Speed skating has it origins in Scandinavia and Northern Europe.  Early versions of ice skates had people tie bones to their boots.  This was purely for entertainment, unlike some of the stories that skating was a mode of transportation.  This is because countries lie the Netherlands, where skating was popular, did not have cold enough winters for skating to be used as transportation. 

Speed skating has been part of the Winter Olympics since their inception in 1924. 

Current records show that Minneapolis schools participated in Speed Skating for seven school years from 1937/38 to 1943/44.