Anthura skating team trains on natural ice

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08-01-2009 | It is cold in Holland; the temperature has been steadily dropping over the last couple of weeks. It’s below zero degrees Celsius for some time now. For the real ice skate lovers it starts itching to go skating; will the legendary journey of Eleven Cities (Elfstedentocht) be possible this year?

Anthura sponsors its own skating team, the Anthura team is experienced and takes the opportunity to skate on natural ice.

The river De Rotte was frozen, so for the first time in years the Anthura team could skate on natural ice. De Rotte is a peat river which starts in Moerkapelle and flows through the  Rottemeren, through Bleiswijk and Bergschenhoek until Rotterdam, where it flows into the Stokviswater.

For skate lovers a journey on De Rotte is marvellous; along the dike with the cracking ice under the skates. The Anthura team skated with five on De Rotte. With the wind blowing against the ears, in the right position and with a firm gliding stride they attracted the attention of many amateurs on the ice.

The Anthura team is a phenomenon in the city Bleiswijk. With sky blue skating suits they race down the road or ice, in summertime on inline skates and in wintertime on skates.

On the picture you see the skaters; Raymond Jansen, Frans van Winden, Jos Dohle, Art van Winden and Peter Valk. Other skaters of the team are Andre van de Burg, Martijn Storm, Zinzi Mol and Marieke van Hoek.

Raymond Jansen and Jos Dohle have qualified themselves for the Dutch Championship on natural ice.

Marathon skating on natural ice
Today, 8th of January 2009, the first Dutch Championship marathon skating on natural ice since 1996 will take place. The skating event takes place on the Oostvaardersplassen, near Lelystad. The minimum thickness of the ice has to be 12 cm in order to arrange this kind of competition. It is time for fun on the ice.

The last winner of the Dutch Championship in 1996 was Bert Verduin. He won the marathon on December 30 in Ankeveen (a little place in the North of Holland).