18th March 1972 the first 100 skaters started a race on Jarenvannet (a lake). That was the
beginning of the modern long distance skating in Norway. The first 12-15 years only about
300 skaters in total participated, but since then there has been a growth about 20% every
year, and the last years has reached a level about 2000 individual starts.
Long distance skating uses both lakes and skating-rinks, and the distances vary between
5000 meters and Marathon.
