The last time the TU/e-Fontys team medaled in the 175-kilometer relay race from Nijmegen to Enschede was three years ago. Then, the Eindhoven runners secured third place in the university competition.

This year too, the team had its sights set on a medal, and after the first stage, which started at Nijmegen's Grote Markt (Market Square) in recognition of this being the event's forty-fifth year, the team held first position for a brief while. But according to Ruben Kwant, responsible at ESSF for recruiting top runners, it was soon clear that this aim was overambitious.

“The teams from Amsterdam, Nijmegen, Groningen and Wageningen were really good this year and we were no match for them ,” says Kwant, who himself did not run. “But in the end it was disappointing that we had to concede fifth place to Twente. We had battled with them throughout the entire race for that placing.”

Surprised

By contrast, satisfaction is audible in the voice of Niek Verdijck, Mechanical Engineering student and both leader and runner in Team Eindhoven. “This team includes the ten reserve runners on the university team and a couple of former runners in that team and members of the Asterix athletics association,” says Verdijck. “We are extremely pleased and somewhat surprised by our second place in the overall ranking. Last year we finished in third place, but we ran faster. In the overall ranking it is always difficult to estimate the competition in advance, because teams often run under a different name than they did the year before.”

Verdijck himself ran the last stage to the University of Twente's campus. “It could have been quicker,” he admits, “but as an excuse can I just say that I haven't actually slept since Friday night because I was on the night shift as the obligatory cyclists for one of our runners.”