Last weekend, the 50th edition of the Batavierenrace took place! In this epic relay race from Nijmegen to Enschede, 25 runners run 175 kilometers in total. Our TU/e-Fontys team took second place in the university competition, and Team Eindhoven became 17th in the general competition. Wow! A big thanks to the committee that made these great performances possible: Arne, Bart, Brit, Bente, Lotte and Mirna. And of course thank you to all drivers and bikers! Your efforts were truly amazing.
On Friday evening, both the night group and the morning group left to Nijmegen and Ulft respectively. The first stage begun at 22.30 with Allard for the TU/e-Fontys team and Michiel for team Eindhoven. The Batavierenrace may be a relay race, but the teams certainly did not just consist of runners. Our technical athletes showed they’re not afraid to hit the road either, running very, very fast as well! It was amazing to see everyone giving it their all, resulting in a list of highlights too big to include in this blog.
Whether we would make the podium with the university team was not certain. Due to a mistake of the organization, the team received a 14 minute penalty for a mistake with handing over the vest. This made the team drop to 4th place, but after lots of calls and discussing, the organization fortunately acknowledged their mistake, resulting in a well deserved second place for the team.
All that running, cycling (thanks Michiel, Stefan and Niek!), arranging and driving sure makes hungry. After buying so much Chinese that we made the local restaurant their turnover of one month in a single day, this problem was easily solved. Krupuk (Kroepoek) with peanut sauce turned out to be a gaulicious combination.
Obviously, a Bata weekend isn’t complete without a Bata party! Most Gauls apparently still had some energy left after an intense day and showed they can run fast and party hard. Resting hard wasn’t possible for most though! After some mediocre sleep in a tent, many Gauls went to Uden and Roermond for the first competition of the national competition. Here we still saw great performances! Could this have been the results of the magic potions of the night before?
