2024 Banbury 15

2024 Banbury 15

The Banbury 15 is a 15M road race that starts from Spiceball Park, then continues on the footpath alongide the A423 before venturing into the countryside visiting the villages of Little Bourton, Great Bourton, Cropredy, Claydon and Appletree. The organiser's website says "Forget monotonous courses, the Banbury Run is seriously rural!".

.
The above map is taken from the organiser's website. The course is a shaped like a letter P, the out and back bit being about 5M long. This out and back bit starts along narrow paths in Spiceball Park. It continues on a footpath that accompanies the A423. The first hill is alongside this main road at about 1.75M. At about 2.4M, the course leaves the main road and ventures into the countryside first visiting the villages of Little Bourton, Great Bourton and Cropredy. At 5M, the circular 5M bit of the P starts. Here there is a short hill and at 6M there is a longer hill. At the top, you reach a village called Claydon. In my opinion, the nicest part of the course is between 6.6M and 8M: so peaceful on a quiet, narrow lane that crosses the Oxford Canal (between Claydon and Appletree). Unfortunately, this tranquillity is shattered by a significant hill at 8M - and in the future by being only 1K from 225 mph trains on the HS2 railway line - this map shows how close it comes. Just after the 10M marker, you complete the circular bit of the course. And just after 11M you meet the last hill which is on the approach to Great Bourton. You know it's coming as you went down it on the way out!

Male runners who did well

Here are some details of the male Oxfordshire club runners who were in the top 4 of their age category. 1 2

Matthew Lock (94, Witney_Road_Runners) was the 1st SM finishing in a time of 01:26:26.

Sam Garforth (55, Headington_RoadRunners) was the 2nd SM finishing in a time of 01:27:05.

Connor McGurk (175, Harwell_Harriers) was the 4th SM finishing in a time of 01:31:19.

Seth Cayley (31, Headington_RoadRunners) was the 2nd MV40 finishing in a time of 01:35:59.

Robert Storey (137, Eynsham_Roadrunners) was the 2nd MV50 finishing in a time of 01:40:25.

Thomas Preskett (107, Woodstock_Harriers) was the 4th MV40 finishing in a time of 01:40:45.

Danny Batchelor (9, Cherwell_Runners_and_Joggers) was the 1st MV60 finishing in a time of 01:57:48.

Neil Salmons (116, Harwell_Harriers) was the 3rd MV60 finishing in a time of 02:00:56.

Steve Cowls (38, Headington_RoadRunners) was the 4th MV60 finishing in a time of 02:04:28.

Kevin Byrne (23, Headington_RoadRunners) was the 1st MV70 finishing in a time of 02:14:17.

Female runners who did well

Here are some details of the female Oxfordshire club runners who were in the top 4 of their age category. 1 2

Rosie Weston (172, Banbury_Harriers/Loughborough_Students/Team_Cherwell_Triathlon_Club) was the 1st SL finishing in a time of 01:38:10.

Mary Scott (119, Headington_RoadRunners) was the 2nd SL finishing in a time of 01:42:34.

Sophie Carter (186, Oxford_City_AC) was the 1st FV35 finishing in a time of 01:47:17.

Kate Allred (174, Abingdon_AC) was the 1st FV45 finishing in a time of 01:47:11.

Edwina Colclough (33, Alchester_RC) was the 2nd FV35 finishing in a time of 01:47:29.

Lucy Ambrose (3, Headington_RoadRunners) was the 3rd FV35 finishing in a time of 01:47:44.

Emily White (159, Cherwell_Runners_and_Joggers) was the 4th SL finishing in a time of 01:53:07.

Sally Howard (74, Witney_Road_Runners) was the 3rd FV45 finishing in a time of 02:02:57.

Yvonne Morris (98, Headington_RoadRunners) was the 4th FV45 finishing in a time of 02:04:36.

Rosamond Hall (67, Eynsham_Roadrunners) was the 3rd FV55 finishing in a time of 02:06:32.

Katherine Bates (10, Eynsham_Roadrunners) was the 4th FV55 finishing in a time of 02:12:28.

Wendy Millatt (97, Abingdon_AC) was the 2nd FV65 finishing in a time of 02:18:56.

Postscript

Here's a link to the web page giving the results of the event.