Chariots of Fire Relays 2006
By Owain Bristow
The fifteenth staging of the annual Chariots of Fire Relays, inspired by the achievements of Harold Abrahams et al. at the 1924 Olympics, saw runners from Cambridge University Hare and Hounds continue their dominance of the event. Over four hundred teams took part, with each of their six members completing a 2.7km tour of the centre of Cambridge. Among the competitors were numerous college teams and even an Oxford 'Oldies' sextet that included former Athletics Blue Jeffrey Archer and Adrian Metcalfe, a 4x400m silver medallist at the Tokyo Summer Games of 1964.
After much inane banter from the announcer (surely 9am is a bit early to be encouraging people to visit the beer tent?) and a mass aerobics session, the Leg One runners got down to business. This year the celebrity starter was Mark Blundell of Formula One and ITV fame.
Varsity Mile Champion Richard Ward put Cambridge in front from the gun running 8:01 to set the fastest time of the day and open up a substantial lead over the opposition. However, Michael Scott Associates, last year's runners up, were tracking the university team and unleashed their secret weapon on Leg Two: Neil Speaight. The GB International middle distance runner, making a comeback after a virus-hit summer, ran close to eight minutes to narrow the gap to around fifteen seconds. Cambridge's strength in depth showed over the remainder of the legs though and Men's Captain Will George had plenty of time to enjoy the musical finale. The double cross-country Blue took victory with a comfortable 8:05 run. The winning time was 50:18, some forty-five seconds slower than the course record CUH&H set last year, albeit with an almost complete Blues team. Nevertheless the team ran very well considering that they had all just returned from summer training camp in Devon. Some had even raced in the Southern Six Stage Road Relays within the previous twenty-four hours! Cambridge maintain their unbeaten streak in the event.
Michael Scott Associates came in over three minutes down to take second place again, while in the intercollegiate competition Caius MCR came out on top in 58:35 from the St. John's A-team with the fellows of St. Catherine's in third.
Meanwhile, a new-look Cambridge women's outfit ran exceptionally well to finish just outside the top ten overall, lapping a large number of teams. Blues runner Tricia Peters, Sabrina Verjee (who you might recognise from last week's Countdown on Channel Four), Hannah Brice and Laura Dixon all ran consistent legs to put Cambridge in contention. Club Captain Claire Day ran the team's fastest time of 10:04 on Leg Five and exciting prospect Harriet Owles was only seven seconds slower, bringing Cambridge home in 62:38. This represents an improvement of almost two minutes on last year and must surely bode well for this year's cross-country season.
After an hour's wait for the aptly named 'Tortoises' team to finish, along with a group from the Fitzwilliam Museum, the prize giving got underway. Sadly, Sir Arthur Marshall, the usual presenter and last surviving link to 1924 was unable to attend. Stepping into his place was his son, Michael, who rowed for Cambridge back in the '50s.
The event concluded with a flyover by a Sea King helicopter and the awarding of the brand new People's Cup. This was given to the team deemed to have provided the most entertainment to the spectators. Despite the best efforts of Sabrina to emulate the feats of last year's bollard basher, she could not match his acrobatic action and a team of superheroes from the University of London beat us soundly to the trophy. At least this gives us something to aim for next year...