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Varsity 2006Men'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.
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.
Old Blues' Race18-to-score, Oxford won 319 to 348.
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