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Home » History » Tour of 1912

Tour of 1912

The first tour with both a competitive and recreational group of skaters, and one female participant.

The Elfstedentocht of 1912 had already been postponed several times due to the poor condition of the ice. On the early morning of February 7, a vote among the registered participants was held, and the decision was made to start. The race started at 5:40, and 5 minutes later, the recreational skaters followed.

The race

The condition of the ice turned out to be better than expected. The distance from Leeuwarden to Dokkum and back to Leeuwarden was completed 22 minutes faster than Hoekstra in 1909. The checkpoint was missed, and the three leaders—De Koning, Ypma, and Keizer—were pursued but eventually received their stamp. Keizer was the leader in Franeker, but De Koning entered Harlingen first. In Bolsward, it became clear that the 'monarchs' (Keizer and De Koning) had dominated the first half of the race. Jikke Gaastra, the only female participant, was welcomed with the Frisian anthem in De Doelen in Bolsward.

De Koning arrived in Workum more dead than alive. The control office feared he might die on the spot. A glass of warm milk and a sandwich with meat helped him recover. Keizer wanted to leave Workum but was begged by De Koning to wait. This sporty gesture caused Keizer to waste a lot of time. In Stavoren, the Frisian Ferwerda overtook the two leaders.

Right after Sloten, the decision was made. De Koning escaped on the Slotermeer with his guide. Keizer struggled with a breakdown, but De Koning was not willing to slow down for Keizer. This way  De Koning reached IJlst first, followed by Ferwerda and Keizer. In Sneek, Ferwerda managed to depart earlier than De Koning. Ferwerda fell at De Dille, the famous ice inn, halfway between Sneek and Leeuwarden. Ferwerda gave up, and De Koning finished with a new record time, 15 minutes ahead of Ferwerda. Keizer ultimately finished fourth in the same time as third-place Swierstra. The last two had raced for the competition and were classified as numbers one and two in the race.

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