CUHH hit the (new) ground running at Cuppers

en310 | Monday, November 7th, 2016

The 2016 edition of CUHH Cuppers was the first since the move from former home of Wandulbury, however what resulted was nothing short of a success. Two excellent races showed that CUHH are well prepared for any task, administrative or running.

Organisational Queen Lizzy Apsley (Pembroke) both organised and emerged victor in the Women’s race. She was closely followed home by reigning Varsity champion Emily Ruane (Magdalene) in a race with some serious depth. Disappointingly for our intrepid College League organiser her victory was not sufficient to win Pembroke the team title, as they were bested by a strong Corpus side with Becca Frake (3rd), Kate Curran (4th) and Felicity Williamson-Sarll (13th) meaning they absence of a four Corpus athlete didn’t cost them.

The Men’s race got off to a slightly tepid start before David Wilson (Jesus) decided he had other important things to get done that day and begun to set a strong pace. The field strung out quickly, with the excellent uphill-downhill dogleg allowing a good sighting up of those to chase/run away from. Despite opening up a gap it wasn’t enough to hold off a fast finishing Phillip Crout (St.Catharine’s), who took his first collegiate race title at the 7th attempt. There were some familiar faces down the order as club Captain Paddy Roddy (Robinson) came in for third having snuck past reclaimed Cambridge athlete Will Ryle-Hodges (Magdalene). As a consolation for his bravery David Wilson can look forward to lifting the Men’s team Cuppers trophy at Annual Dinner as his Jesus side emerged (reasonably) comfortable winners with supporting runs from James Coxon, Paul Pruzina and David Pattinson.

Without resorting to cliche perhaps the real winners of the day was the club. Good weather and facilities, coupled with high turn out and a strength in depth suggest CUHH are well prepared for the coming weeks. The next stop for the club is the Metropolitan League meeting in Stevenage, where our rosy cheeks will do battle with the hardened adults of Hertfordshire and London.