Pedantry time again, I'm afraid: Oxford colleges have quads, Cambridge has courts. The scene of the (fictitious) race between Harold Abrahams and Lord Burghley is the Great Court at Trinity College. Except that it was actually filmed at Eton!
Students traditionally attempt to complete the Great Court Run on the day of Trinity's Matriculation Dinner; the aim is to complete the circuit in the time that the college clock takes to strike twelve. This is generally around 43 seconds, although it depends how long it's been since it was wound. Lord Burghley succeeded in beating the clock in 1927, and his feat has (arguably) never been repeated.
In 1988, Sebastian Coe and Steve Cram – two of Britain's foremost middle–distance athletes (but you knew that) – attempted the run for charity. Coe won the race, but failed to beat the clock. His run was timed by Norris McWhirter at 45.52 seconds; the clock on that day took 44.4 seconds (a 'long' time).
In 2007, one Sam Dobin was judged to have beaten the clock with a time of 42.77 seconds. But the course has changed over the years. In Lord Burleigh's day you could only run on the flagstones, and the course was 341 metres – with, obviously, three 90–degree turns. In more recent years you've been allowed to run on the cobblestones that the flags surround. This has shortened the course to 299 metres.
(Coe and Cram were restricted to the traditional course – i.e. staying on the flagstones.)
There is no record of Harold Abrahams ever having completed the run.
Lord Burghley was the Olympic 400m hurdles champion in 1928. Chariots of Fire, which was released in 1981, is about the 1924 Olympics.
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