Amanda O’Neil, a teacher at St. Joseph’s Catholic School in Timmins, skated her 1,000th lap around the 340-metre, figure-eight natural ice Sk8te Hollinger course yesterday.
Think about it!
That’s 340 kilometres. That’s like skating from Timmins to Sudbury, the city where she was born.
And she did it in a little over a month, from January 15 when Sk8te Hollinger opened to February 25.
O’Neil began to think about her quest to skate 1,000 laps when she bought a Fitbit for herself in December, 2015.
Amanda O'Neil completed her 1,000th lap of the Sk8te Hollinger figure eight ice track yesterday - that's a total of 340 km in a little over one month. Photo courtesy Ken PyeA Fitbit device measures and records various health indicators such as heart rate and also records distances a person has walked, jogged or skated.
“I like skating at Sk8te,” O’Neil said. “It’s a nice spot - it’s well done.”
Sk8te Hollinger was opened thanks to the efforts of Ken Pye of the Tree Bandit and a host of other contributors from the Timmins business community.
O’Neil has skated on other outdoor ice so she has a basis for comparison.
In addition to Sk8te Hollinger, O’Neil has skated this winter on the Queen’s Athletic Oval in west Sudbury, the Lake Ramsay Skating Path also in Sudbury and the Rideau Canal in Ottawa.
“I don’t like skating indoors in arenas,” O’Neil explained. “I like skating outdoors.”
Her two favourite locations to skate are Sk8te Hollinger and the Queen’s Athletic Oval.
Now that she has reached her goal O’Neil intends to continue skating for fun and pleasure.
Ken Pye, the man who worked hard to build Sk8te Hollinger, said he is proud of O’Neil’s accomplishment and her enjoyment makes his effort and that of all those who contributed to Sk8te Hollinger worth it.
Pye is also quick to point out that the Sk8te figure eight ice surface is not only the largest of its kind in Ontario, but also in the world. It is a full 90 metres longer than the skating trail constructed at Toronto’s Colonel Smith Park.
