You can run but you cannot Hyde

On Saturday, the 11th of February, more than 600 runners from universities across the UK, Netherlands and Sweden took part in the 69th Annual Hyde Park Relays, hosted by Imperial College Cross Country and Athletics Club. Men’s and mixed teams were made up of six runners and women’s teams of four, with each runner completing a five-kilometre lap around the east side of Hyde Park.

Imperial College students, staff and alumni from across all faculties were kept company by teams from Cambridge, Oxford, Portsmouth, Reading, UCL, LSE, King’s College, St George’s and more.

At 2pm sharp, the relays were set underway by a cheap plastic air-horn (the budget was tight) with the weather conditions less than favourable for athletes and spectators alike; cold winds and occasional flurries of snow.

Harry Scriven was first up for the Imperial Men’s A team, and jostled with the lead runners to post an impressive 16:07 (minutes). Cambridge led the first leg, closely followed by Oxford University & Alumni teams along with UCL, with many runners dipping under the 15-minute mark.

Asia Hamdorff took the Imperial Women’s A team to a speedy first leg of 19:31, narrowly behind Oxford and leaders Cambridge and UCL.

The race moved quickly along, with hundreds of students out on the course, some sporting a hilarious range of fancy dress costumes, to the delight of the spectators: grandmas, the Avengers, Pac-Man, and all variety of onesies were out on display. Matt Douthwaite was up next for the Imperial Men’s A team, putting in a strong performance to run 16.35, followed by Club Captain Will Jones in 18.06. Over in the women’s race, Hamdorff handed over to Amy Davila who finished with an impressive 19.25. The mass of teams around the bandstand created a fantastic atmosphere with spectators cheering runners around the length of the course, and documenting the occasion with the help of the all-new exclusive race Snapchat filter!

The Men’s A team held a strong position with a great run by Fergus Johnson, who completed the lap in just over 17 minutes and also organised the excellent event along with fellow club member Lewis Jackson. Johnson handed over Greg Jones (17:38) before the baton was finally given to Chris Allison, who ran the fastest Imperial leg of the day in 15:51. The Women’s A team also battled away with great runs from veterans Jess Prior and Alex Mundell running 19.44 and 18.44 respectively.

The Men’s B team gave some very good performances with almost all the team coming home in sub-18.30, and led by Andre Gourdon in a nifty 17.41. Notable runs for other club teams The Sesh and Boyz Boyz Boyz were Will Scott (18:34) and Duncan Ingram (18:26), both with the fastest leg for their respective teams. In the women’s, ICXC WE SO SXY were led home by Leanne Lyons in 21:31.

After the excitement of the relays, the teams headed to the SCR for the customary jacket potatoes, prize-giving, and a chance to warm up. The Men’s A team placed a respectable 7th, with the teams from Oxford, UCL and Cambridge proving too strong on this occasion. The girls fared better, placing 3rd overall and winning one of the coveted engraved relay baton trophies, behind UCL and Cambridge.

Many other teams from Imperial also competed, with All the Boys pipping Triathlon’s Tri-als and Tri-bulations to the finish line and leading hall team Wake Me Up Gabor You Go-Go to top spot in the internal student category. Triathlon tasted victory in the women’s race however, with the Tri-hards coming in less than a minute ahead of ICSWP Girls 2, followed by Keith’s Caravan. The internal student teams are often noteworthy for their choice of team names, with this year’s particularly witty ones coming from the Electronic Engineering department: No Pain No H(f) and Fast and Fouriers.

In the battle of the halls, Wake Me Up Gabor You Go-Go led the way ahead of Falmouth & Keogh, Pembridge Hall Gents, Parsons Tigers, and Xenia Wardens. In the ladies’ race Pembridge Hall Ladies beat Parsons Tigresses to the line.

Following this, many of the runners headed to the after party in Reynolds Bar with celebratory drinks for organisers Lewis Jackson and Fergus Johnson. This was also an excellent opportunity for all involved to get to know runners from other universities and dance until the early hours! The club would like to say a massive thank you to them for all their hard work in ensuring both the day ran smoothly and everyone had fun, and also to the volunteers who helped throughout the day.

Full results can be found at hydeparkrelays.co.uk. If you want to get involved look out for the event next year or email run@imperial.ac.uk.