WORLD MASTERS DAY THREE

Saturday’s competition included 1000 M, 1500 M, 3000 M and 5000 M distances. Unofficial winners:

1000M

M70 Ron Johnston CAN 1:30.39

M75 Arne Kjell Foldvik NOR 1:35.95

M80 Tony Zegers CAN 1:56.15

W50 Lettie Zwanenburg NED 1:32.27

W55 Ute Zillman GER 1:33.56

W60 Ria Slikker NED 1:37.16

W65 Lasma Kauniste LAT 1:57.17

1500M

M65 Alf Gjolga NED 2:08.28

W30 Bianca van den Hoek NED 2:07.87

W35 Nina Johanne Torset NOR 2:06.34

W40 Marga Preuter NED 2:11.17

W45 Monique Boerema NED 2:09.60

3000M

M60 Erik Vea NOR 4:20.09

5000M

M30 Willem Jan Molleman NED 7:16.79

M35 Dan Frederick USA 6:58.16

M40 Roberto Sighel ITA 6:49.37

M45 Atle Vaarvik NOR 7:08.50

M50 Frode Eidsmo NOR 7:03.62

M55 Ragnvald Naess NOR 7:06.51

Complete results are available here.

Competition will conclude on Sunday with more 1000M, 1500M, 3000M and 5000M races, followed by an awards ceremony and closing banquet.

WORLD MASTERS DAY TWO

Friday’s competition included 500 M and 1500 M for men and women from various age groups. Unofficial winners:

500M

M60 Erik Vea NED 42.39

M65 Alf Gjolga NED 42.47

M70 Ron Johnson CAN 45.09

M75 Arne Kjell Foldvik NOR 49.80

M80 Tony Zegers CAN 57.02

W30 Renske Winters NED 42.36

W35 Nina Johanne Torset NOR 42.52

W40 Marga Preuter NED 43.59

W45 Gerdien Meijer NED 43.06

W50 Lettie Zwanenburg NED 46.64

W55 Ute Zillman GER 47.57

W60 Ria Slikker NED 48.29

W65 Lasma Kauniste LAT 1:12.95

W80 Agatha van der Starre CAN 1:37.43

1500M

M30 Willem Jan Molleman NED 1:57.65

M35 Thor Olav Tveter NOR 1:55.54

M40 Roberto Sighel ITA 1:51.95

M45 Jan Duif NED 1:54.96

M50 John Van der Vlugt NED 2:00.94

M55 Victor van den Hoff NED 1:57.99

M70 Toon Kooijmans NED 2:19.51

M75 Arne Kjell Foldvik NOR 2:28.30

M80 Tony Zegers CAN 2:59.70

W50 Lettie Zwanenburg NED 2:21.27

W55 Ute Zillman GER 2:21.13

W60 Ria Slikker NED 2:30.57

Complete results are available here.

Competition continues Saturday with 1000M, 1500M, 3000M and 5000M races.

WORLD MASTERS DAY ONE

The 20^th International Masters All Round Speed Skating Competition is well under way, starting with a welcoming reception and draw meeting on Wednesday, February 23, 2011 at the Olympic Oval in Calgary.

At January 31^st, there were 288 registered competitors, somewhat lower than the 328 registered competitors at the 2007 Games held in Calgary. A number of competitors from the last Games indicated that they were not registering this time because of the requirement to qualify for the 3000M or 5000M races, as for even a top competitor, a slip or stumble in one of the early races could mean an early end to their competition after only three races. For the men, their competition weekend could be over as early as Friday at noon.

There were a number of scratches so the actual number of competitors may be lower than these registration figures; the final tally should be available after all of the competitors have raced on Friday.

Once again, the registration was dominated by male entries, with only 59 female competitors, and particularly disproportionate registrations from some countries such as Norway, which has only 4 female competitors out of the total of 61 competitors submitted in the country registration.

Thursday’s competition included men in the age groups from 30-34 to 55-59, for their first two distances. Unofficial winners:

500M

M30 Willem Jan Molleman NED 39.96

M35 Tjark Verhoeven NED 39.11

M40 Roberto Sighel ITA 38.39

M45 Brian Boudreau USA 38.79

M50 Morten Henriksen NOR 41.02

M55 Victor van den Hoff NED 40.76

3000M

M30 Willem Jan Molleman NED 4:10.39

M35 Thor Olav Tveter NOR 4:08.99

M40 Roberto Sighel ITA 3:58.56

M45 Jan Duif NED 4:02.65

M50 Herman Vermeer NED 4:07.35

M55 Victor van den Hoff NED 4:15.26

Complete results will be available here.

Competition continues Friday with the 1500M for men in these age groups, followed by the 500M and 1500M for men in the age groups from 60-64 to 80-84, and for women in the age groups from 30-34 to 80-84.

PNIC MASTERS INTERNATIONAL OPEN

Seven women and thirty-six men from three different nations raced in the annual Pettit National Ice Centre Masters International Open on February 12-13, 2011. Except for one Canadian and one Norwegian, all competitors were from the USA.

Photo by Peter Eckert

The meet offered 2 olympic style (metric) events (500 m and 1000 m) as well as mass start (pack style) racing over 500 m, 1000 m, 1500 m and 3000 m distances in just two half days of competition. Ice conditions must have been good for the olympic style racing as the women achieved three personal records (PR's) in the 500 m and 5 PR's in the 1000 m, while the men set nine PR's in the 500 m and eleven PR's in the 1000 m.

Photo by Pete Eckert

The lone Canadian skater, Larry Magloire (ON), placed 2nd overall in the men's mass start open class as well as 2nd in the 500 m and 1st in the 1000 m for masters in the olympic style events.

Complete olympic style results can be seen here. Placements for mass start racing can be seen here.

A short video of some of the mass start events can be seen here.

MASTERS AT CANADA CUP COMPETITIONS

Historically, Canada Cup competitions have provided opportunity for masters to participate in a high level national meet as the series travels across the country from Calgary to Quebec City and Winnipeg. Recently, however, Speed Skating Canada's High Performance Long Track Committee has set time standards for entry to these competitions which are far beyond the ability of most masters. The HPLTC is empowered to do so under SSC Rule B8-801, provided such standards are "deemed to be developmentally appropriate and consistent with the Guiding Principles for Competitions and Events".

Masters have appealed these criteria to SSC noting Guiding Principle #6 which states that competitions and events should "be fun, safe, attractive and accessible to people of all ages, all skill levels and from different backgrounds." Despite this, the eligibility criteria have not been changed to include time standards which are appropriate to masters skaters.

Some masters were, however, able to skate Canada Cup #1 in Quebec City on December 3-5, 2010 including Richard Wismer (ON), Dave Clements (ON) and Blaine Hill (AB). Complete results of the meet can be seen here.

From a review of the results for Canada Cup #2 in Calgary on January 6-9, 2011; it appears that no masters participated.

For Canada Cup #3 in Winnipeg on January 28-30, 2011; the rules were changed to allow masters skaters, who had not met the time standards, to compete although no awards were to be given to such skaters. On this occasion, Randy Plett (MB) and Daren Lind (AB) skated within the meet, having met the required time standard for entry. Bernie Enns (MB) and Brett Arnason (MB) also competed, although outside the official competition. Complete results can be seen here.

Canada Cup #4 is scheduled to run March 15-20, 2011 in Calgary, providing one last opportunity this season for the few masters who may be qualified, or admitted, to enter.

PORTLAND MARATHONS - CONSTANT MONTPELLIER'S COMEBACK

Once again, masters skaters dominated the field in the 7th "Skate the Lake" Marathons held January 29, 2011 on Big Rideau Lake in Portland Ontario. Events on the 1 km track included 5 km, 10 km and 25 km distances.

Prominent amongst the competitors was Constant Montpellier of Saint-Lazare Quebec who, in his first race since his serious speed skating accident last Fall, won the 25 km race.

25 km Race - photo by John Truyens

Complete results can be seen here. Additional information and photos by John Truyens can be seen here at the Portland Outdoors website.

CANADIANS AT THE ALTERNATIVE ELFSTEDENTOCHT IN WEISSENSEE

Since 1989, Weissensee, Austria, has been hosting the ALTERNATIVE ELFSTEDENTOCHT, known as the 11 cities race. From January 24th to February 5th, 2011, this small town changed drastically and became busy with speed skating fever. During these 13 days, different races including 3 alternative races of 200km, a Grand Prix as well as shorter distances were held on a 12 km long track on Lake Weissensee.




Photos by Gaetan Rochette

Skaters came mostly from the Netherlands, but also from Belgium, Austria, Luxemburg, Germany, USA and Canada. This year, six Canadians, Yves Garneau (Quebec), Gaetan Rochette (Quebec), Charles Beaudoin (Quebec), Willem Lagenberg (Alberta), Jake Maarse (Ontario), and Gary Goplen (British Columbia) decided to try this ultimate skating challenge and race the 2nd recreational Alternative Eleven-Cities-Tour (distance up to 200km) on January 28. On that day, 855 skaters were at the starting line. The weather was nice and ice conditions good but also dangerous because of the many cracks. For this reason, most skaters skated with Nordic blades. All our Canadian skaters finished well and without too many falls or serious injuries.

The times and distances achieved can be seen here.

“The experience, I was told by Yves, was incredible, the skating atmosphere fabulous, the place beautiful, the event well organised and the best trip ever”.






Photos by Gaetan Rochette

For those looking for a summer challenge in 2012, this unique Dutch organisation is also offering a summer trip (information in dutch only)from the Netherlands to skate in Argentina during their winter. In this trip, 2 days of skating are included as well as visits of cities and Ushuaia, the Terra de Fuego at the southern tip of South America.