Sylvan Lake, Alberta, Canada.

The night before the Sylvan Lake Ice Marathon, temperatures dipped below -30 degrees Celsius and during the day it still only reached -21. It was cold, bitter cold. But the sun broke through and there were tents where the organizers, volunteers, spectators and skaters could warm themselves. "It may be cold for the spectators" said race organizer Evert van Benthem, "but not for the skaters." Well, I had to believe the two-time winner of the Elfstedentocht, the mother of all marathon speed skating races, but when I saw the ice on the skaters mustaches, beards, eyebrows and hats, I had my doubts.

A DREAM COMES TRUE!

Dirk Appel, with a grader from Howell's Excavating and a Bobcat sponsored by the Bobcat Dealer in Red Deer and Evert van Benthem, with a Zamboni sponsored by Big Hill Arena Supplies of Cochrane, had prepared a beautiful 5 km. oval shape track on Sylvan Lake. They were assisted by Piet Yff, who looked after the warm water for the Zamboni and Dirk Kanis, who looked after the propane. It took this team of ice-makers two weeks to get the track ready for the race.

Evert and Dirk, both newcomers to Canada, who emigrated from Holland only a few years ago, have successful dairy farms in the Red Deer area, but once settled dreamt of bringing the excitement of the Marathon speed skating races they had enjoyed in their native Holland to this part of Canada. And these two men, assisted by their wives, friends and many other volunteers of the newly formed Foothills Speed Skating Marathon Association made their dream come true with the inaugural Sylvan Lake Ice Marathon, which took place on the fourth Saturday in February, 2003. Members of the Board are: Evert van Benthem, chairman, Jannette van Benthem, secretary, Dirk Appel , director, Elizabeth Appel treasurer, Sjoerd Post, who celebrated his 65th birthday on race day and who took 20th place in the 1963 Elstedentocht, a great achievement! Arno Hoogveld., Coach of the Canadian National Junior Speed Skating Team also joined the Board. On race day Arno was in Japan where his pupil Shannon Rempel became the Junior World Champion.

It was well organized, with a www.slimarathon.com website by Webmaster Alan Muir, and announcements not only in the Dutch Canadian media, but also in the Telegraaf, Holland's largest newspaper. There are too many sponsors to mention them all. Tom Droog, President of Spitz Alberta Sunflower Seeds from Bow Island sponsored the event as well as some of the skaters. Others, such as the Co-operators Insurance out of Innisfail had put up tents or provided something warm to eat or drink. Sylvan Star Cheese had also put up a tent and served delicious peasoup and buns. There was cooperation from the Township of Sylvan Lake, the University of Calgary Olympic Oval and the Alberta Amateur Speed Skating Association. As the designated charity, the organizers chose St. John Ambulance.

START OF THE RACE AND LADIES RESULTS

Evert had invited his friends Jos and Lida Niesten and also Rob and Martin van der Valk from the well-known van der Valk hotel and restaurant family to come over from Holland to be in the race jury along with Jolanda and Hans Appelman from Westerose, Alberta and Referee Dave Thomson, who represented the Canadian Speedskating Association. Jos Niesten placed third in the 1985 Elfstedentocht and became the Dutch Marathon Skating Champion in 1988. Before the race Jos and the brothers van der Valk had filled up any cracks in the ice with warm water.

There were 36 men and 8 ladies registered for the Marathon which each had three age categories. There were two registrations from The Netherlands, a number that is expected to increase considerably for future events. Thirteen-year-old Marloes Heus from Breukelen in the province Utrecht was the youngest participant and ended in third place for Junior Ladies. This was her first long distance race! The other Dutch speed skater, Martien Pater from Vorden ended in 7th place in the Masters Men. The oldest participant was Matt de Nijs from British Columbia. The men had a 50 km race, while the ladies had to complete half that distance.

Evert van Benthem himself was the official starter and the 44 skaters took off after the shot from his starter pistol at 11:00 AM. It was an exciting race, and every time the skaters completed a lap to start the next 5 km, they were encouraged by an enthusiastic crowd.

The first one to cross the finish line after 25 km was Selina Elm in time of just under one hour. Selina won the Senior Ladies and became the overall Ladies' Champion. Judy van Hyfte won the Masters Ladies and Kelsey Duffield took first place in Junior Ladies.

THE EXCITING MEN'S RACE

The men's race was particular exciting. Immediately after the start a group of seven men took the lead: Jamie Ivey, Blaine Hill, Merein van Benthem and Rolf van Benthem, all from Canada and Andy Dahlstrom, Mark Kandola and Rob Kramer from the United States. After 20 km, Andy Dahlstrom and Merein van Benthem made an escape attempt, but because of good cooperation between their pursuers, they were caught after 4 km. After 30 km Andy Dahlstrom initiated another escape attempt and was joined by Mark Kandola and Merein van Benthem. The group following them did not work as well together and when the lead group was 200 meters ahead, Jamie Ivey did not want to wait any longer and started his own pursuit. Rolf van Benthem tried to keep up with Jamie, but his effort was in vain. With 15 km to go Jamie joined the lead group.

Merein van Benthem increased the pace with only 8 km to go, and Mark Kandola could not keep up, reducing the lead group to three skaters. A little later Merein himself became the victim of an escape by Jamie Ivey, who took Andy Dahlstrom along, and in a convincing sprint over the last 100 meters Jamie won the Senior Men in a time of 1:41:56, and with that time became also the overall Champion! Andy Dahlstrom was only seconds behind, and won the Over 35 Master category.

Sixteen year-old Merein van Benthem who came in third overall, won the Junior Men in a time of 1:43:17. His 19-year-old brother Rolf took second place. This had to make their parents Evert and Jannette van Benthem very proud! They are for sure developing some future "Elfstedentocht" participants!

"ELFSTEDENTOCHT" ATMOSPHERE

Following the main event, which had been reserved for licensed members of the International Skating Union, there was the Open Tour Event where participants could complete up to 10 laps. After each 5 km. lap they had to obtain a stamp in a similar fashion to the original "Elfstedentocht" speed skating event in Friesland, The Netherlands. The Open Tour Event drew some 150 participants, Rik Dykstra from Innisfail, Alberta was the first one to complete all ten laps.

There was a replica of the famous bridge across the ice in Bartleheim, which gave both events, along with the typical Dutch pea soup, and not to forget the Dutch hospitality, that special "Elfstedentocht" atmosphere. There were many Dutch Canadian participants and spectators and someone was even wearing wooden shoes. There were also Dutch sponsors like Siebrand Wijnen; Craft Sportswear; Deurwaarden BV, as well as local sponsors: RBC Royal Bank, Booth Scott Lodewijk van Teteringen, Vertech Feeds, Unifeed, VanRuinen Dairy Klaas Otten, Otten Bemiddeling, Andries Steegstra Realty, C.I.B.C. Fast-Trax skishop, Spruce View Liquor Store, U.F.A. Red Deer, Pro-Line Manufacturing Inc. Jack Theelen Realty and Flowers, Appel Art Carpentry, among which the Dutch Business Club of Calgary and other Dutch Canadian organizations.

The net proceeds of this Skating Event will go to St. John Ambulance, which had its ambulance on the ice close to the finish line. First Aid was already needed during the first lap of the Marathon, when one of the speed skaters made a serious fall and was even unconscious for a moment, but other than First Aid he was well enough to see the exciting men's finish.

A JOB WELL DONE!

The volunteers did a great job by helping out with security, signs, parking, announcements and overall hospitality. Gera van der Linde looked after registrations and Elizabeth Appel was in charge of finance. All the signs were made by Gerrit Yff, another newcomer to Canada. Nel and Jaqueline Yff provided all the volunteers with a good lunch. "Ome Joop" de Haas looked after the music. For everybody there was free hot chocolate, coffee, buns, hamburgers, oranges and delicious pea soup. A donation to St. John Ambulance could be made. The builders of the start and finish construction also did a fantastic job.

Both honorary Consuls for The Netherlands from Calgary and Edmonton attended this festivity. After all the award ceremonies, Consul Rikke Dootjes, also on behalf of his Calgary colleague Irene Bakker, thanked and congratulated Dirk and Elizabeth Appel and also Evert and Jannette van Benthem, and all the other volunteers as well as the sponsors for their efforts in organizing and bringing such a wonderful typical Dutch Skating Event to Sylvan Lake. Yes, it was indeed a great success, and we all look forward to next year's event.