IC Cross Country and Athletics go on a Winter DorchesTour

It’s January again, and to offset the misery of the darkest mornings of the year Imperial’s Cross Country and Athletics Club once again had cunningly planned a weekend escape from the bustling capital to somewhere slightly quieter. Last year saw a minibus-load make the trek up North to Newcastle; this time it was decided to head down South.

The destination was set for Dorchester, the historic county town of Dorset and home to the club’s notorious secretary – writer of numerous Felix articles detailing the club’s exploits (including this one).

The journey should have been a breeze relative to 2017’s winter trip to Tyneside, with an ETA of 21:00 after a relaxed leaving time of 18:00. However, nothing is ever that simple. With the crew all aboard one of the Union’s relatively new, majestic Peugeot Boxers, our diligent drivers were completing their final safety checks when they realised that both brake lights were not working, and we could not get authorisation for another bus as the relevant authorities had gone home for the weekend.

This set in motion a series of (failed) attempts to remedy the problem before the drivers eventually resorted to calling the RAC (other breakdown companies are available), who fixed the problem in a matter of minutes after a two-hour wait. All this meant a departure time of 22:30 and the resulting clear roads meant the brakes were hardly needed for the two-hour journey down to the South Coast.

“The crowd were impressed by the standard and number of red and navy vests”

The problematic start to the tour did not dampen spirits, however, and the runners arose from their makeshift beds in ‘the orangery’ early on Saturday morning for the short drive to the nearby five km parkrun in the seaside resort of Weymouth (known to local alcohol-fuelled teenagers as Wey-biza). The team posted a strong performance and the usual crowd were impressed by the standard and number of red and navy vests tearing along the gravel, mud, and tarmacked paths.

Following this success, the team took a short stroll to the beach where they ogled at wonders of the English Channel. Winds were high and waves were crashing but that did not prevent some members from venturing into the rather chilly (freezing) waters for a “refreshing” dip.

Sensibly heading briskly back to the warmth of the minibus to avoid hypothermia, the squad headed back to base and proceeded to have a mighty brunch and yoga session (albeit not simultaneously), before settling down to watch one of the club’s stars race on BBC One! Imperial’s Chris Olley managed to battle home in 15th place in the Senior Men’s International Challenge XC in Edinburgh beating last year’s BUCS XC winner on the line.

Feeling newly inspired, the runners donned their running shoes once more – this time for a spot of “DorchesTourism” or to “Explorchester” (you can decide which Strava title is best). Some of the wondrous sights visited on the gentle jog around the town of 19,000 included a number of Roman artefacts including an amphitheatre, an excavated town house, and a trip down some famously straight Roman roads. A Hardy few then travelled Far from the Madding Crowd to see the house of 20th century author Thomas Hardy (author of Tess of the D’Urbervilles and other works).

The team returned to the house exhausted, but there was little time for rest: some tasty fajitas were rustled up for dinner, energetic post-meal games were played, and then it was time to hit the town. Dorchester – not known for its nightlife – provided the weary students with reasonably priced alcohol and much merriment, as well as a DJ who seemed willing to take literally any requests and play them no questions asked. All this, combined with a dancefloor containing a wide range of odd locals, led to much amusement and fun was had by all.

On the way home, the team stopped off at the overpriced, monopolistic kebab shop to refuel after a busy day and settled down for a short sleep before the traditional Sunday long run the following day.

After the keenest athletes completed a quick circumnavigation of the town, they returned and collected their slightly better-rested friends for a run out and around “Britain’s finest Iron Age hill fort”: Maiden Castle. To the disappointment of almost everyone, it soon became apparent that there is no actual castle at Maiden Castle and it is in fact just a hill. This took nothing away from the blissful fresh air and stunning countryside views on offer, however, and they completed many laps around the summit before returning home to shower, eat, and pack.

The return journey to London was (fortunately) far less eventful than the outward journey and the exhausted team cruised back to campus by 18:30 on Sunday evening.

Hopefully the runners will be fully recovered in time for team’s next race on Wednesday for the LUCA XC League at Ally Pally – the hilliest (and muddiest?) so far. For more information about the club, email run@ic.ac.uk.