But 53-year-old Andrew Nicholson gave the Dutch a run for their money in the world’s longest speed skating race after training on a pair of roller-blades around Portobello.
To make the feat more impressive, the former international speed skater was on the road to recovery from a hip replacement last year.
Mr Nicholson had always dreamed of taking part in the Elfstedentocht — the 11 cities race — in the Netherlands.
However, other sporting goals took priority.
He came fourth at the 1992 Winter Olympics in short-distance speed skating, has completed the Coast to Coast five times and became the fastest man to ride a bicycle around the world in 2015 — a record he held for three years.
While he was considering whether to compete in the Elfstedentocht, Covid-19 happened and he developed osteoarthritis of the hip, a degenerative joint disease.
Before he knew it, he was roller-blading the length of the new cycleway track from Portobello to Port Chalmers, and back training for the 200km Elfstedentocht race.
Dunedin had did not have the facilities to train for long-distance speed skating, so he had to get creative with what he had, he said.
He took a lot of pride in achieving so much in the sport with limited facilities.
"Like a lot of things in life, it’s not about what you achieve; it’s about what you achieve with what you have that counts."
Mr Nicholson came third in one of the non-competitive races at the event, in which about 750 people participated, including a former Dutch national team full professional.
