The race starts and finishes in Leeuwarden, the capital city of Friesland. The route goes through all eleven places in Friesland which are officially called "towns". The race has been held 15 times. The first year it took place was 1909. The most recent race was on 4 January 1997. The ice on the canals has to be at least 15 cm thick for the race to take place. It is a very tough race, although some years the race has been tougher than others, depending on the weather conditions. 1963 was an extremely cold winter. That year only one in 100 people who took part managed to finish the race.