On Saturday 7th December, Cambridge took the honours in both the ladies’ and gentlemen’s races for the first time since 2013. In the 44th Ladies’ Race, the anticipated very close race materialised. The Light Blues had the power at the top end of the race with four of the first six home; however, Oxford’s greater strength-in-depth meant that they packed the middle order from seventh to 11th and the result was in doubt until the very end. In the end, it was Cambridge’s top-end strength that won the day and they narrowly squeezed home by 39 points to 41. This was the closest team result since 2000 when Oxford won by a point.
On Saturday December 1st, Thames hosted the 128th Gentlemen’s and 43rd Ladies’ Oxford-Cambridge Varsity Cross-Country Races. With the heavy rain of the previous week, the going was fairly heavy; however, all the teams seemed to cope with the conditions well.