Nopesport

Just 2 days until the BUSA Championships 2004, so nopesport have decided to talk to the biggest university teams, and Leeds, to get their views on the up and coming races.

Predictions

Men’s Individual
ShUOC*: Ed Nash
EUOC: Rocky the Rhino
UNOC*: Matt Crane, Rocky the Rhino
Leeds: Matt Crane, Ed Nash, Rocky the Rhino

Women’ Individual
S: Hannah Wooton, Pippa Whitehouse, Mhairi Mackenzie
E: Hannah Wooton, Mhairi Mackenzie, Laura Daniel
N: Hannah Wooton
L: Hannah Wooton, Rachel Elder, Laura Daniel

Men’s Relay
S: EUOC
E: EUOC
N: ShUOC
L: ShUOC, EUOC, ShUOC B

Women’s Relay
S: EUOC, UNOC
E: EUOC
N: UNOC
L: EUOC, UNOC, ShUOC

* ShUOC’s predictions do not contain any ShUOC members to maintain an unbiased view
* UNOC predictions are that of Ed Nash, and as such may not be shared with other members of UNOC

Any dark horses or surprises?
S: Matt Palmer for the Men’s B title, he was taught well.
E: Daryl Philip and Richard Turner on the Men’s B, they have great start times. Vicky Brocklebank could put in a very good early time on the Women’s A that might take until the final finishers before it is beaten. Sarah Browne if she manages to follow me [Brooner Brown] will win as obviously I [Brooner Brown] will have the fastest time on that course!!!!!
N: Scotia might get it together under pressure, unless he’s still crocked from last weekend. Allan Bogle should put in a good show as a guest runner on Men’s A
L: David Sprot had a good run at the JOK Sprint, so could feature highly on a runner’s course. Also look for Allan Bogle and Duncan Archer as guest runners on Men’s A.

Are you looking forward to an adrenaline fuelled burn up round some of the best areas South Central has to offer?
S: Oh aye, ShUOC have arguably the best runners around, now all some of us have to do is worry about the whole map thing.
E: It’ll be fast and furious and I [Brooner Brown] am expecting close times with minor errors being quite hard to make up for.
N: No, I’m looking forward to a nice cup of tea once I have finished. It’s too fast and too easy
L: As a local to the area (Jan Nixon), I know that these areas can surprise people with their technical areas. I think that the 1st leg of the relay should be a really good race as the area is pretty open.

Will you be adopting any special techniques or tactics for the weekend?
S: Same sex massage, apparently it’s what the PhD students are up to these days.
E: We prefer tictacs, they serve us well, and we’ve got boxes full of them.
N: No
L: Run until your legs are burning, then run a lot faster!

Who do you see as the main team contenders, and why? Who will be victorious?
S: Pretty much all the uni teams have talent to pick up podium finishes, but obviously we see the overall trophy as a two horse race. There is no doubt it’ll be tight between the two super powers of GB Uni-O, but ShUOC to take the title.
E: Obviously Sheffield are strong, Oxford could do well while Warwick and Leeds could really throw up some surprises in the men’s while Newcastle look good to put in some good results in the women’s. I [Brooner Brown] obviously think that EUOC Legends will come through with the goods overall but it’s going to be tight at the top and it looks like every single place is going to count.
N: Probably between Sheffield and Edinburgh – no-one else has got enough strength in depth. I’ll plumb for ShUOC.
L: EUOC and ShUOC both have huge strength in depth, and both uni’s have regular training session together. The banter between the two shows that both have good team morale, ideal for those winning situations. Overall I think Sheffield will just take the edge over Edinburgh’s younger generation.

What do you think of the new scoring system?
S: Everyone has been requesting a scoring system for the past few years, and it seems really fair for all the uni’s. Thanks to OUOC and Dave Rosen for this, at least now there will be solid proof that ShUOC have won for another year running.
E: Very good to see something finally sorted out, too long it was ambiguous, but now it makes it much more exciting, especially as its brings more universities into the running with every place on the individual counting effectively.
N: Might be interesting, but probably not enough universities in the running. Still, 3rd place is up for grabs…
L: I think it’s great that people can finally see who won for definite – the scoring system works well because it doesn’t penalise the smaller uni’s, and as we all know, it’s more about the taking part than the winning (as long as you win!)

Beer race, any comments?
S: Nails Northrop and his team of beer monsters, surely a winner.
E: Winning the beer race has been one of the key aims for BUSA this year and the kids have been putting in the hours of training. I [Brooner Brown] look forward to seeing the results – I can’t even get in the team!
N: No comment
L: If it’s 3 to a team [it’s not] I feel that Leeds might figure highly, teams of 6 and we’ll be stumped [you are]. So SPOOK to retain their title. And if the yard returns I can only see Ed Nash beating Craney’s time from last year

So there we have it folks, the men’s race looks to be between Ed Nash, Matt Crane and Rocky the Rhino, whilst in the women’s Hannah Wooton seems to be favourite whilst Mhairi Mackenzie and Laura Daniel are also podium contenders. The relays this year are looking to be a spectacle; with both EUOC and ShUOC having very strong teams to race head to head for the men’s title and in the women’s UNOC and EUOC are top seeds. It’s going to be tight, very very tight for the team competition but our interviewees seem to thing ShUOC will retain the championship.

Final details are available here
Start lists are here