In the Footsteps of Legends

In the classic movie Chariots of Fire, several of the main characters are track runners at Cambridge University in the late 1910's. Two of the runners (Harold Abrahams and Lord Lindsay) participated in an event toward the beginning of the movie called the College Dash. Also known as the Great Court Run, I found out that this is an actual event here in Cambridge.

It goes like this--every year, someone (or several people) attempt to run the entire way around the courtyard of Trinity College in the time it takes the great clock to strike twelve. You take off running at the first chime, and hope to make it around by the twelfth chime. For the first 700 years of Cambridge's history, no one was able to do it, though hundreds tried. It wasn't until the early twentieth century, according to Chariots of Fire, that a student (Harold Abrahams) finally did it.

That scene is depicted dramatically in the film, and it's a thrill to watch... Even more of a thrill to run.

That's right, I, Jonathan M. Kettler, attempted the College Dash today. My King's College residence pass (which cost me ten quid!) gets me into the all 31 colleges in the University when they are open. So today, I did what I've been wanting to do since I got here: attempt the Great Court Run like Abrahams and Lindsay did.

Walking into town in shorts on a windy December morning is not what you would call a pleasant experience. But once I got into the Great Courtyard of Trinity College, it was all worth it.

I walked around the square, tracing the steps that the actual men ran, snapped a few photos of the beautiful courtyard, and when my watch told me that noon was nearing, I took my mark by the enormous clock.

Since there were dozens of people walking around in the courtyard area, as well as several guards pacing along the paths, I chose not to sprint at my fastest and draw attention to myself, since I'm not entirely sure that they would have looked fondly on an American making a spectacle of himself like that in their college.
So when the first bell tolled, I took off in a 5K-paced jog. The clock's twelfth chime struck when I was about halfway around, but I continued running 'til I got right back to where I started, under the clock tower.

What a thrill! I ran in the footsteps of legends. Now, the next time I watch Chariots of Fire, I can say, "I've done that!" And you can be sure that I will.