For almost a year, sports association Asterix and its colleagues at Eindhoven Athletics have been without their track at De Hondsheuvels. The athletes have long since relocated to the track belonging to athletics association Generaal Michaëlis in Best - although some have found it a little too far away, knows Asterix chairperson Michiel Ruland. Over the past year he has seen the club's membership fall from about a hundred to just under eighty: “In the new year, once our track in Eindhoven has reopened, we hope to start growing again”.

At De Hondsheuvels the finishing touches are currently being put on the new and improved track. The asphalt subsurface, which previously failed inspection, has been repaired and the track now has a new top layer of Tartan rubber. Once the track has been painted, the lines will be added. Ruland: “We hope to be back on the track in mid-June.”

In the meantime, Asterix’s annual track competition will take place this coming Friday evening (June 1) in Best and for one time only will be a joint event with Circuit 14 - a competition in the regional division (athletics region 14, which includes Eindhoven). The Beerchase will round off the day. This is an event of many years standing at Asterix: a beer relay in which runners (grouped into teams of three) each run 200 meters five times. “After every 200 meters you have to drink some beer, and you must have finished it before the next runner reaches you.”

Starting this year, the beerchase will no longer be just a playful student-minded pastime; Asterix has been given the green light by NOC*NSF to turn the event into an official Dutch championship. Ruland expects the first Beerchase NC, given its location in Best, to attract only a modest number of participants, “but we hope that as of next year a lot of students will want to lay claim to the title.”