Members of the Cornell track and field teams are currently in the United Kingdom, part of the quadrennial two-week tour of Great Britain that culminates with the decades-old rivalry with Oxford and Cambridge. Throughout the trip, women's distance coach Artie Smith will send updates from selected student-athletes as they chronicle their experiences for CornellBigRed.com.

BANGOR, Wales -- We've had a terrific start to our two week tour of the United Kingdom, settling in at the University of Bangor in Bangor, Wales and taking advantage of the wonderful hospitality of Dr. Dewi Roberts, who is actively involved in Achilles (the Oxford/Cambridge team) and who lives in town.

Rather than rely on my words, please enjoy the recollections of a pair of our men's captains, Mike Kippins '10 (who recounts the first two days of our trip) and Charlie Hatch '10 (who recounts day three).  We've been busy: practices, selecting teams for an intra-squad meet on Friday that will feature Penn and Cornell athletes teaming up on three different co-ed teams, visiting local castles, enjoying (and racing) a 19th century steam train in the Welsh countryside, among many things! 

Enjoy!

Michael Kippins '10
When we first arrived in Bangor, Wales, on Tuesday and got settled into our rooms at John Morris Jones dorm, we met up on a small soccer field nearby to get some practice in and shake out. After that, everyone wanted to sleep, as the jet lag was getting the best of us. To most of us,  the trip seemed really long, but the landscape of Wales was one thing that opened our eyes. The town of Bangor is very nice and sits next to water which is beautiful. People here are also very friendly and have been helping us get along since we arrived.

The second day we were, here a group of people went to Penrhyn Castle which was a short bus ride away. I have never seen anything like that castle before. It was built in the early 1800s, but the things inside looked like they could be brand new. The castle is well-preserved and the grounds are pristine to say the least. The cool thing about Penrhyn Castle to me is that it was not built for royalty or as a defensive structure. As a “fantasy” castle of the nineteenth century, it was built by a local Welsh family that operated and owned the local slate mines. Our castle tour was great, and I hope to see more along the trip through the United Kingdom.

Charlie Hatch '10
Feeling a bit more settled after a couple nights in Bangor, on Thursday the team rolled up the coast, through the historic town of Caenarfon and further out into the Welsh countryside. Here, we took an authentic steam locomotive (The Welsh Highland Railway), getting a great view of Wales' many sheep, mountains, lakes and… more sheep. Before arriving at our final stop in Caenarfon, myself and several other Penn and Cornell runners, even coaches, prepared for a pitted match against the train back to town. There is an annual race in the summer here where runners attempt to beat the train over the final 5K of the line. Upon being dropped at Dinas, 10 runners from our party hopped out to run this famous local course. Man and machine battled as the train's passengers cheered on the runners as they ran alongside the tracks. Only Adrien Dannemiller '11 (14:53) and Nate Edelman '11 were able to hold off the train, as the other runners, with the exception of the coaches (Eric Bonnette of Penn and Artie Smith '96 of Cornell) were most likely only resting up for tomorrow's match.  In addition to Adrien, Nate and myself, Darryl Oliver and Brian Fulton of Penn, and Kerri Lyons '10, Stephanie Pancoast '10 and Erin Roberts '10 from the Cornell team also ran.

After another long and tiring day, the team headed back to the dorm for the night, finalizing team lineups for the intra-squad match. With no local competition, tomorrow's match would appear to be fairly light-hearted but the competition seems to be surprisingly fierce between squads (which were selected by captains from Penn and Cornell and which will feature co-ed relays and co-ed scoring), with some athletes looking to put up serious marks. This should be a fitting end to what has been, above all things, an interesting time spent in Bangor.