Ladies and gentlemen, leaves are turning brown, your housemates have started wearing their big warm coats again, and you’ve noticed more and more people taking candid pictures with their Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte? It can only mean one thing, Cross-Country Season is upon us, whoo!
We hope you’re excited because, after last year’s performances, this one is supposed to be even muddier, colder and overall better as we’re expecting to get an even bigger turnout than last year (which was already staggering). Last year saw over 400 athletes compete throughout the season but the final results were still extremely close as UCL came first in the men’s with 3818 points, followed closely by Imperial with 3747 points and Brunel with 3488 points. On the ladies’ side, the results were even closer as Imperial claimed gold for the first time with 2305 points, UCL right behind them with 2275 points and LSE with 2087 points.
Will Imperial and UCL try to snatch gold in both categories? Both have it within their reach – who has the most tricks up their sleeves? Will another club bring their team to the top and overtake both? It’s all up to you and your team to make the difference, so tie your laces and start training again as the first race is right around the corner (and quite a few tube stops) as we’re meeting at Parliament Hill on Wednesday 17th October to battle it out.
The second race will be the classic Mitcham Common just two weeks later on the 31st of October, get your spooky studs and face paint for this one, then Wimbledon Common on the 14th of November; by this point, we reckon you’ll have had enough of cross-country for the term, and the season will continue after Christmas break!
See you at Parliament Hill, and good luck! Like any good sporting journalists we’ve searched far and wide for some quotes and have rustled up the following comments from your glorious leaders:
Luke Gunter, RVC: “Suffice to say, RVC don’t yet possess XC pedigree however a lot of enthusiastic runners who made their LUCA XC debuts last year are back, hungry and ready to improve on their previous times. The uni with quite possibly the tallest average men’s team height and shortest average women’s team height will be armed with our very own Oli Siddons, LUCA’s go to photographer, to capture this feat.”
Jack Dickenson, SGHAC: “After a great debut season we’re looking to build on that this year and have already accomplished our aim of recruiting at least one man to bolster our (mainly female) ranks. We’re buzzing for our local at Wimbledon, and I heard rumours that there might be another United Hospitals trophy up for grabs….?”
Jack McKeon, Imperial : “I think we have plenty of talented runners itching to start, including many new faces as well as the more experienced athletes. It’s our year.”
