A 100 years ago, Oscar Mathisen thought he had a busy enough season. But there were those that wouldn’t mind if it were busier.
So far, meets with top national participation had been limited to the traditional skating metropols Hamar, Trondhjem and Kristiania, with Drammen as a little off-shoot of the latter. The others simply didn’t have the facilities, experience, competence, or culture needed to arrange such big ones. But they had heard the tales of them and maybe even witnessed the sums of money moving through the hands of the people who arranged them. Clearly it could not go on like this. The national championship at Lillehammer last year was a milestone in itself. Now, the Telemarkings, who already claimed the origin of skiing, had decided that it was their turn to profit from skating and the money machine named Oscar Mathisen.
And the meet at Børsesjøen at Skien these two February days really was a big one. All the best Norwegians were there, and they even had an international addition in the shape of the Dane Sørensen. Gathering all these skaters from Trondhjem, Kristiania, Hamar and whatnot must have been a challenge indeed. The key seems to have been to arrange a winter sport week. Lillehammer did it when they applied for the national championship last year, and now, Idrætsforeningen Odd, already the oldest existing sport club in Norway, had sent out invitations to their winter week on the occasion of their 25th anniversary. The weather however had been unstable in Skien like so many other places this winter, and the arrangement seemed to be at risk, but “Odderane” rose to the occasion as was their wont. The club chairman and several members of the board pulled the water wagon themselves during the long hours of the night, rescuing the event.
It was a splendid day when the skaters went out to Børsesjøen, and when they reached the top of the Frogner hills, they got a view of the lake and the shining track with flags waving all around, an unforgettable sight according to Oscar himself. The crowd was massive. All of Grenland seemed to be on their feet, and the club had given free tickets to the school children of the district.
Soon the skating started, and in the 500 m, the ice yet was fine and smooth, if not exactly comparable to the Frogner Stadium in Kristiania. Later, the mild weather took its toll. Still the juniors set a few pbs, especially in the 5000m, where they had one of their rare occasions to skate the distance. Here are the times:
Wednesday: 500m senior 1.Oscar Mathisen 47.1 2.Sigurd Mathisen 48.0 3.Martin Sæterhaug 48.1 4.Oluf Steen 48.8 5.Bjarne Frang 49.7 6.Magnus Johansen 49.8 7.Otto Monsen 49.9 8.Jacob Frang 50.1 9.Ejnar Sørensen 51.6 500m junior 1.Johannes Fladaas 52.0 2.Oluf Jacobsen og Arne Gulbrandsen 52.1 4.Thoralf Thoresen og Reidar Gundersen 52.3 6.Trygve Aulie 52.8 7.Stener Johannessen 53.0 8.Sigurd Halvorsen 53.8 9.Tostrup Rødseth 53.9 pb Ludvig Engebretsen 53.9 11.Einar Mathiesen 54.1 12.Bjarne Lie 54.4 13.Johan Schau 54.6 14.Erling Bruun 55.9 15.Realf Helgesen 56.0 16.Ingolf Pedersen 57.1 17.Ragnvald Mathiesen 58.0 18.Jacob Aasland 58.9 19.Sigurd Theiste Gundersen 60.4 pb 20.Gustav Thingsten 61.1 21.Otto Aulie 63.9 Einar Staff f,dnf 1500m senior 1.O Mathisen 2.36.8 2.Sæterhaug 2.41.9 3.Johansen 2.44.8 4.S Mathisen 2.46.0 5.Steen 2.46.8 6.J Frang 2.50.6 7.Olaf Hansen 2.50.8 8.B Frang 2.51.1 9.Monsen 2.52.0 10.Særensen 2.53.0 1500m junior 1.Engebretsen 2.43.2 2.Johannessen 2.43.3 3.Jacobsen 2.47.6 4.Gulbrandsen 2.50.6 5.Staff 2.52.2 6.Schau 2.52.6 7.T Aulie 2.53.0 8.R Gundersen 2.55.2 9.E Mathiesen 2.56.2 10.Halvorsen 2.56.9 pb 11.Rødseth 2.58.2 pb 12.Lie 2.59.4 13.Pedersen 2.59.8 14.Thoresen 3.00.8 Jensen 3.00.8 pb 16.Fladaas 3.02.0 17.Helgesen 3.03.8 18.Bruun 3.03.9 19.S T Gundersen 3.13.2 20.Thingsten 3.13.9 Thursday: 5000m senior 1.O Mathisen 9.25.4 2.Johansen 9.33.0 3.Sæterhaug 9.39.4 4.Steen 9.46.1 5.Hansen 9.55.0 6.Sørensen 9.59.9 7.J Frang 10.01.5 8.S Mathisen 10.17.8f Overall 1.O Mathisen 3 2.Sæterhaug 8 3.Johansen 10 4.Steen og S Mathisen 13 6.J Frang 18 7.Sørensen 19 5000m junior 1.Johannessen 10.01.6 pb 2.Jacobsen 10.07.0 3.Gulbrandsen 10.15.9 pb 4.Engebretsen 10.16.0 5.Fladaas 10.21.1 pb 6.Staff 10.27.1 7.Schau 10.27.6 8.Thoresen 10.28.2 pb 9.T Aulie 10.33.0 10.R Gundersen 10.33.4 11.Halvorsen 10.33.8 12.Bruun 10.49.8 13.Pedersen 11,06.8 14.E Mathiesen 11.07.8 pb 15.Rødseth 11.13.6 pb 16.Helgesen 11.21.0 pb 17.Jensen 11.25.8