The Otmoor Challenge is a friendly half marathon that takes place in the Oxfordshire village of Horton-Cum-Studley, a few miles from the Northants county border. Upon arrival, runners are treated to a village festival and the course is already being tackled by walkers who can start the even from 9:00am.
The mass start is an unusual 2:00pm Saturday afternoon and festival goers take a break from the craft stalls and beer tent to cheer the 350 strong field off on their way.
The first half of the course is mainly on roads through picturesque villages but at the halfway point, tarmac is swapped for grass and farm trails. Although pretty flat, there is one major climb at 11 miles to test everyone's wits at the crucial point of the race but it's a downhill stretch before a welcome back at the festival at the end.
Mark Kennedy ran the Otmoor last year and knocked over ten minutes off the time, finishing in 1:36:56. Darren and Suzanne Baldwin continued their marathon training for their June adventure and finished in 1:44:55 in 2:07:11.
The beer tent was visited by the trio at the end.
62 Mark Kennedy 1:36:56
114 Darren Baldwin 1:44:55
258 Suzanne Baldwin 2:07:11
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment