CUHH v Thames Hare and Hounds 2007
By James Kelly
On a mild November afternoon, the Hare & Hounds travelled south for the Mob Match and renewed acquaintances with Thames Hare & Hounds, the country's oldest cross-country club, and the historic Wimbledon Common, venue for next month's first team Varsity Match. Eleven months and the sustained afterglow of success had managed to blind the returning athletes to the difficulty of the course, while first-time competitors faced the spectre of the unknown as they tackled the 4 mile and 7.5 mile courses for women and men respectively.
In the absence of a scoring Thames team, the women's race was always set up to be an intra-team competition for the Cambridge Hare & Hounds. Course conditions were decent after a couple of weeks of pleasant autumn weather, but The Butts proved to be as wet and energy-sapping as ever. It was Laura Spence (Wolfson) who best parlayed her experience over the course into success, emerging first from the muddy hills to win in 24:23. Spence's well-judged, well-paced effort brought her home with clear ground back to defending Varsity Match Champion Polly Keen (New Hall), second placed this time in 25:08. Third place was claimed by guest runner Claire Day (25:43), last year's Club Captain, after a thrilling battle with promising fresher Stella Deakin (Girton, 25:48).
Thames were able to assemble a team for the men's race, but in the absence of some of their key names, they were unable to provide much competition for the contingent from Cambridge. Within the first mile of the race a pack of three, consisting of defending Varsity Match Champion Paolo Natali (Christ's), James Kelly (Jesus) and guest Glen Watts, had established a lead at the head of the field. The trio ultimately became a pair as Natali and Kelly stretched clear over the second half of the run, easing through to the top two places. Natali repeated his win of last year, crossing the line in 38:09 and ahead of Kelly (38:19). Watts (38:57) ultimately maintained position for third place. Impressive performances were also turned in by David Yu (Trinity, 5th position, 40:06) and Tim Pattison (Downing, 6th, 40:36), both tackling the Common for the first time, and Jamie Brunning (Jesus, 8th, 41:56), who led home the sizeable Cambridge pack and extended his vein of good form.
The Hare & Hounds express their gratitude to their gracious hosts and will look forward to returning on December 1st. In the meantime, attention turns to Cuppers at Wandlebury, with the first pieces of silverware for the season available to be claimed. College League results to date point to a competitive race as the club will enjoy its final tune-up before Varsity.