IC Cross Country: record turnout at first race

On a remarkably dry October day. the shouts of “ICXC we so sexy!” lit up the first race of the London Colleges League (LCL) last Wednesday at Parliament Hill. With their shiny new red & blue vests, the newest members of the club were ready to represent against the masses of UCL, Kings, Brunel and St. Mary’s, to name but a few.

An impressive turnout made this an atmospheric race with 150 in the men’s race and 103 in the women’s. Imperial also had a record number of participants with 48 lining up. The start was slightly manic as usual, with spectators wondering whether Club Captain Jones had got a head start as he sped up the looming hill to take some photos.

Johnson led the women coming in an excellent 9th after a gruelling half marathon the weekend before. New recruits Van Zelst and Olding both had excellent debut races, coming 13th and 16th respectively. Despite complaining about not racing until halfway round, Women’s Captain Mundell came in 23rd, placing Imperial 3rd overall out of 22 participating teams. Strong finishes from Imperial 2s placed them in 10th, with a special mention for debutant Sofia Bettanin who finished 51st.

In the men’s race Selley led out a solid first lap to gain 5th for his first race in an Imperial vest, followed by Allison in 7th. Scriven, Johnson, Jones and Garcia all worked impeccably to finish 25th, 41st, 44th and 45th respectively. This places the Imperial Men’s 1st team in a strong 4th out of 29. Circuits specialist Jackson powered through to 49th for the men’s 2nds, followed by Knight coming in 60th (who had already cycled to the race beforehand). Core coach Jones crunched his way to an excellent 68th, with fresher Collyer putting in an excellent first display to finish 72nd. Tomkies and Munoz Heinen finished strong to place the 2s in 11th in the standings. The men’s 3rd and 4th teams finished 15th and 19th overall. The club was impressed with all new-comers, from veterans of the mud and cold to those who have never taken part in a race before. Committee members commented that this was the strongest Imperial team they had seen in years. Once again ICXCAC would like to congratulate all those who raced and look forward to seeing more new faces at the next LCL on Wednesday the 2nd of November at Mitcham Common.