Thames Hare and Hounds - Varsity 2006

Men's Race

Mara Yamauchi starts the men's race.

The men's race was expected to be close, and so it proved.

There was drama before the start as Oxford's Ben Moreau and Alistair Brownlee of Cambridge, both contenders for the top places, were forced to withdraw through injury on the eve of the race. This left a three-way fight for the race win between last year's victory Jon Blackledge and opposing Cambridge runners Paolo Natali and Will George. Blackledge's restricted training, due to a recent injury, eventually took its toll as Natali applied pressure in the second half of the race. Natali pulled away for an impressive victory as Blackledge held on gamely to record third behind George.

David Bruce of Oxford ran very well to surge away from a closely packed following group to take fourth, but it wasn't enough to prevent Cambridge taking advantage of their superiority at the front to take victory 35-43, leveling the series at 58 wins each.

1	Paolo Natali	Cambridge	38:39
2	Will George	Cambridge	39:07
3	Jon Blackledge	Oxford	39:20
4	David Bruce	Oxford	39:31
5	James Kelly	Cambridge	39:41
6	Ian Kimpton	Oxford	39:58
7	Alan Chetwynd	Oxford	40:03
8	Owain Bristow	Cambridge	40:05
9	Matt Armstrong	Cambridge	40:08
10	Matt Grant	Cambridge	40:12
11	Tom Douglas	Oxford	40:52
12	Martin Bishop	Oxford	40:53
13	Diarmuid O’Seaghdha	Cambridge	41:24
14	Stephen Granger-Bevan	Oxford	41:35
15	Ulrich Paquet	Cambridge	42:25
16	Joe Mercer	Oxford	44:07

Ladies' Race

Darren Talbot setting the ladies on their way.

There was drama too before the ladies' race, last year's winner Courtney Birch being forced to withdraw after having surgery on a broken nose.

With the race now wide open it turned into one the tightest ever encounters, with the first ten runners covered by half a minute as they entered the finishing lap round Memorial Field. Cambridge fresher Polly Keen emerged from the melee to take victory, as Emily Crowley was able to match but unable to improve on her second place from three years previously.

Cambridge captain Claire Day and her team-mate Charlotte Forbes won the sprint for the following places, helping their team to a surprise victory 14 points to 22. Overall Oxford still lead the series to 18-13.

1	Polly Keen	Cambridge	24:59
2	Emily Crowley	Oxford	25:04
3	Claire Day	Cambridge	25:10
4	Charlotte Forbes	Cambridge	25:11
5	Lucia Gibson	Oxford	25:12
6	Harriett Owles	Cambridge	25:13
7	Rachel Deegan	Oxford	25:14
8	Catherine Ansell	Oxford	25:18
9	Alison Crocker	Oxford	25:22
10	Carolyn Plateau	Oxford	25:33
11	Laura Spence	Cambridge	25:42
12	Lauren Barklie	Cambridge	26:31

Old Blues' Race

18-to-score, Oxford won 319 to 348.

1	Darren Talbot	Cambridge	21:10
2	Phil Killingley	Oxford	21:34
3	Andy Weir	Oxford	21:47
4	Nick Altmann	Cambridge	21:53
5	Mark Dewhurst	Oxford	21:57
6	Francis Malone-Lee	Cambridge	22:02
7	John Redshaw	Cambridge	22:44
8	Olly Mytton	Oxford	23:04
9	Aiden Brown	Cambridge	23:22
10	Chris Daniels	Oxford	23:23
11	Steve Benson	Cambridge	23:36
12	Chris Millard	Oxford	23:40
13	Jamie Darling	Oxford	23:41
14	Steve Marshall	Oxford	23:44
15	Joe Stevick	Cambridge	23:45
16	Simon Molden	Oxford	23:53
17	Ed Catmur	Oxford	24:06
18	Jamie Brunning	Cambridge	24:15
19	Gareth Davies	Oxford	24:18
20	Georgie Rutherford	Cambridge	24:39
21	Doran Shultziner	Oxford	24:46
22	Dave Barker	Cambridge	24:58
23	Richard LeBon	Cambridge	25:06
24	Emily Ferenczi	Oxford	25:13
25	Andy Robinson	Oxford	25:22
26	Karen Ellison	Cambridge	25:29
27	Oliver Jardin	Cambridge	25:40
28	Chris Morris	Cambridge	26:03
29	Liam Richardson	Cambridge	26:04
30	Phill Scarr	Oxford	26:09
31	Juan Coderch	Oxford	26:39
32	John Barker	Oxford	28:20
33	Mark Bown	Cambridge	28:45
34	Mark Coley	Cambridge	29:43
35	Theodore Chen	Cambridge	33:15
36	David Jenkins	Cambridge	34:32
37	John Bryant	Oxford	40:35