It’s time for runners to lace up their trainers, bring out their stopwatches, and make their final preparations as the Abingdon Marathon returns this Sunday.

This is the 32nd year of the annual event, which was first hosted in 1982 and has only been cancelled three times – in 2007, 2020 and 2022.

Competitors will gather at Tilsley Park athletics track at 9am before setting off on the 26.2 mile round course.

READ MORE: Cyclist died after falling from his bike at Henley event 

The route passes through the town centre, heading out on a two lap route passing through the villages of Drayton, Milton, and Sutton Courtenay, before returning back through the town and to Tilsley Park, finishing in front of the grandstand.

The race is organised by a committee of volunteers from clubs across Oxfordshire.

“Whether you are taking part as a runner, supporting your family or friends as they run the race, or just enjoying the spectacle and the enthusiasm of the day we hope it will be a day to remember,” the organisers said on the event’s website.

Oxford Mail: This year’s event will incorporate the Oxfordshire County Marathon Championships.

There is a strict five–hour time limit for this event which will be enforced on the day.

Proceeds will go to local charities, with recent beneficiaries including Helen & Douglas House, Maggie’s Centres, SeeSaw, The Abingdon Bridge and The Archway Foundation.

The event has previously seen an array of fancy dress outfits being donned by runners.

Among the costumes which have been worn over the years were the Queen of Hearts and fictional character Fred Flinstone. 

Jenny McBain, a schoolteacher from the Bicester area, ran as the Queen of Hearts in 2016. 

Oxford Mail: Jenny McBain running as the Queen of HeartsJenny McBain running as the Queen of Hearts She said at the time: "I dressed as the Queen of Hearts to help raise awareness of the British Heart Foundation as a close friend's baby was born with heart problems and had to go through serious surgery.

"If I get this world record I am considering trying it as a hotdog and a toilet."

The event in Abingdon comes just one weekend after the Oxford Half Marathon took place on Sunday. 

This event attracted a record number of runners with around 13,000 people taking place. 

Folk in Abingdon will hope this weekend's event does not create the same traffic chaos which took place during the Oxford event. 

Motorists bemoaned key routes being closed off at a time when Botley Road is closed at the railway bridge alongside competing works on Botley Interchange and the Wolvercote construction zone. 

However, road signs have advertised this weekend's race in Abingdon and the county council emphasised the same applied to the Oxford event as well.