Batavierenrace 2021

The 49th Batavierenrace took place on the 23rd and 24th of April and Tartlétos showed their speed and blew away all other teams! Under the name quaRENtaine, 21 Tartletes covered 125km in 8 hours 3 minutes and 29 seconds. With this result, the win in the general classification was achieved! Because this Bata took place online, we asked several participants to share their experience with us. Read below how Laura, Katja, Stijn, Dagmar, Anna and Roel experienced this Bata!

Laura Kessels – distance: 5km – time: 21:33

I am glad that I could join the (unfortunately online) Batavierenrace as Bata-veteran and recent graduate this year! This was my first race since September 2020. Despite the online edition, the traditional Bata-feeling full of adrenalin mixed with nervousness was present. A beautiful lane next to the water, wearing my Batavieren T-shirt, a comfortable temperature, and a cheering cyclist next to me, all contributed to a good running mood. The first 4 kilometres I could keep running at a comfortable pace, and during the last kilometre some encouraging cheers stimulated me to keep running the same pace. All in all, I am happy with the result of my first race this year, and very proud of the whole team! Thanks to the committee for the organisation and thanks for the (online) running spirit. Looking forward to new energetic (hopefully live) races this and next year!

Katja Sluijter – distance: 5km – time: 20:30

This year was my very first time joining in the Batavierenrace. Since the race was online for the second time, I have never participated in the normal event, although I am well aware of the usual parties. Since my brother did not dare to run this race with me, I was going to run on my own in Wageningen. I ran the route suggested by the commission, which went down the Wageningse berg for more than one km (out of my five km) and had wind in the back. My previous personal best 5 km was during a 10 km for the NSK Ekiden, which I ran with Celine, however now I was going to run alone. In the end, I shaved almost two minutes of my previous pb by finishing the 5 km in 20:30 minutes! To make it even sweeter, Tartlétos won the general competition! Now the only downside is that it will be difficult to break this pb on a flat route

Stijn van Nierop – distance: 2.5km – time: 7:55

As all competitions of the last year, this year’s Bata was online. A huge advantage of this was the fact that I only had to run 2,5km, and that I could even run downhill! And when you count in the nice warm sun, and Cheetos’s encouragements from the bike, you almost forget the fact that you are running alone. However, 2,5km still feels like a very long distance for a sprinter like me. But when you see all the PB’s and great runs by the other team members, it is all worth it. Especially because we became first in the end!!! So all in all, it was another awesome Bata, and lets repeat this performance next year in the real life Bata.

Dagmar van Esch en Anna Heemskerk– distance: 5km – time: 23:11

For us, the Batavierenrace started at the roundabout at the top of the Wageningse berg. We had a great start with a 1 km downhill section after which we turned around to run the remaining 4 km on the dike. Around 3 km there was a small hill in the route, which was quite tough. Beforehand we doubted whether we could run in shorts and short sleeves, we are glad we did, because it was so hot! After that, we continued for a few km on the dike, and at the end, we descended the last meters. Just a bit longer than 5 km so Strava could not say that we did not run the 5 km. We are happy with our time of 23:11!!

Roel Kox– distance: 2.5km – time: 8:15

Because of an injury, I wasn’t even sure if I would be running this year until just before the race. Luckily Celine, being in charge of the stage planning, allowed me to run just 2.5 km. I was going to run with Koen who had already thought out our strategy: Starting at the highest point, we would run down into Bennekom, take a left, then enter Wageningen at the Hollandseweg and run until the Jumbo supermarket. At least, that was Koen’s 5k. I would just run down the hill and then hold on until 2.5 km. In the descent, I could keep Koen out of the wind, but once the descent was over I had to slowly let him go. I managed to hold on long enough to complete the 2.5 km. Back at home, I had was asked to be in the Bata-radio livestream because we were then in first place. Just before I went live, I tried to correct the pronunciation of our club’s name with the broadcaster, but that didn’t really go as planned. Later in the evening, things got exciting because it was just that close between the first three teams. Until 10 seconds before I went live, neither me nor the guy from Bata-radio knew who had won. In the end though, we got the win and hopefully we’ll soon get the prizes too, whatever they may be.