This year’s edition of the event will witness a milestone in its long history.
Apart from the English National Cross Country Championships, Oxford-Cambridge University Cross Country is the oldest inter-club game in existence.
The first race was hosted in Oxford in 1880 and ran over a 7½ mile course that started at the Royal Oak Inn on Woodstock Road.
Available only to men for nearly 100 years, both clubs opened to female members in the early 1970s as the post-war period saw a steady increase in the number of female students at both universities.
On 15 November 1975, Oxford Women competed in their first official competition against Birmingham University at Shotover. Two weeks later the first race against Cambridge was held at the same venue alongside the men’s races for the second, third, fourth and fifth teams. Oxford won comfortably by seven points and 14 points in the three-point competition, with Katie Meunier (St Hugh’s) taking the individual honours.
The following year, the race moved to much firmer grounds as it was elevated to official status and run alongside the Men’s Blues Race, hosted by the Thames Hare and Hounds at London’s Wimbledon Common. Oxford won again, finishing in the top six, winning by a perfect 10 points to Cambridge’s 34 points. Lynn Wightman (Lady Margaret Hall) had the honor of winning that first official race.
In the intervening 50 years, the race has flourished. It continues to run alongside the men’s competition at the south-west London venue, with more than 300 runners from Oxford and Cambridge representing their respective universities.
For some, it has been their own personal Everest, and for others, it has been for greater achievements. This illustrious list includes Olympians Stephanie Cooke, Mara Yamauchi, Sian Brice, Emma Pooley, Julia Bledsale, Claire Halsey and Louise Shanahan.
As the race has developed, the two clubs have strengthened considerably since the 1970s and gained wider recognition to the extent that between them they have secured four British Universities Cross Country Championships in 1988, 1989 and 2000 by Oxford and 202 by Oxford.
Including the 1975 race, Oxford leads the series with 29 wins to 20. The 2025 edition will take place at 15:00 GMT, starting and finishing at the Thames Hare and Hounds headquarters in Roehampton Vale.
The event will be preceded by the 32nd Old Blues Race (12:30 GMT) and the 134th Men’s Race (14:00 GMT).
Oxford University Cross Country Club Women’s Captain Tamsin Sangster said: “I am proud to captain the incredibly talented and inspiring women at OUCCC, whose dedication to competitive running has led to countless personal and club successes this year.
“OUCCC is forever grateful to the women and men who paved the way for women’s participation in the Varsity Match. I look forward to the next 50 years of running for the women of OUCCC.”
Lillian Lewis, Hare and Hounds Women’s Captain, University of Cambridge. “It has been a pleasure to captain the University of Cambridge Women’s Hares and Hounds this year and train alongside such talented and dedicated athletes over the past three years.
“During this time I have seen the club’s women’s team continue to grow and we can now field a third women’s team for the first time. In this jubilee year, it is interesting that I can equalize the number of women with the men’s team.
Full race details can be found here here.
Further details on the history of the race can be found here here.
