Bright ‘N’ Early Success for IC Cross Country

I hope the pun in the title will be more welcome than it was at the disgustingly early hour of 05:30 at Clapham Junction on Sunday 16th November. It was at this hour that 40 members of the Imperial Cross Country and Athletics Club met to make the trip to the Brighton 10k 2014, well before the opening of any coffee shops and tube stations and at the same time as most young people stagger home after a mental Saturday night out.

But undoubtedly, it was worth the early start.

With no rain and a pancake flat course along the seafront, it was always going to be a fast race but Imperial runners seemed to make the most of the conditions to clock a ridiculous number of personal bests and to take home the lion’s share of the prizes. At the front, the men’s team of Chris Olley, Liam Smith, Chris Thomas and James Ellis led the charge to be the 2nd men’s team overall, having each run a personal best. Sarah Johnson, Imo Simmonds, Alex Mundell and Kara Meunier almost matched the boys when they stormed to third place in the women’s team event.

It was not surprising that the teams did so well with all the shouts and high fives between runners as parts of the course looped back on itself. Being able to cheer on your fellow Imperialites both ahead and behind you during the race is one of the best things about the course, and really takes your mind off any complaining your legs might be doing.

Imperial stole more awards in the individual prizes with Chris Olley and Alex Mundell winning the Under 20 categories. In the process, Chris came 8th in the entire field of around 3000 runners in a personal best of 31 minutes 47 seconds. Sarah, while also forcing many of the men to up their game, placed 6th among the women in a time of 37 minutes 31 seconds.

Our success did not end with those at the front as there were many stunning performances from the debutants at the distance and fierce intra-club competitive battles.

Once all the running business was done, the celebrations included a necessary post-race cake feast and team photo on the seafront, complete with sweaty face paint. Clearly, there was need for celebration afterwards, at the civilised time of 11:45. Merry times in the local Wetherspoons, the banter train carriage home and a small after-party were definitely entertaining and didn’t fail to disappoint. The early evening for us felt like gone midnight, and while I cannot confirm the stories of Fresher’s falling asleep on pub floors or falling down stairs, I can confirm that most of the team were in bed by 21:00 that night after a truly epic day.

It’s not too late to get involved in future ICXCA trips, there will be many more next term. Email run@ic.ac.uk or find us on Facebook.