Eleven Cities Tour 1985 Reaction!
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Original Video Link: • Eleven Cities Tour 1985
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This event is so legendary that even a lot of our Olympic Skaters would gladly give up their gold medals just to be able to participate in this event once
Cause they would be a legends if they finished it. There are many Olympic Skaters but not many Skaters have won this. It would be the ultimate challenge to someone that loves skating.
@@maaiker2977 Didn't great olympic champion Johan Olav Koss ride the 1997 edition as a tourer?
@@DenUitvreter I don't know. But if they ever do it again I can imagine many Olympic skaters wanting to join. Especially now that the world is smaller. What self respecting skater wouldn't want to test their abilities.
@@maaiker2977 ua-cam.com/video/quLQvsj_N7s/v-deo.html
Koss and Karlstad were giants, and very well loved champions in Friesland were they skated so much indoor races. So I guess they were invited because you have to be a member of the Elfstdenvereniging and there was a waiting list for that.
@@DenUitvreter Yes, he,did
Fun Fact: the CEO of a company I used to work for had a clause in his labor contract that said he could leave work at any given time in order to participate in the Elfstedentocht. I kid you not!
Additionally, a lot of companies have a special clause to get the day off (if possible within reason) if the tour happens.
There's nothing in my contract, but if the Elfstedentocht is happening, no one works. The entire province comes to a halt, it clogs up with tourists and skaters and it's one big party.
My father actually had simmilar contracts, even ones where any natural ice would allow him to take him of
Manfred de Graaf a dutch acteur had always this clausule in al of his contracts
I'm a 53yo Surinamese-Dutch woman living here for 50 years, and the first 2 things I learned after we moved here were: swimming and iceskating during my first year in The Hague and Scheveningen. Learning to ride the bike followed the year later. If they would announce that the Elfstedentocht would be posible this winter, you bet your hiney even I would be making preparations for the live TV event. Id be wearing an orange knit hat and pair of gloves, eating erwtensoep (pea soup) hile cheering the skaters on in my warm home.
It would also mean that we would be able to skate on the ponds as well, so I would be skating again on the nearby ponds with my sons. I love snow. Snow makes me happy like a little kid, but ice? You bet I'm going to skate again! Stupid global warming....
I love this!!!
Geweldige comment! 💜😊
@@jdj8168ummmm beetje rare comment
Leuk om te horen🎉
Ik 56 nu. Uit Rotterdam. Zo ongelooflijk veel gemeenschappelijk. Prachtig!
An uncle of mine partook in that years tour, at a certain point he broke one of his skates but then another skater injured himself on that part of the course and couldn't continue, he gave my uncle his skates to finish and so he did. After that they formed a great friendship going on skating tours together. Us family watched the event on TV at my aunts with all cousins together having some hot chocolate.
Kippenvel hiervan
Wow, that's great! That makes the best friendships :)
Dit is typisch zo'n verhaal dat de Elfstedentocht zo legendarisch maakt. Leuk dat je dit deelt! Hoop dat ze nog lang mooie tochten mogen maken.
@@marune1975 Niet alleen dat hoor: toen ik in 2012 voor het eerst van m'n leven op een Amsterdamse gracht ging schaatsen (wat een ruimte!) waren er ook iets van 5 toeristen die de aller-aller-allerlaatste schaatsen hadden weten te regelen: natuurlijk, bij enkele van hen waren de schaatsen eigenlijk te groot. Ik had voor mezelf daarom ook extra sokken bij me, maar had ze niet nodig. Die leen je dan gewoon uit. Vonden die toeristen heel raar ;) . Het meest aparte (voor hun) was toen een van de vrouwen haar schaatsen aan had en toen haar handtas weer pakte om die weer op haar lichaam te dragen. Meteen stonden er 3 Nederlanders om haar heen: 'Nee, niet doen, als je valt en je valt erop, raak je ernstiger gewond dan zonder.'
'Ja, maar waar dan?'
'Gewoon midden op het ijs zetten bij de andere tassen, iedereen let erop.' Je had haar gezicht moeten zien! Wat je ten sterkste afgeraden was in Amsterdam, moest je nu ineens wél doen ;) Het duurde even, maar toen ging ze overstag.
I love watching stuff like this from my comfy couch in my warm house.
My dad actually participated in the last Elfstedentocht (1997). He had just recovered from a groin rupture and was only released from the hospital 5 days before the event. But then they announced the Elfstedentocht would take place and he called the doctor if he was allowed to go. The doctor said no way, you own't even make it to the first city. He went anyway and only had to quit at the 9th city before going back to the hospital. But he was extremely happy that he participated as it was the last edition up till now.
As a kid, I got Everts autograph. In 1997 I was able to skate the last elfstedentocht myself. 1 million people coming to Friesland to watch and skating in to these small towns and seeing thousands and thousands of people cheering you on is something spectacular. I will never forget that day.
OMG. That is a cute cat.
Oops, I thought it was a spray painted racoon.
can we watch the famous dutch show: Te land, ter zee en in de lucht. It runs for 39 seasons(excluding the compliations) . Its so much fun. Even without subs.
Yes yes yes 👍
Oh yes, especially the DAF-backward races.
He shot him (down)!
@@henkvanmunster4722 oeps, Simple Reacts did that one a week ago (comment by André van Duin)
That is a very good suggestion
You should watch the movie De hel van '63 (=The hell of '63), it's about the Elfstedentocht of 1963, during the coldest winter in the twentieth century in the Netherlands. It's become iconic. Only a small number of skaters managed to reach the finish.
And each year we hope and pray for a real long, cold winter so we can skate the Elfstedentocht again.
About the stamps, in the last Elfstedentocht (1997) one of our well known skaters, Piet Kleine, did complete the tour but one of the stamps was missing. Although he could prove he was there at that precise point (TV images) he didn't receive the little silver cross and was removed from the list with endresults. Very hard, but those are the rules. Also if you arrive 1 minute too late at the finish, you don't get one.
Nice cat!
This film is indeed a great one to watch! Hopefully you can find decent English subtitles though….
In 2013 i was at De Wereld Draait Door where the numbers 1, 2 and 3 from 1963 were. That was so cool and wont forget that!
I know they had one fatality from frost exposure that year, but uncertain if it was more then one. Plenty of toes were lost to frostbite in 63 though.
@@erikjansen4298 Don't forget the frozen eyes
Only every 11 years there's a realistic chance, during solar minimum;-)
So something interesting to look into is the guy who did this tour in summer. HE SWAM THE WHOLE 200KM, to raise money for cancer research as he himself is a cancer survivor.
His name is Maarten van der Weijden.
Almost died doing it as well
Pfff, wat een aandachtstrekker die van der Weijden
@@camel303 Nou, mooi zo! Dat is letterlijk waardoor er zoveel geld op kan worden gehaald.
Evert van Benthem won the tour twice, in ‘85 and ‘86! He is now a dairy farmer in Canada.
We watch this live at school all day long on a projection big screen, sweet memories! 🤗
Evert van Benthem won it twice, also in 1986! Nowadays he lives in Canada as a dairy farmer! ✌🏼
My cousin is his neighbour;-)
@@mauijttewaal Do they eat Rookworst a lot?
The Queen was there for another special reason... Her son and now our King Willem Alexander did the tour under a different name and she waited for him to arrive safely
no that was 1986 not 85
Under the alias of W.A. van Buren
@@jelle_smid Yup i saw him riding by was there as a spectator.
Dit was zo cool!
Onzin. Bea was er bij vanwege het landsbelang en folklore. Willy reed pas later mee.
You should definitely watch the 1963 Elfstedentocht! I was 10 yrs old at the time and I remember it was sooo cold and very windy also. During the night and morning the temperature was about -20 degr C (which is for our country with a maritime climate very cold!). Around noon it was a bit warmer but with the severe gusts of stormy winds you didn't feel it. Only 1% of the skaters reached the finish line. The next day we suffered an eastern storm. Brrrrr
Yes and my grandfather finished that one! Amazingly proud of him!
@@ingabritta3547 Wow! He is a hero! 🥰👍
@@ingabritta3547 my grandfather was 17 back then and you needed to be 18 to skate it.
he skated it in 85 ore 86 and 96
My husband was born on that day!
The year after - 1986 - our crown-prince and now king Willem-Alexander partook and finished the tour.
A sad aspect of this tour is that there is a time limit. If you're included in the last group you'll be started 4 hours behind the first group. Kind of a bummer if you finish less than four hours after the time limit expires; you won't receive the little cross of achievement.
I came here to see what year our King scatet this event
Ja, soldaat W.A. van Buren was uiteindelijk toch herkent.😂
Technisch gezien hoef je het niet als schuilnaam te zien. Een van hun titels is graaf van Buren.🙃
Het is nog best een slim plan. De koninklijke familie staat toch wel aan de finish, dus de eerste uren was het allemaal niet vreemd.🤔
The hell of '63 is a Dutch movie about the elf steden tocht at 1963 when it was really cold with snow blizzards and all crazy sh*t. Maybe you can watch it sometimes.
Now you can see why we are so good in speedskating. You have to see the video from 1963 it was so cold.
@ria My uncle was skating that year. And he finished as well!! Sad thing is I only got to know this after he died, almost 1 year ago. He was a modest man, that's for sure! 🍀
@@Tuinierenopstrobalen So he is your hero
@@clifffan3 definitely!!
Thanks for this reaction.
I was born and raised in Hindeloopen, one of the 11 cities. ("City" is because of historic trading rights, it has a population of around 1000 so every other person would call it a town of course)
I have witnessed 3 tours (1985, 1986 and 1997) but watching this instantly gives me goosebumps again. A special type of Frisian pride.
Due to climate-change we will probably never see a tour again but if by a miracle there will be another edition somewhere in the future, consider yourself invited.
Evert van Benthem (the dairyfarmer) won in 1985 and 1986. After that he became an instant legend. Like a lot of dutch farmers he left The Netherlands for Canada in the 90s to farm over there.
Climate change might spit out some cold winters before it progresses further according to some researchers.
Let's hope so.
Would he incredible if the Elfstedentocht could be held at least once more.
Those were good times.⛄❄⛸ Alarm clock at 5 in the morning 🕔 because you didn't want to miss anything. With a blanket around you on the couch 🛋 and a cup of hot♨️ chocolate-milk ... and the 📺TV on.
It was also quiet on the street and everyone had a day off. Great to see these images again..🎥📼 SUPER👍💙
The look of amazement on his face is just priceless hahaha.
Fun story: Couple years ago some guy decided to swim the entire 200km course in one guy. First time he didnt make it and ended up in the hospital. Mad lad tried again and finished it the second time.
The music in the intro is the tune of the Frisian anthem!
We almost had one back in 2012 but it was called off at the last moment becaus the conditions of the ice ended up not being quite right. But when it was announced that there would be a very real chance hat one could be held that year people went absoluty crazy. It was all over the news and pretty much every talkshow for like two weeks straight. They even deployed our militairy to help sweep the ice. That’s how big of a deal this was. And when the final verdict came people were devastated
And then try to imagine that March 2012 we got quite close to one: national news once again was live and the room was packed with every journalist (even foreign ones) one could fit him or herself in there. I think that they estimated about 8,5 million people saw the news broadcast that night, because everybody hoped for the 'it giet oan'.
When the Elfsteden-commissie (the Eleven-cities commission) announced 'I do not have good news. The ice unfortunately is not good enough' the whole room applauded because everyone knew they were under intense pressure to just go and organise one because the last one was so long ago.
I can also remember how the National Railways already warned upfront that should the race go on, they would withdraw trains from other routes to support the routes to the North (Friesland) as an estimated 1 to 1,5 million people were likely to travel to the province by train to be part of the Elfstedenfeesten (Eleven-city festivities). To put that into perspective: 1 to 1,5 million people is about the pre-corona number of daily traintravellers on all trains in the Netherlands.
I did get to see the Keizersgrachtrace in Amsterdam in 2012, first time for me, just like I got to skate on an Amsterdam canal as well (first time again). Where the eleven cities have their troubles considering ice-thickness, Amsterdam has the canal-cruiseboats that keep breaking the ice. It takes careful maneuvring by the city-council to get the canal-cruise companies to stop sending boats down the canals so people can skate on it...
I remember watching this live when I was 7 years old. For ice to grow thicker so it can hold this much participants they remove the snow. Snow is like an insulator preventing very cold air to get to the ice to make it grow thicker. On the 1997 elfstedentocht, they transplanted ice. Thick ice blocks were cut out with chainsaws somewhere off course and were moved to parts of the course that were too thin to make it happen.
The last elfstedentocht was in winter 1996/1997 I didn't get to see it on tv. But I experienced the cold of this winter in training at the 11th airmanouvre brigade. Some nights were brutal like -15C with windchill. A frostbite warning we got 1 morning and a couple of recruits had frostbite injuries. So almost 25 years ago we had our last elfstedentocht.
The history of dutch ice skating is actually very interesting. In the 19th century roads were regularly not paved. If you were rich, you could buy a horse and travel. Most people just had to walk to work on dirt roads and back. The Netherlands is full of canals so when there was ice in the winter, you could travel longer distances and much faster. You would be able to visit family 20 miles away and get back before dark. And also trade good and buy things that are not produced in your village. Clay pipes for smoking tobacco were produced in the bigger cities so these were bought and taken back on these trips for example. Ice skating was a necessity to travel for the common worker and became part of our cultural history.
Seeing it back again I remember being 14 years old back than. We were all in school and tv was on in the Cantine. The worst kids stayed there to watch it and we got sent home with teachers calling out parents. It was great 😂
The 1985 and 1986 winner, Evert van Benthem emigrated to Canada later on. The last one was run in 1997.
Henk Angenent won then
ah man you makin me laugh..lookin at this event unfolding for you eyes. This brings back the best winter memories...all day tv on, everybody day off, and the whole country mad!! the biggest event in the Netherlands.
I was in highschool in a little town in Friesland in 1985. We did have to come to school but instead of classes a big screen had been set up in the cafeteria and we all watched the tour.
And yeah, too much snow can be a problem. Snow on the ice works as isolation, preventing the growth of more ice beneath.
I'm just guessing here, but the part where they were cutting up the ice, were probably ridges in the ice. You don't want to have people tripping and tumbling over eachother with essentially sharp blades strapped to their feet.
As a side note, not sure if it was this edition or the 1986 one, but our current King also participated and finished the tour. Mad respect for Prince Pils.
This is probably the winter I learned to skate at the pond in front of our apartment at 4 years old. I love those memories, the whole neighborhood would be out on that pond.
I never saw this documentary! The tv at work was on all day. It was a fantastic event. So glad you showed this one. Thanks!
Edit, lol and of course 11:30 AM. It was great to experience this through your eyes. Friendships for life were built on the ice there, helping one another pull through till the finish line.
Thank you so mutch mr Bleu eyes to cover this Dutch tradition , I hope that if you visit Holland you will be pleasantly surprised about everything, greetings from Benjamin from the Netherlands.
I'm 25, never witnessed it in my life. Whem they host the next 1 i will hope to try and enter. Altough i have been able to ice skate almost every year. Never was it thick enough for this race. (Live in flevoland, netherlands)
I only remember this once in the 25 years I’ve been here and they talk about the Elfstedentocht like it happens every year!
Weissensee!!
It does happen every year. If these is not enough ice for the real tour they organize an alternative route that is equally long and held at the Weissensee.
This same race in 1985 also had a mystery guy skating with the others....our now King Willen Alexander..who had to be incognito to attend the tour. He was registered under the false name Van Buuren;-)
One of the main reasons this event hasn't been held for ages is because they want thicker ice to support a load more people then you see there.
Having it now would basically cripple the country as everyone would want to see it with their own eyes, because people know it will be ages before it's held again.
Also awesome to see my home town in there!
like there is a predator on earth that would not think "those guys are too crazy for me"
The last 11 cities tour that was held on 4 januari 1997. To bad our winters are getting warmer
I remember the last race in 1997. Sat all day in front of that television, mesmerized by the sheer hardcore work that had to be done. Still amazes me. I hope this year we'll get a very cold winter (although the gasprizes are at an alltime high) and i'll get the opportunity to learn my son the art of skating. i miss it.
Fun fact : it's not a Dutch event, it's a Frisian event........thank you 😁
My grandfather participated in the '63 version. He had always wanted to participate, but after he wished he didn't. He came out alive and without damage.
That is the sweetest cat i have ever seen!
Hi. In this 'elfstedentocht' the 18 year old prince Willem Alexander, the current Dutch king, participated as a 'tourer'. He did this incognito under the name 'W.A. van Buren',. But halfway through the tour the public and the media already had recognized him.. He had startingcard number 1.
Fun fact, the music the video starts off with is the Frysian Anthem, from the Dutch provence this is held in.
The music under that opening is the Friesland national hymne.
Racers, tourists, everbody who accomplished the "elfstedentocht"" are heroes
the day to remember so nice, just watching and feel the vibe, amazing,
Love the dedication of you wearing your orange shirt!
Nice to see your cat by the way 😉.
Fun to see that old footage. I was 7 years old at that time
I like your reactions. Always nice to see the Netherlands from a different perspective as a Dutchie
Snow is a blanket cover making the ice melt.
yeah, i was there at the finishline both 85 and 86 (as a spectator) . i spend my teen years in Leeuwarden. a spectical indeed. the freezing cold gave me a whole new perspective of the word "snowballs" :-)
The racers on ice skates go up to 50 km/h or just over 30 mph (imagine just leisurely trucking along at 30 miles and this guy on ice skates goes "Morning!" as they slowly overtake you in your car xD). Now, if you're doing the 11 city tour by kayak your speed is about 8 km/h (5mph) and even they have a non-stop version for the full 200 km and a 36 hour time limit. That said, there's no ice, so a lot warmer.
Though there's a multi-day version too, so I think I'll start with that :P
When the 11 stedentocht began in 1985, my school gave us a day of ijsvrij (icefree). I watched it from 05.00 am till 24.00 pm. My mother made peasoup and the famous stamppot. It was also the first time I was allowed to drink alcohol. A kind of gin (jenever). I was 13 at the time. The 11 stedentocht is so rare even olypian athletes would skip the Olympics just to have the honour to scate it. My only wish is that i have the chance to scate it. But the last time it was held was in 1996... I hate global warming...
It should be AM. PM would be the time for amateurs to finish in Leeuwarden (I think it's 12 as ultimate finish time).
Eleven Cities Tour of '63 is legendary. Known as The Hell of '63, only 69 out 9 292 participatents finished that race, I kid you not. Temperatures as low as -18℃ (-0.4°F), harsh winds, powder snow everywhere. That were the least of their problems.
It's difficult to tell a dutchman not to go skating when they can. Even my brother and his wife (jokingly) announced they'd not attend their own wedding if one of these Tours were held on their date. And no one would blame them if they didn't attend their own reception. It's that kind of craze.
Yup, we used to go to my grandmother's in Franeker to watch. We'll never have one again, I reckon.
A year later we had another one with the same winner, Evert van Benthem but this time the then crown prince, registrated under a pseudonym rode the tour and made it to finish too.
The winner, Evert van Benthem, now lives in Canada (so he skates on …) 🇳🇱❤️🌷🌷
Evert won 2 times in a row
this is one of the things that bring the entire country together
evert van benthum was an immediate folk hero too
i remember this like it was yesterday 😊we still had to go to school, but it was open extra early and my mother made me extra lunch and a bag of lays and some candy. i remember it was still dark when i was going to school and freezing cold. there were no lessons that day and we watch the tour with the whole class (36) on a 21 inch tv . untill 16:00 and my father picked me up . feeling very old now 😂😂😂 i realy miss those days
actuallly there were people who missed a stamp and they were taken out of the results(amd so didnt receive the 11 cities cross), like Piet Kleine. 20 years later they still gave him the missing stamp, but he refused the elf steden kruisje
As he should, no stamp no kruisje ouwe
There was a movie made of the '63 version of the race. The weather was so bad, the movie is called: the Hell of '63
Okay loved this reaction my father and his brothers always did this when this skating 11 city's .. BUT COME ON ! THAT KITTY CAT THAT WALKED IN , WAS TO ADORABLE 🥰
there are no teams , just skate for yourself. . professionals and just skate lovers, A farmer won this year and the next tour too EVERT VAN BENTHEM he went to canada years ago,
still a farmer, has cows, and is still famous. the last winner, was a spruit farmer , ha ha henk angenent, in 1997 .great that you show this . its dutch proud .
I was 7 years old and saw this on tv all day. Together with my brother And mother. Evert van Benthem won Two Times.
Greetings from the Netherlands 🇳🇱.
He won the next year too. Now he is farming in Canada.
I was there that day, saw start and finish and in between one big party. It was wonderful
"y'all don't have any predators up there, right...?"
Me: Big, docile, grass chewing, curiously onlooking COWS. Who, are all inside in winter. ;-)
A few weeks ago I went on a walk in Kockengen in Utrecht. It was a 'klompenpad' route. Straight through fields with a lot of curious young cows. 😂 super cute, but a little scary if 10 cows run up to you the moment you enter the field.
@@DC88_ True! They're friggin' big, but they don't deliberately hurt anyone, but yeah... a 1000 kilo cow on yr toes is no fun ;-)
@@DC88_ Scottish Highlanders are far more scary, but they do not come as close as normal cattle.
Never start running, their brakes are less than yours.
@@dutchman7623 How are they scary, they look so cute!
@@qwertyuiopzxcfgh Horns.
This is oldschool stuff man, I love it. My dad was only 27 when this was made, two years before I was born and I'm 34.
I was watching it on tv the whole day. Greetngs, Roelof,
Hahahha I love when I'm skating on a canal and have to duck down for a bridge. It feels like such a smooth and cool thing to do.
This tour is a rare event.
In the 2000s there has been NO eleven-city tour.
The last one was in 1997 and since the first one in 1903, there have only been 15 in total.
So when it happens it is massive and for many a once in a lifetime event.
i like how you sit with your cat can see he or she realy likes you
My father participated in the tour of 1985 (this race) and the 1986 race and still has both crosses , I could never do that, I am as fit as a beanie bag chair.
And running on skates is called kluunen. Out King skate tour in de and finished. When he wears his medails the one on the far left is the elfstedenkruisje.
Love your cat😻😊
Badass detail about the '97 edition. The fastest female, Klasina Seinstra, was pregnant while riding the tour.
every year we hope for an Elfstedentocht. But it has been so long ago since we had one.
Even our current king finished the tour once, under a different name, and his parents (the then queen) was there to welcome him at the finsh.
We dont just combat the water when its liquid ;)
Just watching some of your old videos. Your cat is precious!
I wish it would freeze like this again. Would love to see the 11s.t. live...
Cool fact: In the 1986 tour our current king, the then 18 years old crown prince Willem-Alexander, completed the tour under the surname W.A. van Buren.
Dayum, this brings back childhood memories!! I watched this one on TV live back than. School was canceled because this is such a special, rare event. Skating on natural ice is a discipline on their own. The ice is not smooth, it's bumpy and cracked, making skating hard, let alone for 200 km (125 miles). I believe the eleven city race only happened once since this one! Brw, the winner of this one, Evert van Benthem, later moved to Canada to continue farming there.
I must have been 4 years old, and used double irons under my shoes to go on the ice. By a canal near our house where a lot of people from the village liked to go ice skating.
They even do ice tranplantation! When there is no ice in important places like under a bridge, they cut with a chainsaw big pieces of thick ice from other places and place it where there is no ice. Great invention.
By the way, i was one of the spectators at the finish line in this video. I lived in Leeuwarden.
I was working at an insurance office. My collegue brought a tv that was 15 by 15 cm. We watched the finish when someone called. He took the phone and asked the person to call back later, because he was in a meeting...😂. All the directors were out of the office. I think that they watched the finish in a nearby cafe on a big screen.😂.
I did not have to work that day, so I watched it , was GREAT, fantastic.
Some nice facts for you also; the next year in '86 the event was again and with the same winner! In that year also our prince of that time competed and finished! He used an alias so no one would recognise him( he's our king now)
The last event was in 1997 so we are waiting for a new one for quite a long time now!
My brother in law forgot his skates for the alternative Elfstedentocht on the Weissensee in Austria.
A year later during the next Elfstedentocht I was in the military on a 4-night bivouac exercize. Sleeping in a 2-person person tent on frozen ground temperatures as low as -15°C (5°F). As if you were sleeping inside a freezer. I was still trembling when we arrived back at the barracks and after a warm shower.
Koud hè?
Always loved ice skating growing up and we used to create a mini 11 city course in our local forest.
I have one thing to say HC ,.......what a adorable cat you have
if i remember correctly, our current king (then crownprince) willem alexander participated in this event that year.
Snow on the ice will actually keep it insulated so it won't grow fast enough.
The ice was cut up so they could poor paint for the finish line. Just adding water and waiting till it is frozen enough again takes to long. So they fill it with the ice they took out. The paint remains visible enough.
Even among the race participants it isn't every man for him/herself. This is not a race to be egoistical.
A year later, in 1986 there was a skater with the name W.A van Buren, this proved to be the current Dutch King Willem Alexander van Oranje. He completed the course.
I was present in 85, 86 and 97. Not as a skater but as a member of a Drum and Showband giving shows along the route.
You are correct, we use a 24hr clock normally and certainly in those days AM and PM where new concepts. So yes... 11:30 AM is the correct time
To cope with the disappointment each year, nowadays many many skaters resort to the alternative Elfstedentocht at Weissensee in Austria!
Even the schools closed earlier to let everyone experience this legend event.
Well our winters are just an extended Autumn nowadays so yeah from the mid 80s our winter became less white and cold each year..
Anyone noticed at 14:12-14:13 minutes the contestants skates? Friese doorlopers, wooden skates you bind under your shoes - boots....
Ice sailing is a sport invented about three centuries ago in the Netherlands. Back then it might have been for other purposes than killing free time.
It is our biggest event, imagine 1/16th of your country is physically going to watch this live in somewhere in that 200 kilometers course!
Well I guess the queen was also there because her son was participating incognito.. By the way, an olympic swimmer swam the tour to collect money for cancer research, he had conquered leukemia himself. It took him 5 days of almost constant swimming.