CUHH v RAF v Eastern Counties 2006
Cambridge runners fly past RAF
By Owain Bristow
Last weekend Cambridge University Hare and Hounds took on the finest runners that the RAF and Eastern Counties could muster in the annual three-way contest. This year the match was held at RAF Halton, near Aylesbury in the Chilterns. The course provided a challenging mix of fast down hills, withering climbs and tight hairpin loops all squeezed into two small fields with hardly a drop of mud in site.
Cambridge's women got off to a good start in their race with Club Captain Claire Day and fresher Polly Keen making an early break, closely followed by Harriet Owles and Laura Spence. Approaching halfway on the second lap of the 6km race Day and Keen still had a gap, but Harriet Canter of the Eastern Counties had worked her way up to third and appeared to be making inroads into their lead.
By the time the runners emerged from the wooded section of the course, Canter had taken the lead, which she would hold to the finish. Keen opened up a slight advantage in second, but Day fought back over the last 800m to finish ten seconds down on the winner in 22:12 with Keen five seconds back in 3rd. Owles (22:46) and Spence (23:31) continued their recent run of good performances taking 4th and 5th respectively to close in the team. Cambridge easily won match by seventeen points from the RAF to avenge last year's defeat on Magog Down.
The men's race saw a number of proven Blues and new talent take to the grassy 9.5km circuit. After a fast start a pack of three Cambridge and one RAF runner broke away at the front over the latter half of the first lap. The rest of the Cambridge scorers were well positioned in the chasing group as the Eastern Counties' challenge quickly evaporated.
The fast downhill section of the first of the large laps spread-eagled the field and it was only a number of difficulties in navigating the paths in the woods brought it marginally closer together again. The tight right turn at the bottom of the hill proved particularly problematic for the runners, with all three of Cambridge's leaders missing it completely on the first attempt and creating a temporary pile-up. Definitely an unusual site in cross-country running!
By the time the runners began the last lap the pace of Alistair Brownlee's front running began to tell as first Ben Livesey (RAF) and then Men's Captain Will George were dropped. However, Varsity Second Placer Paolo Natali hung on to the World Junior Triathlon Champion and out-kicked him in the finishing straight to go two seconds clear. His victory in 30:33 is his second of the season and makes him one of the men to beat in next month's Varsity Match.
Meanwhile George (31:19) hung on to third and solid runs from James Kelly (5th), Matt Armstrong (6th) and Matt Grant (8th) ensured team success for the men. A number of other runners further down the field including Andy Duncan and James Gill also showed tremendous improvement in their running. Cambridge has now won the match four years in a row and will be looking towards continued success in the run-up to meeting the Dark Blues.