Close Menu
Honi Soit
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Trending
    • UTS elects new Chancellor
    • Out of the Deep: The Story of a Shark Kid Who Dared to Question Fear
    • Prima Facie: Losing faith in a system you truly believed in
    • Jason Clare seeks replacement for ANU Chancellor Julie Bishop after $790,000 expense report
    • ‘If you silence someone or shush someone, you can get out’: SISTREN is an unabashed celebration of black and trans joy. Is Australia ready?
    • Mark Gowing waxes lyrical on aesthetics, time, language, and his new exhibition ‘This one is a song’
    • NTEU wins wage theft case against Monash University
    • Turning Kindness Into Strength in ‘A Different Kind of Power’
    • About
    • Print Edition
    • Student Journalism Conference 2025
    • Writing Comp
    • Advertise
    • Locations
    • Contact
    Facebook Instagram X (Twitter) TikTok
    Honi SoitHoni Soit
    Thursday, July 10
    • News
    • Analysis
    • Culture
    • Opinion
    • University
    • Features
    • Perspective
    • Investigation
    • Reviews
    • Comedy
    • Student Journalism Conference 2025
    Honi Soit
    Home»University

    Where did USyd’s ‘Great Quad Race’ go?

    Bring back the official Great Quad Race for Welcome Week 2023.
    By Amelia KoenOctober 9, 2022 University 3 Mins Read
    Images courtesy of the University of Sydney Archives.
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    In 1983, a new Sydney University tradition was born: The Great Quad Race. Organised by the Sydney University Athletics Club (SUAC), it consisted of a 180 metre (or 210 depending on who you ask) dash around the Quadrangle and became a hotly contested mainstay of USyd Orientation Week in the 1980s. According to a 1983 edition of The University of Sydney News, the sprint is said to be inspired by the racing scene around Cambridge in the 1981 film Chariots of Fire. 

    The dash was held on the first day of Orientation week at noon, just an hour after the official welcome in the Great Hall. According to archival advertisements for the race, “all first years are invited to participate” in the “Freshers’ Section”; there were additional open and Women’s events. In its inaugural year, Ross Hawthorne won overall with an astonishing time of 25.4 seconds — though apparently he was a three time State 400-metre champion. Out of the 52 entrants, only one other beat the 26 second record established in the earlier heats. 

    However, not all participants took it that seriously. In the subsequent edition of USyd News, a headline that reads “Champagne athletes cross the line” is accompanied by a photo of three dapper students running through the centre of the quad. Champagne glasses in one hand and the neck of the bottle in the other, they are dressed in “1920s style” attire as they make the slowest time recorded in the race. Amusingly, these campus legends “retired to a table and chairs beneath a tree for refreshments.” 

    The race was reportedly sponsored by the Commonwealth Bank, and the top 20 students won t-shirts which read ‘Get With the Strength’ on the front. It remains unclear what the winners of each race actually received other than, of course, fame, glory, and bragging rights. 

    Notably, the shenanigans did not end with the champagne champs. In 1986’s race, the USU Debating Society was simultaneously in the Quadrangle attempting to obtain the Guiness World Record Debate title across 6 consecutive days of debating. Surpassing the previous record of 153 hours and 20 minutes, the 500 students, staff, and journalists who participated achieved a new world record of 155 hours and 30 minutes. The debate topic was “You can fool all of the people all of the time”, and for two multi-talented students, they continued the debate with each other as they successfully ran in the Quad Race. 

    Seemingly, the last archival account of the race is in 1990. Now, I’m no patron of the race track, nor did I once participate in my High School athletics carnival. However, I would enjoy a community sprint around the Quad in the name of (a) Welcome Week activities and (b) reviving campus culture. 

    Think you can beat the undefeated  26 second record? Try it out for yourself and send us a letter. Or even better — bring back the official Great Quad Race at Welcome Week 2023.

    Athletics Great Quad Race University of Sydney usyd

    Keep Reading

    USyd academics speak out against antisemitism allegations ahead of class action

    “Lawfare”: Jewish staff and students rally behind USyd academics now facing federal legal action

    Whose Review Is It Anyway?: NUTS’ WPIIA 2025

    USyd doesn’t listen: Five key policies updated and implemented following “feedback” process

    It’s Vending Machines All The Way Down

    2025 Queer Revue: A wild ride of wigs, fanfiction, and Pitbull 

    Just In

    UTS elects new Chancellor

    July 8, 2025

    Out of the Deep: The Story of a Shark Kid Who Dared to Question Fear

    July 8, 2025

    Prima Facie: Losing faith in a system you truly believed in

    July 8, 2025

    Jason Clare seeks replacement for ANU Chancellor Julie Bishop after $790,000 expense report

    July 7, 2025
    Editor's Picks

    Part One: The Tale of the Corporate University

    May 28, 2025

    “Thank you Conspiracy!” says Capitalism, as it survives another day

    May 21, 2025

    A meditation on God and the impossible pursuit of answers

    May 14, 2025

    We Will Be Remembered As More Than Administrative Errors

    May 7, 2025
    Facebook Instagram X (Twitter) TikTok

    From the mines

    • News
    • Analysis
    • Higher Education
    • Culture
    • Features
    • Investigation
    • Comedy
    • Editorials
    • Letters
    • Misc

     

    • Opinion
    • Perspective
    • Profiles
    • Reviews
    • Science
    • Social
    • Sport
    • SRC Reports
    • Tech

    Admin

    • About
    • Editors
    • Send an Anonymous Tip
    • Write/Produce/Create For Us
    • Print Edition
    • Locations
    • Archive
    • Advertise in Honi Soit
    • Contact Us

    We acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. The University of Sydney – where we write, publish and distribute Honi Soit – is on the sovereign land of these people. As students and journalists, we recognise our complicity in the ongoing colonisation of Indigenous land. In recognition of our privilege, we vow to not only include, but to prioritise and centre the experiences of Indigenous people, and to be reflective when we fail to be a counterpoint to the racism that plagues the mainstream media.

    © 2025 Honi Soit
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms
    • Accessibility

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.