Oxford Half Marathon

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  • loulabellloulabell ✭✭✭

    im holding on to my money too until all is explainedimage.....odd that they have produced an entry form without a UKAL number...although i did notice on the bottom of the download form it says 'permit granted'.......image

  • Loulabell, they definitely don't have a license as yet. In fact afaik they haven't even applied for one.
  • It all seems rather worrying, I'm going to err on the side of caution too and wont be putting an entry in unless it all becomes a bit clearer.
  • loulabellloulabell ✭✭✭

    ohhh..and i was so looking forward to itimage, hope it all comes good...hello mothrunner how are you?

  • my initial enthusiasm has been dented
  • Hi loulabell -- I'm injured at the moment; a stress fracture in my shin.  image  So I'm missing all the great early summer races. Grrr. How are you?
  • Know what you mean Loulabell and Gloryboy, I was looking forward to a new race in a scenic city.  Still it may yet come good.
  • Being from the Oxford area originally, I would have loved to complete a half marathon here. Some nice features on the route - the BMW plant, the High Street and the City centre, and a big (as Oxford goes anyway) stadium finish. Along with a well loved local charity, and a massive local business headlining the sponsors it looked a must do. My dad, who lives in Oxford says there was loads of chat on radio Oxford last week about it, most of it positive.

    However, if the route is not even agreed where does that leave it?

    Whilst I think much of the ring road has a wide enough cycle track to accomodate a reasonable field it would struggle for more than 5000. There are still several crossing points that would require feeder roads to the ring road to be closed - the most notable being at Littlemore.

    Does anyone know anything about who this "Oxford Half Marathon Ltd" who are organising it - who the directors are, and what other races they have been involved in arranging in the past.

    A quick check at companies house indicates they were only formed in March this year, and therefore no accounts have been submitted. The address here is different to the address on the website - it appears to give the office of a local accountants. Googling the address on the half marathon website does not turn up much - they wanted to tarmac their front garden, and the local council turned it down! And someone nearby had to get their trees cut!  Nothing too alarming here.

     I think my money will stay in my pocket until things become a little clearer - at least until the route is approved and a licence number is available.

  • loulabellloulabell ✭✭✭

    thanks for that info David N..i too i think will hang on a little longer until things are sorted a bit better....im just down the road from Oxford and thought itd be a really popular event but like you wondered how the roads would cope with such large numbers on the day....well, we will sit and wait...image

    hi mothrunner, sorry to hear you are injured, hope it improves quickly, are you doing any other local races soon ?

  • The sceptic in me has also dented my initial excitement and enthusiasm so I too will hang on until there's more information. Obviously some of you have good contacts in the running world and it does seem strange that these people have not been brought on board as they will need to muster an awful lot of volunteers and goodwill from somewhere. I would have thought that the organisations involved will have done some due diligence before lending their names to this so lets hope our concerns are unfounded as I feel it has the potential to be a great event. 

    Having done the Reading HM and seeing the pride it gives the locals I would love this to be replicated in the county that I'm proud to come from so really hope it happens and is successful.

  • heard ad on local radio this evening
  • I can't think of another HM in Oxfordshire

    Is there one? image

  • Susiebe, there's the White Horse Half, which is in the Spring. There's also Adderbury in July, but that's off road so isn't an 'official' HM.
  • Thanks mothrunner

    I will take a look at the White Horse Half but just goes to show that Oxford would be a popular place for a HM.I hoped that there might be a HM option at Abingdon and sent them an email last year but they weren't keen to have a HM alongside the marathon.

    Saying all this I'm doing Berlin(my second marathon ater doing Brighton in april)on sept 25th but really hope tht Oxford HM goes ahead as think it would be great.Good to see that the course goes down Morrell ave as its quite a climb in the opposite direction!

  • Susiebe - White Horse is a great HM, very flat and a good one for a PB as long as it's not too windy.  You have to get in early though, it normally fills up by Christmas as there's quite a small entry limit.
  • fittorunfittorun ✭✭✭

    There is also a Half Marathon at Blenhiem Palice in october this year

    Latest word on the street is that the race is being licences by the runaway group called ARC (nothing to do with Alchester Running Club)these guys also give our permits and race licences but are nothing to do with Run Britain or UK Athletics.

    Have looked on the web site of ARC but it is not showing a race permit for this event!!!

  • susiebe1 wrote (see)

    I can't think of another HM in Oxfordshire

    Is there one? image

    You've just missed the Otmoor Challenge last Saturday which is a half(ish) marathon, but off road and definitely not PB material.  But it is"unique","individual", "one of a kind"...and worth doing for the experience and scenery. And then there's the Henley Half.

    It would be difficult to have an Abingdon 1/2 on the same day as the full marathon because of the looped course.  I think they need over 100 marshals just for the current race, so another course on the same day would stretch things abit

  • I have just spotted that it does have a permit from ARC.  See here. Clevedon AC are the organsing club, so they should be able to get everything right.
  • I'd would have thought it would need measuring 1st but perhaps it is a requirement for UKA but not ARC- but who wants to run on a short/ long course.

    Like I said last week, its very kind of the folks in Somerset to set up a new race for runners in oxfordshire...

  • It is a requirement for an ARC permit that the course is measured by a qualified measurer. An appointment has been made with a measurer to measure this course very shortly.
  • So how come its got a permit already if it hasn't been measured yet?
  • Old Shadowfax

    See Clause 10 in the Permit Application Process which is displayed on the ARC website

    "Provided an appointment for measurement has been made, the permit may be issued in advance of the completion of the course measurement. "

  • loulabellloulabell ✭✭✭
    I think all we really need to know is  , is it going ahead ?image
  • I hope it does come off - Oxford is one place I would love to run. And their proposed course looks good.

    However, living in Oxford for many years, they will also need the buy-in from the Universities who still think its 1711 and are able to pull all sort of archaic strings and levers to prevent things from happening. My dad says they have already killed off the chance of the route going through Christchurch meadow.

    I note there is no information of this on the Kassam Stadium website.

    I also note that in the terms and conditions there is this clause: "No refund can be given if the race has to be cancelled or postponed due to circumstances beyond our control." Whilst that is probably in the Ts and Cs of most races, I think I will wait a bit longer before parting with my cash. I hope we get some good news soon.

    Dave
  • Looked at hte wbsite and you can find the website owner's address and if you google this it is listed under South West atletics and Avon.

    Cross Country Coordinator

    Andy Heyes
    Perth Villa, 10 Marine Parade
    Clevedon   BS21 7QS

    01275 340247

    andy_heyes@blueyonder.co.uk

  • Andy Heyes is also mentioned by name in this article here in the Oxford Times. Similar news items on the BBC. There is also mention of "an" Andy Heyes in the Oxford University Cross Country Club, which might explain why someone from Clevedon wants to arrange a run in Oxford.

    http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/news/9057876.City_to_stage_a_half_marathon/?action=complain&cid=9399476

    So it looks like Andy is a decent experienced club runner rather than the head of some quick-buck company, so this is starting to look very promising indeed.
  • Watching with interest.
  • Intriguing..............

    I'm keeping the date free for now......

  • David N 173 wrote (see)
    There is also mention of "an" Andy Heyes in the Oxford University Cross Country Club, which might explain why someone from Clevedon wants to arrange a run in Oxford.

    Think this is just two guys with the same name. The Andy Heyes at Clevedon (http://www.thepowerof10.info/athletes/profile.aspx?athleteid=83662) is a vet athlete and seems to have nothing to do with OUCCC at all who have an Andrew Heyes (http://www.thepowerof10.info/athletes/profile.aspx?athleteid=17472) who is U23.

    Agree that having an athlete somewhere in the team is a good thing but not sure if that is enough. If you want 10,000 runners then you need a professional company doing the bulk of the work as it is way beyond spritied amateurs.

    Also I am not sure I am a fan of these big runs: I did Reading and it takes ages to get there in heavy traffic, ages to park miles away, ages to get to the start, wait at the start line for ages, then repeat in reverse with some car parks not being opned for exit until 3 hours after the starting time.

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