Trinity Great Court - The Great Court Run

The Great Court Run

Many have tried to run the 341 metres around the court in the 43 seconds that it takes to strike 12 o'clock (actually 24 chimes owing to an odd old tradition), a feat recreated in the 1981 film Chariots of Fire (though filmed in Eton College, not Trinity). Known as the Great Court Run, students traditionally attempt to complete the circuit on the day of the Matriculation Dinner. Only two people are believed to have actually completed the run in the time. The first was Lord Burghley in 1927.

Sebastian Coe and Steve Cram attempted the feat in a charity race on 29 October 1988. Coe's time was reported by Norris McWhirter to have been 45.52 seconds, but it was actually 46.0 seconds (confirmed by the video tape), while Cram's was 46.3 seconds. The clock on that day took 44.4 seconds (i.e. a "long" time, probably two days after the last winding) and the video film confirms that Coe was some 12 metres short of his finish line when the fateful final stroke occurred. The television commentators were suggesting that the dying sounds of the bell could be included in the striking time, thereby allowing Coe's run to be claimed as successful.

This conflicts with Trinity College's website, which states:

"In October 1988 the race was recreated for charity by Britain's two foremost middle-distance runners, Sebastian Coe and Steve Cram. Daley Thompson, the decathlete, was a reserve. Coe won, getting round in 42.53 seconds. Alas, he didn't quite beat the chimes, as the clock had been wound the day before, and the chimes ran somewhat faster than their usual 43 seconds because of the extra turn of rope on the drum." The event was organized by 36 year old undergraduate Nigel McCrery and raised £50,000 for the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children.

In 2007, Sam Dobin was seen to 'beat' the clock in a time of 42.77s, improving on his 3rd place finish the previous year. Dobin's achievement received national newspaper coverage which reported it as the fastest time in the history of the race, beating Burghley and Coe's efforts. However, the route taken by competitors around the court has changed over the years, thus making the accomplishment much more attainable. The current route — running on the cobbles rather than the path — cuts the distance down to 299m (the perimeter of the grass) as opposed to 341m (the perimeter of the cobbles). This is 12% shorter, reducing the pace required from Olympic to a level manageable by hundreds of good club athletes across the country. It also enables the four sharp corners to be "rounded off" so that runners do not need to slow down appreciably when taking the corners.

In 2001 the race was won by Adrian Hemery, son of the famous 400m hurdler and Olympic Champion David Hemery. Adrian was succeeded by his friend and training partner Mike Collins in 2002.

Recent winners:

• 2001: Adrian Hemery
• 2002: Mike Collins
• 2003: Huw Watson (AUS)
• 2004: Calum Nicholson
• 2005: Chris Wilson
• 2006: Dany Gammall
• 2007: Sam Dobin
• 2008: Edgar Engel
• 2009: (cancelled due to poor weather)
• 2010: Henry Husband
• 2011: Steven Karp (CAN)
• 2012: Cornelius Roemer (GER)

It is interesting to note that David Cecil, the only man to achieve the Great Court Run prior to 2007, and Sebastian Coe, the man who came closest to achieving the feat between Cecil's and Dobin's successes, both achieved the multiple distinctions of Olympic Champion, Member of both Houses of Parliament, and Chairman of London Olympics Organising Committee (David Cecil, 1948 Olympics; Sebastian Coe, 2012 Olympics).

Other factors affect the timing of the Great Court Run. The speed at which the bells strike is governed by a mechanical fly which can be seen in operation on the photos page of the Trinity College Clock website. The fly uses air resistance to govern the speed at which the striking mechanism turns and as such the speed depends most importantly on the density of the air. The duration of the striking of twelve thus depends on the meteorological conditions of the day in question. On a cold, dry, high-pressure day the bells strike more slowly than on a warm, humid low-pressure day. The difference is as much as 15% which is 6 seconds out of the "normal" 43 seconds. For typical October days (the official run takes place in October) the likely difference is more modest +/- 1 second. Runners in mid winter will have the best chance of completing the circuit before the bells have finished.