Cross country pretend to play Tennis?
The youth has gone mad, MAD I TELL YA
Thinking of Wimbledon, visions of grassy courts, world-ranking tennis pros, and Sue Barker should come to mind. So when we told our runners that the next race would be in Wimbledon, there was a predictable wave of excitement. Those who were savvy enough to deduce we weren’t tennis players, or that it wasn’t July, may have known there may not be green grass involved, but rather hills, cross country trails, and grass of a browner shade. Mud – I’m talking about mud.
This is precisely what Imperial College Cross Country and Athletics (ICXCAC) faced last Wednesday when they rocked up to Wimbledon Common. This course is the third and final London College League (LCL) of term and usually brings about a Marmite argument. Some hate it for being long, undulating and bramble-ridden, while others love it for being long, undulating and bramble-ridden. Whatever side we took, Imperials’ 30-plus runners took off into the dwindling sunlight with steely determination.
The course loop was 4.7 km where women ran one loop, and men ran two. Notable features included a bottleneck corner 30 metres in (causing problems for those at the back), a giant log to hurdle over (great for athletics training), and an uphill slalom rich with brambles (as fun as it sounds).
Imperial women completed their race first, with Katie Olding, Ellie Johnstone and Charlotte Vanlancker leading us in. Imperial men, meanwhile, had Harry Scriven, Will Jones and Greg Jones taking the top three spots. Notable congratulations go to Katie and Greg for currently ranking 5th and 9th in the individual women’s/men’s results table for LCLs. Keep it up guys! With team standings, Imperial’s first team currently place 4th out of the 17 colleges, nail-bitingly close behind UCL.
Alas, after a truck-load of cake and biscuits were consumed, the team headed home and settled into a well-earned rest/pre-drank for Sports Night/resumed impending coursework (certainly not in that order). Look out for the next LCL report which takes ICXCAC to Alexandra Palace; royal mansion or muddy trail? Find out in January.
