International
PO Box 89, Norwich, Vermont 05055 USA
Tel (802) 649-3939 ... Fax (802) 649-3929
Web www.MarathonSkating.org
In the fall of 2000, NAMSA was launched to promote competitive and recreational long-distance ice skating in the USA and Canada. Last year we became MSI (Marathon Skating International). We welcome your participation, as well as your suggestions and advice.
Our first season was busy. In January we organized a trip to the Weissensee in Austria. Thirteen Americans and Canadians joined more than 7000 Europeans for a week on nine-mile-long Weissensee Lake in the Carinthian Alps. First-time skater Liz Keate from California skated 50 kilometers, while 13-year-old Adrian Christie from Québec skated 100 kilometers, and 59-year-old Frank Cherry of New York did the 200K.
In February we took a group of Americans on a week-long tour of outdoor skating tracks in eastern Canada. Stops included the 8-kilometer Rideau Canal in Ottawa, the 9-kilometer Rivière L'Assomption in Joliette, and the 2500-meter Lac Beauport oval near Québec City. By the end of the week our group had swelled to 24 American skaters and family members. Seventeen Americans raced in the Lac Beauport International Marathon – the first-ever participation by Americans. Dutch and German skaters also joined a large group of Canadians.
The 2004 edition of Outside Traveler, a monthly magazine with a circulation of over 1 million copies, featured a story on marathon skating. NAMSA and marathon skating have also appeared on the National Geographic Channel, in the New York Times, Boston Globe and Minneapolis Star-Tribune, and in numerous sports and fitness magazines including Cross Country Skier, Fitness & Speed Skating Times and Men's Health.
In 2004-05 we'll continue to build the sport of marathon skating, by establishing more skating tracks, organizing more races and tours, and publicizing ice events more effectively. We'll use our website, www.MarathonSkating.org, to offer online race and tour information, entry forms, and race results. Thanks to your support, the North American Marathon Championship for US and Canadian skaters has been held in 2003, 2004 and 2005. We'll also work toward our long-term goal of adding a marathon skating event to the Winter Olympics.
NAMSA is the liaison between US and Canadian groups organizing ice marathons. Events already scheduled for 2005-06 are listed on our calendar. Plus we're organizing a ten-day skating tour of Sweden including the SiljanSkrinnet and Vikingarännet marathons.
NAMSA is ready to assist US and Canadian skaters who need help with registration or travel arrangements for international marathon events. We're also building a library including books, magazines, posters and videos about marathon skating. Please contact us for our publications catalog.
We look forward to seeing you on the ice in the coming winters!
Happy skating,
Jamie Hess, Executive Director
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- clip & mail -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
