Nopesport

So, all Sheffield had to do was hold Edinburgh off in one of the relays. All Edinburgh had to do was beat Sheffield in both relays. Simple as that.

Bordon was another army area, a stones throw north of Longmoor but drastically different. Where Longmoor had been open heath, Bordon was all sandy tank tracks and forest imbetween. Courses were well planned and well gaffled, with a spectator control five minutes from the end.

First relay off was the Mens, with an impressive front row in the start line – Ed Nash, Jez Edwards, Scott Fraser, Andy Middleditch and Rob Little all off on the first leg. Scott went off to a flying start – in the opposite direction to everyone else, but he was quickly back at the front and flying along. Ten minutes later the girls lined up for the off. The favourites were Newcastle, Sheffield and Edinburgh with Karen Heppenstall, Suzy Robertson and Fiona Berrow on first leg repectively, but in relays anything can happen…

First to the spectator control was Scott Fraser, with Ed Nash only metres behind. Andy Middleditch for ShUOC 1 was less than a minute back and the fourth runner – Anna Edenbrandt, a Swedish guest who lives and trains with EUOC at the moment and had taken a massive lead in the womens race. Then came the leading pack in the womens race, with both Sheffield teams, Edinburgh and Newcastle all up there.
Meanwhile, back at the finish Ed had passes Scott after Scott tried the straight route to the penultimate control – straight through the thicket it was on! So out went David Sprot and Oleg Chepelin, with a minute and a half lead over ShUOC’s Chris Sellens.
In the finish for the girls the leading uni was Newcastle, with Edinburgh 3 seconds behind but Sheffield just 14 seconds after that.
So as it stood at the end of first leg Edinburgh would take the title, but it was very early days.

Little had changed by the spectator control on second leg: in the girls it went Newcastle then Sheffield – Edinburgh seemed to be out of it but then Alison O’Neil appeared from behind a thicket, well within sight of the leading pair, while in the mens race Oleg was still right behind David Sprot. Sheffield whad closed the gap by 30seconds or so, leaving them a minute off the pace. The only change to these placings at the finish was that Oleg had passed Sprotty to give Murray Strain a small lead into the last leg. Chris came in exactly later one minute later to hand over to individual champion Matt Crane.
The ladies finished in quick sucession too, with the positions intact: Newcastle, Sheffield then Edinburgh: Brocklebank, Daniel and O’Neil handing over to Wooton, Elder and Mackenzie, the individual champion hunting down the senior stars.

Mhairi quickly caught the leading pair, but couldn’t find the strength to pass them on the soft sand, until a road section allowed her to stretch her legs and take the lead, which she held till the end, winning by a minute and taking the fastest time of the day, a shifting 5:25 minutes/km. A second BUSA gold for Mhairi, and it left the team competition wide open: The winners of the mens race would decide it.

The men’s final leg was eerily reminiscent of last weeks Chasing Sprint, with Bogle and Crane setting off a minute apart, the only difference being that they were in second and third with ground to make up. A sizable crowd gathered at the spectator control, waiting for the slightest glimpse of a runner. And there it was! The Blue and White of Edinburgh streaking through the trees, alone. If Murray could hold it together then Edinburgh would take the title. The last loop presented him no troubles and he sprinted in to victory amid scenes of jubilation from the blue and white. His time of 30:42 for the 7.2km course meant an average speed of 4:15/km leaving the others standing. Crane ran the second fastest time of the day to take silver for Sheffield, but he handed victory to Strain, saying that no one could have beaten him today.

So the final scores were:
Edinburgh 43 points
Sheffield 46 points
Oxford 110 points
and Edinburgh took the Inaugural overall team prize.

Relay Results

Some photos are up in the gallery, with video to follow. As always we would greatly appreciate any photos/videos from anyone. Please email us at gallery@nopesport.com