– Jamie Waller contributed this report
The University of Lincoln Students’ Union Athletics Club put in the best performance in its short history at the British University & College Sport (BUCS) Cross Country Championships in Leeds, despite the entire course being covered in mud.
All three teams improved upon their performances from last year, and the team spirit helped them to overcome the weather conditions.
The event was held at Bodington Hall playing fields on Saturday, February 2nd, 2013. Hosted by the University of Leeds, he organisation was excellent, although the water-logged field quickly became churned up by the thousands of runners.
Andy Robertson, the President of the Athletics Club, said: “I am really proud of the improvement the team has made in a year, especially the men’s team which has risen six places. Hopefully new runners will be able to take the experience gained this year in Leeds and see further improvements next year!”
The first Lincoln runner to finish the 10k Men’s A Race was Charlie Price, who covered the course in 40:18. Sophie Cowper was the first woman home for Lincoln in a time of 29:38, while George Withers finished Men’s B race in 38:10.
The races were won respectively by Steve Connor of Southampton, Emilia Gorecka from the Royal Holloway University of London and Toby Loveridge from St. Mary’s University College.
Taking in the team results, the Men’s A Team came 47th out of 53 universities. The women’s team did even better, finishing 34th out of 51. Meanwhile the Men’s B Team didn’t have enough runners to qualify as a full team, although they wouldn’t have finished last.
It was only the second year of competing for the Lincoln Athletics Club, after it was formed in 2011, and the club sent a record number of runners to an event.
Will Murray, a member of the Men’s B Team, described the course as “very muddy, which made it so hard to run in”. The course even had its own “Steep Hill”, although it was not as big as its famous Lincoln namesake.
The race marked the second year in a row that runners have faced difficult conditions. Last year the race was held in Cardiff, where runners had to wade through ankle-deep snow.