 The Austrian editions became the most popular through the years as thousands of Dutch people travel to the Weissensee each year to compete each other in several speed skating marathons in various distances, with the 200 km Open Dutch National Championships being the main and most prestigious event.Until 2006 this gave the local authorities a profit of 36 million euros.As a result, Koopmans and co-organiser Leo van Hees (who died in 2002) were awarded with the Austrian Cross of Honour.