 Another solution to still be able to skate marathons on natural ice became the Alternative Elfstedentocht.The Alternative Elfstedentocht races take part in other countries, such as Austria, Finland or Canada, and all top marathon skaters as well as thousands of recreative skaters travel from the Netherlands to the location where the race is held.According to the NRC Handelsblad journalist Jaap Bloembergen, the country "takes a carnival look" during international skating championships, despite the fact that "people outside the country are not particularly interested."