Saturday October 11th marked the first race of the season for the Hare & Hounds, the university running club. The Freshers’ Fun Run, a 2.7k loop of the West Cambridge site for women and 5k for the men, is a notoriously fast and flat course and has become hugely popular amongst seasoned runners and first-time racers alike.
In the men’s race, Alex Short was victorious for the third consecutive occasion, a remarkable run of success. Yet the victory was by no means comfortable, as Short found himself locked in a tightly fought contest with ex-captain Matt Leach and club newcomer Alex Milne, who both finished second and third respectively. Short’s impressive clocking of 14:46, a fraction outside his time from last year, sees him approach the coming season in fine form.
Liz Mooney came through to win an extremely close women’s race. The Newnham second year found herself locked in a close battle with Lady’s Captain Katy Hedgethorne, with both finishing just outside the 9 minute mark. They seem in great shape at the start of the season, and undoubtedly will be challenging for Blues status come December. In third place Sarah Lovewell, who finished close behind Mooney and Hedgethorne, pushing them all the way.
Credit should also go to the best placed Freshers’ in each race: in the men’s, Milne’s led the new boys home, followed by David Buglass and Kai Hugtenburg, the latter of whom is showing excellent promise after putting in a heavy shift of running on the club’s pre-season training camp. Meanwhile in the women’s race, the top three debutant places went to Tas Pope, Emily Ruane and Charlotte McGarry respectively.
The Freshers’ Fun Run is also a part of the college league competition, giving most runners in the race the chance to battle for college glory. In the men’s, Robinson took victory ahead of Trinity, and after narrowly missing out in last year’s competition, they start as hot favourites to take the title from Christ’s. A few technological difficulties have lead to speculation over the winning college from the women’s race, but current sources suggest that traditional Homerton dominance has been overturned by a Newnham vicory
The race provided an excellent footing for many new faces to get involved with CUH&H, and next weekend the action gets muddier when the club hosts the Fen Ditton Dash in preparation for the fast-approaching cross-country season.
Article courtesy of George Ramsay – CUH&H Press Officer