| Batavierenrace |
What is the Batavierenrace? The Batavierenrace is the largest relay race in the world and also the largest student event of the Netherlands. At midnight on the 24th of April 2010, the starting shot of the 38th edition of the Batavierenrace will sound. It is a relay race over 177 km from Nijmegen to Enschede, divided into 25 stages (17 men's stages and 8 women's stages) varying from 3.3 km to 11.2 km. More than 300 teams (which means more than 7,500 students) participate in this race. Afterwards, the biggest student party of the Netherlands takes place on the campus of the University of Twente, with over 12,000 visitors.
How does the relay race work? The 25 stages of the relay race are divided in night, morning and afternoon sections. The team is accordingly divided in a night, morning and an afternoon shift. At midnight, the first runners will start in the night shift. Every runner is accompanied by a team-mate by bike for navigation, safety and moral support. After the runner has finished his stage, he passes the slipover – containing a chip for time registration – to the next runner. When all runners from the nightshift have run their distance, a restart takes place, to make sure the whole field of runners does not stretch out too far. The morning shift then takes over from the night shift. On Saturday afternoon, a lot of stages and two restarts later, the last runner from the afternoon shift finishes on the cinder track of the University of Twente.
How does your team end up in Enschede? Every team has to arrange a (mini)van to transport the runner that has to start, to the next stage and to pick up the runner that has just finished his section. Most teams rent a van that is suitable for nine persons to drive from ‘relay point’ to ‘relay point’. The Organizing Committee of the Batavierenrace arranges coaches to transport runners from Nijmegen and Enschede to restarts and vice versa.
How to participate? To be able to participate you need to form a team of 25 people and select a team-captain. You can register your team from November 2nd to November 29th in E-Bata, the online electronic registering system, on our website www.batavierenrace.com. When you want to register your team after November 29th you need to send an e-mail to nijmegen@batavierenrace.nl. The entry fee is € 240,- for the whole team (excluding a security deposit of € 70).
What do you get for your money?
Host(ess) Every year, the Batavierenrace is looking for several English speaking hosts or hostesses. Their job is to make sure that the (foreign) relay runners feel welcome and know all they need to know about the Batavierenrace. Whenever you have questions, they will come to you for answers.
Are you an organizational talent interested in participating in a sports event, but do you not want to run yourself? Please contact the Organizing Committee at nijmegen@batavierenrace.nl for more information.
Are there any questions? By now, hopefully you have an idea of what the Batavierenrace is like and we hope that you are enthusiastic to come to the Netherlands this spring to participate. If you have any questions, feel free to contact the Organizing Committee in Nijmegen either by email or by phone. Of course, you can also visit our website for more information about the race in general and results, pictures and movies from last year: www.batavierenrace.com.
Contact information Email: nijmegen@batavierenrace.nl Website: www.batavierenrace.com
We would be delighted to welcome you at the 38th Batavierenrace! |
