PVI activities 2011

Op vrijdagmiddag, 8 juli, zijn 17 personeelsleden vanaf het ITC op de fiets naar tuindorp 't Lansink in Hengelo gereden. Hier aangekomen, werden we rondgeleid door twee gidsen, die alle informatie over het ontstaan van het tuindorp en de huidige stand van zaken met ons hebben gedeeld. Daar werd ons verteld, waar de keeper van FC Twente, Sander Bosscher, in het tuindorp woont. We maakten een hele interessante wandeling van ongeveer 1,5 uur. Vervolgens hebben we van een high tea genoten, die ons geserveerd werd in hotel-restaurant 't Lansink. De terugreis werd door de woonplaats van een ieder, afzonderlijk gemaakt. Er is genoten van deze interessante excursie.

July 15th was scheduled forn the annual ITC Sports Day. usually this happens in Summer, but in 2011 summer in The Netherlands was not as it used to be. Days of sunshine were followed by rain, thunder and cold. We were anxiously following the weather forecast but it turned out be one of the best afternoons of the last years. Though the grass in the sprint area was still a bit slippery, the shade causing that gave it an appropriate temperature.

Continue reading for a full cover story of the running events.

As usual the sprint qualifications had to warm up a little. At around 4 PM some daredevils ran in between the two electronic gates for their best time. As soon as their times were registered more runners showed up and tried to beat those times. Often resulting in personal battles against times (barriers) or friends. Like Faith, who started with 7.15 and came really close to sub 7 in her second attempt (7.03). Finally in her fourth attempts she broke the barrier and with 6.99 seconds she qualified as fastest female for the finals, together with Priskilla and Tiblez.

Overall the number of participants in the ITC Sports Day was a bit lower than previous years. Perhaps that and the fact that most runners were also members of a volleyball or soccer team caused fewer running participants than previous years. In total 44 attempts were registered.

In the males category Alvin joined a successful volleyball team and the sprint. It looks like any sport he joins he is good at since at the International Sports Day he played Basketball with the winning team as well. After a trial attempt he bursted to 5.58 seconds and was leading the qualification. Until . . . reigning Champion Joris came along for 5.45. Although still the fastest Joris' time was much slower than the years before (5.19s and 5.28s). Is age already starting to play a role or was he saving energy for the final? Together with Omezikam they qualified for the finals at 5.45 PM.

In between there were a few youngsters running the 40 meter sprint. Sometimes assisted by mom or dad and spectators. After a hesitant start they all enjoyed so much. You could tell that from their smiling faces while running. Leen Alkaier, a girls of now 9 years old, has a long history with Run4Fun. In 2006 she started with 12.56, improved to 10.38 in 2007 and settled at 10.42 in 2008. In this edition she went sub 10 by a mile: 9.21 seconds. Much younger were the two boys. An all time record, I think, was set by Kewei Ma. Even though the registration gates were set at lowest level, we had to assist him crossing the electronic signal. He had great fun and finished with a smile across his face in 16.30 seconds. Ali Abbas, 2 years older, had an incredible speed to finish in 8.91 seconds. For their efforts they were all three given a medal (which reminds me to hand them over to the ones not present at the award ceremony).

Boys

Girls

Kiwei Ma

 Ali Abbas

At 5.45 the two finals were scheduled. The females kicked of and despite good attempts by Priskilla and Tiblez, Faith took the glory. Actually there were no surprises, also Priskilla and Tiblez finished according to their qualification order.

Females

What about the males? Same recipe. Alvin was leading by an inch until 10 meters before the finish. But it was the final burst of Joris, like last year and 2008, and a small unevenness that made Alvin stumble, which brought Joris the victory.

Males

2000m

In the mean time the rest of the sports area was heated up and not much later the long distance runners were called for the 2000 meter. Some preregistered runners bailed out, and got replaced by new runners. Some knew this, some didn't. Nick Hamm signed up late and decided to sign Ard Koster up as well. The only problem was that Nick came especially for the 2k and Ard had been playing soccer whole afternoon. Ard took up the gauntlet and ran the whole 2k. Well done! In the great 2k race there was so much competition. Actually there were at least 3 competitions in one: Nick and Al-Amin were changing places for 1st and 2nd, Tobias and Omezikam (yes he again) were fighting for 3rd and 4th and Ard was trailing David for long but passed him approaching the finish line.

Nick passed Al-Amin before the corner

Tobias yet to pass Omezikam

Ard passed David in the final lap

Males

In the battle for 1st place you could see the difference between a talented runner and another talented runner having experience on this distance and track. On the final 200 meters the runners have to take 2 sharp corners and it was at the one but last that Nick passed Al-Amin on the outside just before the corner to cut him of at the corner. Al-Amin had to hold in for a moment and the gap was there; Nick beat Al-Amin by 1 second (6m48 against 6m49). Similarly happened with Omezikam. he had been leading by 5-10 meters before Tobias. The latter one though speeded around the last corner. Omezikam thought he was save and was too late to tackle the attack.

Females

Tinbeb, our finest talented female runner, ran her 2 k like in the Batavierenrace; with a smile and dedication. Despite the fact she and Taboada were the only females in a male competition, she rose and finished just behind the males (who finished!). Taboada railed Tinbeb but never gave up. She was given a warm welcome by David at the finish line.

  Medal winners 2000m.

Epilogue

During ther Sports Day the TV in the clubhouse was tuned at Europsort since Marit Dopheide, the daughter of staff member Emile, qualified for the finals at the European Championships Athletics (age < 23 yrs). It is no surprise to us she did that. We knew she had this talent since she won the 40 meter sprint at the ITC Sports Day in 2003 in 6.56s. This should give enormous motivation to the current Champions; you never know but could end up at an International Championship in a couple of years.

Under the setting sun, at the BBQ, competition results and other fun subjects were discussed. A few sporters continued playing volleyball and soccer as if they did not consume their energy yet. Perhaps it is a matter of age. It looks like students get younger and more energetic every year. At least I think so ;-)

Wan

Op woensdagmiddag, 21 september hebben 12 jongens en meisjes, in de leeftijd van 6 jaar tot 14 jaar, meegedaan met forel-vissen in de Forelderij in Enschede. Er waren ook zeker zoveel papa's en mama's en opa's en oma's om de kinderen te assisteren. We hadden de beschikking over basin 3. Mede door de hulp van Chris Hecker en Michel Erdmann zijn er meer dan 20 forellen gevangen. Het record was van de zoons van Michel. Er was zoveel vis, dat aan het einde van de middag ieder zeker twee (gerookte) forellen mee kon nemen. Ook omdat het een zonnige middag was, is het een succesvolle activiteit geweest.

De PVI Eindejaars-bijeenkomst 2011 voor oud werknemers van het  ITC is nog maar net afgelopen. Na een warm onthaal in de annex met koffie en krentenwegge werden de vriendschappen weer flink aangehaald. Het kostte de PVI dan ook menige moeite om de ruim 40 aanwezigen in gang te zetten naar het Auditorium voor een lezing door Sherif Amer en Tom Loran over het werk wat het ITC de afgelopen jaren heeft verricht in Rwanda. Geboeid werd de introductie video gadegeslagen. Men moest vooral letten op de alumni van het ITC die in deze overheidsreportage hun inbreng hadden. Na de lezing kon men opnieuw de banden aantrekken tijdens de lunch.

Op een gezond, sociaal, cultureel en sportief 2012. De PVI zal daar zeker haar steentje aan bijdragen.