed Skating Marathon have decided to take a year off. This slack will possibly be taken up by Lake Morey (Vermont), where a local organizing committee (assisted by MSI) is trying to revive the marathons as feature events of a Winter Festival.
In Western Canada, the town of Sylvan Lake and FSSM are in the planning stages of reviving marathons on Sylvan Lake in February (we'll keep you posted on progress). Winnipeg (Randy Plett) and Ft. St. John (Wim Kok) are hoping to organize local marathons.
Contact Willem Langenberg at cwlangen at telus dot net.