From Brighton With Love

Last Sunday 18th November, Imperial’s keenest and finest runners went on an adventurous trip to one of the most hotly anticipated events in the autumn term running calendar.

It was long, it was girthy, it was fast, and it was flat. Yes, you guessed it, it was the Brighton 10k.

With only a few hours sleep, the runners got up at 5AM to take the train to the south coast of England. Some of the team were surprised to find out the employees of Southern Rail were not on strike at that time of the day.

At 9:30am sharp the race began with the 51 Imperial students competing against 2000 runners. The weather was perfect, with no clouds in the sky and the mercury staying firmly above 50 C.

Niki Faulkner lead the team with an amazing pace; keeping up with some of the best runners in the field. He managed to finish the race in 31 minutes and 52 seconds! Wow!

The Club Captain, Fergus Johnson, managed to score another great result, finishing the race in 35:02, and registering a new personal best in the process.

Another PB was earned by Euan Bell, who came third in the Imperial men’s rankings, finishing the race in 37:14.

ICXCAC’s ladies also ran great times; scoring some amazing results and reminding us why they are in the first place of the cross country league. The club was glad to be visited by one of the club legends, Anna Lawson, who lead the ladies with an amazing time of 38:34. The Imperial alumna commented, “I finally got a sub-40 10k!” That probably excludes splits in the many cross country races and marathons she has done.

Alex Mundell, a former Club Captain put in a lot of effort, finishing the race with a superb time of 39:30.

Back on the men’s side it was surprising seeing James Millet, one of the finest young track athletes, taking part. He likely treated it like any other 800m race, done 12.5 times back-to-back. Great effort, James! It only took him 35:47 seconds to finish the race. At the scene, Millet questioned, “Why is this race so long?!”

The club eagerly awaits his debut in the cross country league, as he could help the men’s team take a higher position in the ranking. Maybe I should have talked about him in the first paragraph of the article, but hopefully he will not mind.

It was a great day to see some new faces in the club running at fast pace - faster than the wind. Some of those were Lucas Kreifels and Cedric Ormond who ran the race in 38:14 and 39:38 respectively. Alix Vermeulen ran her first 10k in an amazing 39:49, proving herself a strong contender for the Fresher of the Year award. Keep the momentum going!

Well, my friends, after reading those paragraphs about how well everybody did, you are probably wondering how I found the race. The race was great, the sun was smiling and I think I know the answer to “Who was first, the chicken or the egg,” as at some point I found myself racing a giant inflatable duck. That is when I realised I needed to step up the pace and finish the race with a decent time. I also think it was sunny enough to start building my base tan. It was great having other members of the club who could not run that day cheering and supporting their fellow students.

The wonderful Women’s Captain, Charlotte Barratt, celebrated her birthday with the club that day and made sure everyone was able to get some top quality face paint with personalised designs.

While I was running I could hear Secretary Duncan Hunter shouting, “You’re a tank! You’re the predator, he’s the prey!” I’m not sure what he was referring to - maybe Remy Shaieb, who ran an amazing sub-40 race.

In the afternoon, our athletes headed to the beach to chill and chat. We had some interesting discussions about rocks and how they are so simple, yet they can represent the complex society we are part of. All rocks are different; they come in different shapes and sizes, but they are still happy to lie next to each other. When you look into the distance you cannot tell them apart - all you can see is the beautiful beach that never ends.

Until next time, keen beans!