History

Long before the first official Elfstedentocht, there were several tours.  All at the initiative of riders and not officially arranged. It was Pim Mulier who appealed to the Friesche IJsbond to call for the first arranged tour. At a meeting of the Friesche IJsbond on 18 December 1908, Mulier's point was introduced to organise the Elfstedentocht. After some discussion this idea was embraced and decided to organise the first trip.

Foundation of the Association

After the 1909 Elfstedentocht, there was debate over whether the tour should be competitive or performance-based. The Friesche IJsbond thought the tour should be a performance tour, not a competition. Mulier and Hepkema wanted both. On 15 January 1909, Hepkema led the founding of Vereniging De Friesche Elfstedentocht. During his his term of office, Hepkema organised eight editions of the Elfstedentocht. Pim Mulier designed the Elfsteden medal as we still know it today.

The route

The Elfstedentocht (Eleven Cities Tour) takes participants along the eleven cities that were once granted city rights. The start and finish are in Leeuwarden. The first four tours and the 1941 edition were skated in the opposite direction, starting in Leeuwarden and heading first to Dokkum. All other 10 editions followed the route from Leeuwarden to Sneek, IJlst, Sloten, Stavoren, Hindeloopen, Workum, Bolsward, Harlingen, Franeker, and back to Leeuwarden via Dokkum.

Women in the race

In 1985 women could participate in the race for the first time. That year, the first woman to finish was Lenie van der Hoorn–Langelaan (07:33), followed by Tineke Dijkshoorn–Olsthoorn in 1986 (07:55), and Klasina Seinstra in 1997 (07:49). From the next edition onward, a separate race for women was introduced, officially recognizing a female winner for the first time.

Lenie van der Hoorn with her husband immediately after the finish

Fifteen editions

Since 1909 a total of 15 editions of the Elfstedentocht have taken place, with 4,787 competitive skaters and 78,576 recreational participants starting the event. During the 1963 tour, known as "The Hell of ’63," only 0.7% of participants—127 skaters—managed to reach the finish line. Coen de Koning, Auke Adema, and Evert van Benthem have each won the tour twice. Van Benthem holds the record for the fastest completion time, finishing in 1985 in just 6 hours and 47 minutes. We are now waiting for the 16^th edition..

Winners