Long, cold marathon for 16,000

Press, 27 February 1986, Page 44

Long, cold marathon for 16,000

NZPA-ReuterLeeuwarden More than 16,000 skaters set off over the frozen canals - of the north Netherlands yesterday on a spectacular Ice marathon ■— only the fourteenth time in a century. The Eleven Towns Race, over a 200 km route round the province of Friesland, has dominated the news media in the skate-crazy Netherlands for days. . Tens of thousands of spectators were out be-

fore dawn to send the competitors on their chilly way. A group of 350 crack ice racers were first off, jogging through the streets from the start in Leeuwarden’s town centre, then pulling on their skates and swaying rythmically into the gloom beyond the crowd, their breath white in the icy air. The event was staged for the first time last year in 22 years. Only once before since the

first race in 1890 has it taken place in consecutive years. After the first wave, the less earnest skaters were sent on their way in groups of up to 1000. The record for the course is 6 hours and 47 minutes but some skaters were expected to take up to three times as. long and some were likely not to finish at all as cold and tiredness took their toil.

Special trains shuttled competitors and spectators to Leeuwarden and every hotel room in the race area was booked out The total race field was limited for safety reasons to about 16,000 but a black market developed in entry papers. Some disappointed would-be contestants staged a noisy protest at the race headquarters the night before the start