Eighteen-year-old Mathew Ashton, of Witney, made a successful start to the defence of his Mota-vation title in the first race of this year's series at Charlton-on-Otmoor.

Mathew AshtonAshton left the village just behind Headington's newcomer Kevin Murphy and Gary Harris.

But by the two-mile mark, Ashton and Murphy were side by side - and remained so until close to the finish.

The course was extended this year, giving runners a 200-yard run-in to finish in front of the new pavilion.

Ashton's time of 20 mins 25secs was half-a-minute faster than his adjusted time for last year, when Mark Flint established the course record.

Victory in the V40 category went to Woodstock's Bryan Vaughan in an identical time to last year's shorter course, while the V50s were led in by David Wheeler.

The V60 division came of age, with Mike Shipway claiming victory in the top quarter of the field.

Smashed

Jude Craft continued her excellent form from the previous weekend's relays and smashed her adjusted 2001 record by more than 20 seconds.

She finished a full minute ahead of Headington teammate and last year's series winner Iona Robertson.

With Allison Hirst and Tracey Galbraith absent, the ladies' V35 victory went to a newcomer, Witney's Nicola Gomm, who held off V45 winner Sue Ogilvie by two seconds.

Excellent packing gave Woodstock a clear edge in the men's team competition over Headington, who also had their first six in the top 20.

Headington led the ladies' team event, but less convincingly than usual.

This race saw a record field for any Mota-vation race with 267 finishers, up from 246 last year. The race also forms part of the Oxon AA Grand Prix Series.

The next race in the series is at Bletchingdon on June 5. Top 20 runners: 1 M Ashton (Witney) 20.25, 2 K Murphy (Headington) 20.30, 3 G Harris (Headington) 21.11, 4 G Dell (Woodstock) 21.31, 5 C Riley (Bedford) 21.37, 6 S Pritchard (Banbury) 21.39, 7 B Vaughan (Woodstock) 21.43 1st Vet 40, 8 J Lisiewicz (Morpeth) 21.56, 9 N Baimbridge (Woodstock) 21.57, 10 R Beaumont (Woodstock) 22.03, 11 S Male (Headington) 22.10, 12 T Lock (Witney) 22.12, 13 M Maxwell (Woodstock) 22.14, 14 J Cooke (White Horse) 22.18, 15 R Linnell (Woodstock) 22.20, 16 P Vallance (Alchester) 22.26, 17 J Pears (Headington) 22.28,18 S Kimber (Headington) 22.30, 19 T Bradford (Hook Norton) 22.31, 20 C Detmarr (Headington) 22.36.

Other category prizewinners - J Craft (Headington) 22:37 1st Sen Lady; T Dixon (Oxford City) 22.56 3rd Vet M40; D Wheeler (Oxford City) 23.12 1st Vet M50; M Shipway (Woodstock) 24.51 1st Vet M60; 89 N Gomm (Witney) 25.50 1st Vet L35; S Ogilvie (Abingdon) 25.52 1st Vet L45.