Utah Olympic Oval351

There is nothing more exciting than gliding around the 400 meter olympic oval. My kids love to go and skate a while then jog a bit on the track. Basically, I think it is a good environment for my kids to encourage a healthy lifestyle. I love skating on the 400 meter oval since I can pick up some speed, I have a fair bit of breathing room and I am not constantly turning as I am when "public skating" on a hockey rink. That said, the puclic skate hours could be better. The price is right ($99.00 for the family for the year), but the reason for the low price is the relatively scant offerings. I encourage you and your kids to go, BUT read on, as I have serious reservations about what the oval is being used for. The big problem, as I see it is that the oval is not encouraging "speed" skating. Everyone (including me and my kids) get out on the oval in figure skates or hockey skates, not speed skates. Thus, this facility is not being used for its intended purpose, where it could be, given proper support for speed skating. On any given day, if I strike up a conversation with someone at the oval they agree that they would love to try speed skating but the rental gear is so bad and porrly mantained and managed, plus there are so many "non-speed" skaters on the ice, that it is essentially impossible to really use the oval for speed skating. The number of hours of speed skating instruction offered per year at the oval is pitiful - I have no real idea, but I would guess probably in the area of 100 hours or less (that is maybe 100 hours of instruction for all levels, all instructors, all speed skating in the entire year). I am sure that this is not because there are not instructors or that the instructors are not dedicated, it is because, on the whole the facility does not promote speed skating. I understand that the ice goes away in the summer and the rental gear is poorly supported because the reationale is that there is no demand for speed skating. Unfortunately, there is limited demand because there is poor support and ecouragement (technically known as Catch-22). The US should be able to foster the sport of speed skating with such a great facility. I would love to be able to speed skate, but have only tried it a couple of times because of the poor promotion of the sport at the oval. This situation should be remedied to insure that the next generation of US speed skaters will be better than the last. I will never be a great speed skater, but I would love it if my kids had the chance to give it a try. We live only miles from the Oval and all we ever do there is zoom around on hockey skates - having a great time, but, liek I said, we and everyone else are not really using this fantastic facility for its intended purpose. I recommend people go nonetheless so that hopefully the rink management will find it in themselves to offer mmore speed skating lessons and support.