OUCCC win the 3rd FT Nikkei UK Ekiden
On the 12th of June OUCCC were victorious in the 3rd FT Nikkei UK Ekiden, which is a 112km relay down the Thames path against 16 of the fastest university teams in the UK. After 112km of running, the race came down to a sprint finish although Exeter’s dubious navigation meant that, after time penalties, Oxford actually took the win by over 3 minutes with a time of 6:49:01. This race is always an amazing and unique experience, and this year was no different. Here is how the race unfolded:
Thomas Renshaw was first up for Oxford with our main aim being to get a good start to put us in contention for the win. He had a strong first leg coming in just behind Cambridge’s first runner but pulling away from some of our main rivals.
Chris Parker, Leg 2: Starting leg 2 in second place, I quickly caught and passed the Cambridge athlete. From then it was a very lonely run along the Thames from Maidenhead to Bisham Abbey, broken up by many, many gates to pass through and a railway bridge. The highlight of the run was the picturesque Marlow bridge marking the final stretch of the leg as I then passed on to Rebecca with a comfortable lead, helped by several of the other runners having navigational difficulties.
Rebecca Flaherty, Leg 3: I had a rushed start to my leg, with the shuttle bus only arriving 30 seconds before Chris, but he handed over to me in the lead and I knew I had to grow the gap as much as possible. I soon warmed up and my background in mountain running meant I was confident on the uneven terrain and I was able to increase Oxford’s winning margin by a few minutes. I handed over to Rosie and was met at the end of my leg by Paddington Bear which was a fun surprise!
Rosie Thorogood, Leg 4: I really enjoyed racing the Ekiden. This was a tough one with a long climb in the first part of the leg before descending back on to the trail alongside the Thames. It was tough running alone for almost the entirety of my leg but I knew I just had to keep motoring on and maximise the gap to the teams chasing behind.
Lauren Russell, Leg 5: I started by chasing down 2 girls who were about 30 seconds in front of me. My leg was pretty flat and fast and I passed over to leg 6 with the team in first place.
Levi Berger, Leg 6: Lauren handed me the sash in first, just a bit before Birmingham. After setting off quite strongly for the first kilometre or two I managed to put a fair distance into them and the guest team from Japan, Ritsumeikan. I handed off to Bampton with us in the lead by a bit over a minute.
Alex Bampton, Leg 7: Levi handed me a very sweaty Tasuki in first and I started with a solid pace but not overly pushing it. The route was beautiful but technical so I had to keep a lot of concentration and my leg turn over up between gates, stiles and rutted bits of ground. I was able to finish strongly down the hill.
Alex Gruen started leg 8 in first place and despite a wrong turn kept Oxford in the lead to hand over to Beth Rawlinson on leg 9. Beth then had the task of trying to strengthen our lead over Exeter as we knew they had a man on leg 10. Beth was able to pull away by a further 30 seconds, meaning it all came down to Ella on the last leg.
Ella Davey, Leg 10: I started the last leg knowing that Exeter would be chasing me down, and that their time penalty meant that even if their runner overtook me, we still had everything to play for. Entering the final field with everyone cheering and supporting me, and the Exeter runner fast catching, was electric and I managed to put in a final sprint to secure victory for Oxford.