Eight against eight, a week before the Blues. For many Oxford and Cambridge runners, the race of their university career.
Held every year, the II–IVs alternate between the two universities: Shotover Country Park when Oxford host, and Priory Park, St Neots when Cambridge host. In 2026 Oxford hosts the races at Shotover Country Park.
The first IIs match was held in 1937 and since then the races have not only been a developing ground for aspiring Blues athletes but have also given those athletes who may never be at the front of a big cross-country race their moment in the spotlight. A unique part of Oxbridge cross-country.
The Tortoises, Turtles, Snails and Sloths, and the Spartans, Cheetahs, Barbarians and Gazelles, hold a special place in the hearts of many Oxford and Cambridge runners. Being selected and pulling on the vest is the highlight of many a university career.
“Just after breakfast this morning (Saturday) the cross-country captain came in & asked me to run for the Varsity Seconds Team v. Reading A.C. … I felt very thrilled by it all. So I’ve represented the Varsity.”
The 2024 II–IVs · Photography: Matthew Luney
Six Oxford v Cambridge races: the four selected matches first, then the two Mob Matches. Each row shows what the two teams wear.
Last year: Oxford won by 26 points to 60.
The match that started the II–IVs. Cambridge founded the Spartan Club in March 1937, and Oxford ran as Oxford University IInds until the Tortoises were formed in 1947. Eight a side, six to score, since 1946.
Every Tortoises v Spartans result →Last year: Oxford won by 21 points to 62.
Always eight a side, six to score. Oxford’s third team took the Snails name, first given to the fourth and fifth teams in 1976, around 1980. Cambridge named theirs the Barbarians in 1997.
Every Snails v Barbarians result →Last year: Oxford won by having the higher placed sixth scorer (11th vs 12th).
OUCCC officially named its second team the Turtles in 1990. The race went to eight a side, six to score, in 2018.
Every Turtles v Cheetahs result →Last year: Cambridge won by 26 points to 60.
Cambridge named their team the Gazelles in 2004 and Oxford’s became the Sloths in 2024. Run as a Mob Match from 2006, it became a selected eight a side race again in 2025.
Every Sloths v Gazelles result →The fourth-team races are Mob Matches: anyone from either club can run, and the result is scored on the depth of the whole field rather than a fixed team. The Gentlemen’s IVs have raced since 1958 and as a Mob Match since 2006. The Ladies’ IVs were first run in 2025.
“It was strange how we ignored the irony and took pride in the badge that seemed to signify that we only ran slowly. But Tortoises we were and proud to be so.”
Woodland and open hillside on Shotover Hill, on the eastern edge of Oxford.
Shotover has a long place in Varsity history. The 1886 Blues race climbed Shotover Hill on a 9½-mile course out of Oxford, and on 29 November 1975, on II–IVs day, Oxford and Cambridge women raced each other here for the first time.
About 80 acres of parkland and mature woodland of oak, chestnut, plane and lime on the edge of St Neots.
Cambridge-hosted II–IVs are run at Priory Park, a Green Flag park looked after by Huntingdonshire District Council.
How the Tortoises, Spartans, Snails, Barbarians, Turtles, Cheetahs, Sloths and Gazelles came to be, with a timeline from the first Spartans race to the first Ladies’ IVs.
Every II–IV result on record, from the first Spartans race to last year.
