Peter Steeper Photography
The Canada Games Oval has been all the buzz in the local news in Halifax, and the Skate the Common Marathon on the oval on January 8-9, organized by the Dartmouth Speed Skating Club and the Halifax Regional Municipality, was no exception. A total of 269 competitors completed the 4 races – the 5K “Big Ice Icebreaker”, 10K “Hockey / Speed Skate Challenge”, 25K “Big Ice Challenge” and originally planned 40K “Going the Distance” which became the “One-Hour Blizzard Race” when the weather changed overnight.
Scott Richey Photography
The event was a first for Nova Scotia, and took place on the historic Halifax Common. The Canada Games Oval, built as a temporary venue for the 2011 Canada Winter Games but with a refrigerated ice surface, presented a unique opportunity to introduce the local skating community to long distance racing. Competitors who were not regular members of a speed skating federation were able to participate as festival members under a Festival Sanction from Speed Skate Nova Scotia.
Scott Richey Photography
Competitors were able to compete in any type of skates, and many did very well indeed in hockey or figure skates – but there were lots of inquiries after about speed skating. If you walk around the oval in a speed skating jacket, you’ll be stopped repeatedly to answer the questions “How do I become involved in speed skating?” and “Where can I get speed skates?”.
Peter Steeper Photography
Open to all ages, the vast majority of the competitors fell into the masters age categories. The Dartmouth Speed Skating Club is making plans to respond to this increased interest in speed skating next year, and anticipates having enough demand to have a separate masters hour for the first time.
There are more great pictures of all four races available at the following links:
5K and 10K:
25K and One-Hour Blizzard Race:
Marathon Skating International Report available here.
Results available here.
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