Blues Varsity Matches
The annual Varsity Match against Cambridge is divided into two days of events at the end of Michaelmas Term:
- II-IV’s Varsity on Saturday of 7th Week
- Blues’ Varsity on Saturday of 8th Week (Old Gits (Alumni) Race is also held on this day)
The Blues’ Match is held on Wimbledon Common, which provides mud, flat paths, the water splash and the ‘Butts’, while the II-IV’s Match venue alternates between Oxford and Cambridge.
The 2023 II-IV’s Varsity Cross-Country races took place at St Neots on Sunday 26th November. Cambridge won Men's IIs and Men's Mob, and Oxford won Women's IIs, Women's Mob and Men's IIIs, leaving the dark blues leading the series 3-2, heading into the Blues Varsity races on Saturday 2nd December. Here the Cambridge men won in a very tight race, however the Oxford women were too strong for Cambridge and came away victorious. The Cambridge Old Gits turned out a strong team leading to a Cambridge win, with Jack Millar (Ox.) taking a wrong turn and gifting the individual win to Josh Carr (Cam.). Oxford won overall 4-3 in the 2023 Varsity Cross-Country Series.
University Race Results Summary
| Oxford Wins | Cambridge Wins | |
|---|---|---|
|
Gentlemen's Race (since 1880) |
65 | 67 |
|
Ladies' Race (since 1976) |
27 | 20 |
|
Old Blue's Race (since 1990) |
18 | 13 |
Progression of the Gentlemen’s University Race Series
Progression of the Ladies' University Race Series
Course Map
Map of the courses. Ladies’ and Old Blues' course is: Start - A – B – C – D – E – J – K – L – Finish. Gentlemen’s course is: Start – A – B – C – D – E – F – G – H – I – D – E – J – K – L – Finish.
Rules
In the Blues’ Match, both the men’s and women’s teams are composed of eight runners (six to score). Full rules can be found in the document below.
The Old Blues' Race is run as a ‘Mob Match’, with the number of scorers for each team being equal to the size of the smallest team. Anyone (alumni, current students, family/friends of students/alumni) is welcome to run in the race, however, only people who have graduated from either university will be counted as scorers. Those who have graduated from both universities are able to nominate who they run for.
Footage from previous events
