2019 Oxon County Road Relays

2019 Oxon County Road Relays

Today, in my series entitled "where I was taking photos this time last year", I'm looking at the 2019 Oxon County Road Relays. At one stage they were provisionally timetabled to take place today (Sun May 3rd). An Oxon AA road running web page says "Sadly, no suitable date has been found for the Road Relays at the current venue, Abingdon Rugby Club. Unless another club can organise something for this year, the Road Relays will not take place."

The 2019 Oxon County Road Relays were held on April 14th 2019. They used an out-and-back route starting/finishing at Abingdon Rugby Club. The Relays formed part of the 2019 Oxon Grand Prix and the 2019 Oxon County Championships. There were three events: a junior race at 2pm; a men's race at 2.30pm and a women's race at about 2.40pm. Each men's team had 6 runners and each women's team had 4 runners.

The out and back course used for the 2019 Oxon County Road Relays has been in use since 2016. Below I compare the fastest times in 2019 with those in years since 2016. It's only sensible to do this if the turnround point has been in the same place each year! I hope that has happened.

By the way, you can click on most of the photos on this web page to see the photo in hi-res.

Photos of runners from the teams that won the Senior Men Team Prizes

Here are some photos of runners from the teams that won the Senior Men Team Prizes.

The Senior Men's team that had the fastest combined time for the 6 legs was a team from Abingdon AC.
Their combined time was 1h43m37s and they won by 3m03s.
The members of this team were: Les Newell, Adam Ede, Alex Clarke-Ayerst, Alex Pennington, Jack Shayler and Kie Francis.
The above photos show Alex Clarke-Ayerst (303) and Jack Shayler (305). Alex was the fastest SM to complete the course finishing in a time of 16:33 and Jack was the fastest U20M to complete the course finishing in a time of 16:38. Alex and Jack clocked the 3rd and 4th fastest times of the day.

The above photo shows some members of the team at the prizegiving.

The second fastest Senior Men's team was a team from Banbury Harriers.
The members of this team were: Owen Knox, Reuben Trotter, Jonathan Carruthers, Gregor Kelling, Daniel Roberts and Skip Snelson.
The above photo shows Skip Snelson - he was the fastest MU17 to complete the course - he finished in a time of 16:11. He also clocked the fastest time of the day.
The previous fastest Senior Men's times are 16:04,Alex Clarke-Ayerst,2017, 16:11,Alex Miell-Ingram,2018 and 16:54,Owen Stepney,2016.

The above photo shows members of the team at the prizegiving.

The third fastest Senior Men's team was a team from Witney Road Runners.
The members of this team were: Gareth Petts, Matthew Lock, George Reynolds, Nickolas Key, Chris Colbeck and Sam Upton.
The above photo shows Sam Upton (476) who was the fastest runner for their team - he finished the course in 16:48.

The above photo shows some members of the team at the prizegiving.

Photos of runners from the teams that won the Veteran Men Team Prizes

Here are some photos of runners from the teams that won the Veteran Men Team Prizes.

The Veteran Men's team that had the fastest combined time for the 6 legs was a team from Woodstock Harriers.
Their combined time was 1h51m53s - it was close as they were only 27 seconds ahead of Headington RoadRunners Vets A.
The members of this team were: James Bolton, Jason Barry, David Cantwell, Hans Price, Rob Linnell and Robert Webster.
The above photo shows James Bolton - he was the fastest VM40 to complete the course - he finished in a time of 16:24. He also clocked the 2nd fastest time of the day.
The previous fastest Veteran Men's times are 16:36,Paul Fernandez,2017, 16:40,Chris Dettmer,2018 and 16:54,Les Newell,2016. So, assuming the same course has been used since 2016, James's time of 16:24 is now the Veteran Men's course record.

The above photo shows some members of the team at the prizegiving.

As mentioned above the second fastest Veteran Men's team was a team from Headington RoadRunners.
The members of this team were: Anthony Hanner Hopwood, Julien Lhomme, Jason Smith, Kenny Lowies, Simon Dales and Richard Skilbeck.
The above photo shows Julien Lhomme - he was the fastest runner of the team - he finished in a time of 18:00.

The above photo shows some members of the team at the prizegiving.

The third fastest Veteran Men's team was another team from Headington RoadRunners.
The members of this team were: Carl Gaden, Douglas Simpson, Inigo Surguy, Andy Phelps, Timothy Betts and Chris Woodruff.
The above photo shows Carl Gaden - he was the fastest runner of the team - he finished in a time of 19:04.

The above photo shows some members of the team at the prizegiving.

Photos of other male runners that did well

Here are some photos of male runners (not mentioned above) that were the fastest in their age category to complete the course. Interestingly, they are all from Oxford City AC.

Julian Richardson (Oxford_City_AC) was the 1st MV50 finishing in a time of 17:22.

Brian Green (Oxford_City_AC) was the 1st MV60 finishing in a time of 19:01.

Although Roy Treadwell (Oxford_City_AC) was in the results as the 2nd MV70 finishing in a time of 22:01, I think the results are wrong: I think Roy was the 1st MV70.

And it was close! His teammate and fellow MV70, John Exley, was just 1 second behind finishing his lap in a time of 22:02.

Photos of runners from the teams that won the Senior Ladies Team Prizes

Here are some photos of runners from the teams that won the Senior Ladies Team Prizes.

The Senior Ladies's team that had the fastest combined time for the 4 legs was a team from Didcot Runners.
Their combined time was 1h21m45s and they won by 3m07s.
The members of this team were: Sonka Reimers, Rebecca Rose, Sian Loveless and Emily McLoughlin.
The above photo shows Sonka Reimers - she was the fastest SL to complete the course - she finished in a time of 19:35. Sonka and Emily also clocked the 3rd and 4th fastest female times of the day.
The previous fastest Senior Ladies's times are 19:03,Lauren Hawtin,2018, 19:33,Florence Wiggins,2017 and 19:44,Hannah Hale,2016.

The above photo shows some members of the team at the prizegiving.

The second fastest Senior Ladies's team was a team from Abingdon AC.
The members of this team were: Mieke Bedlington, Cordelia Halfhead, Rosie Mullins and Beth Darwent.
The above photo shows Beth Darwent - she was the fastest FU17 to complete the course - she finished in a time of 20:49.

The third fastest Senior Ladies's team was a team from Witney Road Runners.
The members of this team were: Lindsey Smith, Kirsty Lockwood, Alice Parsons and Isabel Stubbs.
The above photo shows Alice Parsons (243) - she was the fastest of their team to complete the course - she finished in a time of 20:42.

The above photo shows some members of the team at the prizegiving.

Photos of runners from the teams that won the Veteran Ladies Team Prizes

Here are some photos of runners from the teams that won the Veteran Ladies Team Prizes.

The Veteran Ladies's team that had the fastest combined time for the 4 legs was a team from Eynsham Roadrunners.
Their combined time was 1h22m30s - they were 6m14s ahead of the second team.
The members of this team were: Liz McAllister, Kate Allred, Laura Leach and Tess Evans.
The above photos show Liz McAllister (501) and and Kate Allred (502). Liz was the fastest FV35 to complete the course finishing in a time of 19:15 and Kate was fastest FV45 to complete the course finishing in a time of 19:22. Liz and Kate also clocked the fastest and the 2nd fastest female times of the day.
The previous fastest Veteran Ladies's times are 18:54,Diane Foster,2016, 19:19,Jenny McBain,2017 and 19:45,Sophie Carter,2018.

The above photo shows some members of the team at the prizegiving.

The second fastest Veteran Ladies's team was a team from Headington RoadRunners.
The members of this team were: Rachel Shaw, Kate Daniels, Catriona Scott and Michelle Reid.
The above photo shows Rachel Shaw - she was the fastest runner of their team - she finished the course in a time of 21:42.

The third fastest Veteran Ladies's team was a team from Witney Road Runners.
The members of this team were: Anna Flory, Rachel Stanley-Evans, Jenny Moore and Lisa Butler.
The above photo shows Lisa Butler who was the fastest runner of the team - she finished in a time of 21:44.

Photos of other female runners that did well

Here are some photos of female runners (not mentioned above) that were the fastest in their age category to complete the course.

Anna Kelly (White_Horse_Harriers) was the fastest U20L to complete the course finishing in a time of 20:36.

Caroline Kerr (Alchester_RC) was the fastest FV55 to complete the course finishing in a time of 23:42.

Kate Williamson (Eynsham_Roadrunners) was the 1st FV65 finishing in a time of 25:04.

Postscript

If you did the Oxon County Road Relays in 2019 and want a reminder, then here's a link to all the photos that I took. The results of the 2019 Oxon County Road Relays are in this PDF.

If you want to see the reviews I've done on other 2019 races, then here's a link to a web page that includes an index of the reviews of 2019 races.

I'm planning for my next review to be of the 2019 Chalgrove Festival 10K.

I maintain a web page for runners that provides a list of races near Oxfordshire and the latest results. Visit www.oxonraces.com and follow @oxonraces

This web page is at www.oxonraces.com/blog/2020-05-03-abingdon. It was created on 30th April 2020 and last updated on 3rd May 2020.