With Sven Kramer at the start, the skating marathon on Saturday evening in Enschede had special and remarkable participants. The 35-year-old Frisian briefly stepped out of the National Championships for distances in Heerenveen, to eventually end up in the belly of the peloton (23rd of 27 finishers) in Twente.
After his fifth place in the 5000 meters the day before, Kramer decided to participate in the second race of the Marathon Cup on Saturday afternoon. The last time he started in a marathon was four years ago.
“We looked at what I need at the moment, what suits me best at the moment. With a view to the Olympic Qualifying Tournament at the end of December, we came up with this marathon”, Kramer explained his presence at Twente Ice Rink. “I had a nice evening”, he said, after a finish photo had shown that Kramers – temporary – teammate Mats Stoltenborg had lost the sprint of fellow refugee Jordy Harink.
Efficiency
“A marathon provides a little more endurance than a 3 km in a training race. It will not immediately give returns in the short term, but hopefully it will soon,” said Kramer, who initially skated in the tail of the pack, but gained some places during the marathon. “I’m now going to see how I recover from this effort and then I’ll decide what I’m going to do with the ten kilometers on Sunday.”
In any case, he did not find the 120 laps difficult, he said. “You have to get used to it. At times you have to bite your teeth a few times, but that will make you better. That’s part of it. Did I think about what I had started along the way? No dude, otherwise you shouldn’t be here. It’s skating, just a little longer.”
Anyway, for Kramer it was the first time that he combined a National Championship with running a marathon. In contrast to Jillert Anema’s long track skaters, such as Jorrit Bergsma, who is also present in Enschede, who do this more often. “And if they can do it, then I certainly can,” said Kramer with a big smile on his face.
Groenewoud wins in Enschede
The Enschede skating marathon was won by Marijke Groenewoud of Team Zaanlander. She took advantage of the absence of Irene Schouten, who triumphed in Amsterdam last week. Schouten is participating in the National Championships in Heerenveen this weekend. Behind Groenewoud (22) Ineke Dedden finished second, just like in Amsterdam. She took over the leader’s jersey. Lisa van der Geest finished third.
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source https://pledgetimes.com/sven-kramer-felt-like-skating-marathon-had-a-nice-evening-in-enschede/
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