Page 41 - Eclipse - RVC Alumni Magazine - Autumn 2020

STUDENT NEWS
VARSITY 2020
Camden vs Hawkshead Virtual Varsity Jacques Taffinder, SU Vice President, Activities and Campaigns
You will probably fondly remember Camden vs Hawkshead as that one day
a year where the Londoners journey up to their rural colleagues on
a rainy May day. You competed in it all: rugby, rowing, netball, football, rounders and welly wanging, to name a few.
This year, due to the obvious snag, Varsity took a different form. Instead of meeting physically for one day, over the entire month of May participants from both campuses met virtually to compete for the hallowed trophy. They donned their shoes, pumped up their tyres and walked, ran or cycled to help their team to victory. Points went for the campus that rolled or bi-pedally travelled the furthest, as well as individual best efforts and imagination.
By the end of the month, the 259 participants had collectively run 193 marathons and cycled the entire length of Sweden. But there can only be one winner...
It was very close throughout, but Camden pulled ahead at the end. A combination of their overall numbers and distances, and the amazing efforts of their individual achievements brought them to victory.
Number of participants Total distance run/walked Total distance cycled
CAMDEN HH
139 120 3990.6km 4151.8km 10752.3km 9902.6km
To name but a few of the amazing efforts seen over the month:
• Furthest Run/Walked overall: Lizzie Wilkinson (C) – 698.6km o Runner up: Carla Bleasdale (HH) – 350.7km
• Furthest Cycled overall: Hamish Leslie (HH) - 2878.2km o Runner up: Charlotte Lawson (C) – 2590.8km
• Fastest 1km: Luke Gunter (C) – 2 minutes 49 seconds
• Taskmaster-like challenge: Victoria Pyne Mercier (C) for her contraption that put a tea bag into a mug and turn on the kettle
('Chain Reaction' challenge)
• Strava Art Winner: Tomer Tsur (HH) with his Shark (pictured)
Virtual Varsity 2.0 – The Alumni Games
After the clash between Camden and Hawkshead, there was no time to let the results sink in. These once rivals had to put aside their differences to compete against none other than our own RVC alumni!
Generations of previous students and staff laid down their lab coats and stethoscopes, donned their running shoes and bikes, and went to take on their successors. Over six weeks in the summer, the old and the new ran, walked and cycled; building up miles for their teams. However, there could only be one winner...
Although determined, unfortunately numbers were not on our alumni’s side. They fought valiantly like the Spartans at Thermopylae but alas, were still overrun.
An amazing effort was seen by all, with 114 participants walking and running a total of 7,218km and cycling a total of 12,914km. This is the equivalent of cycling the length of the UK’s coastline and walking/running from Camden to Hawkshead Campus 361 times!
Thank you to everyone who got involved. A massive well done to all.
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