U.S. Speedskating relocated its national organization to the oval in 2006, and fresh ice is laid every year to keep the facility's reputation for having the world's fastest ice, which means that more world records have been set at the facility than anywhere else.

The process takes two weeks and involves cleaning the 400-meter concrete track, cooling the slab with 35 miles of refrigeration pipes, flooding the track with filtered reverse-osmosis water and hand-painting the lane lines and logos.

The facility closes its speed track from April to June every year to save roughly $55,000 a month in refrigeration and energy costs. Every July, the process is started again, in time for speedskating practice and summer outreach programs, which are detailed on the oval's Web site, www.olyparks.com.

Oval operations manager Todd Porter says the ice is made faster by the facility's altitude — which thins the oxygen in the water filtration system and contributes to the lack of humidity in the building.

"We really take pride in the ice," Porter said. "We take pride knowing that the (U.S. Speedskating) team likes to be here. ... We feel that it's part of our accomplishment, too, so we get pumped when it's just a regular weekend and they still get their personal best."

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Contributing: Lisa Riley Roche

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E-mail: achoate@desnews.com