Headington Roadrunners A team stormed to victory in the 11th running of the Ridgeway relay, writes Jon Murray.

Despite the high temperatures, the ten runners covered the 90 miles from Ivinghoe Beacon to Marlborough in 10 hrs 13 mins, establishing a new course record.

The achievement came despite some dramatic setbacks in the first half of the race.

Veteran campaigner John Griffiths was first to run for Headington, but suffered a severe asthma attack as he finished his leg in 19th place. In a stunning second leg, Gary Harris then overtook the whole field to give Headington a narrow lead, with Andy Thorpe extending it to eight minutes at the end of the third.

Allison Hirst, first of the two female members, put them a further two minutes ahead, but disaster struck again in the final stages of leg five as a routeing error sent Dave Robson the wrong way.

This brought rivals Swindon, in second place at this stage, to within a minute and a half and the pressure was on. Consistent runs from Roger Thetford, Simon Taverner and Jude Craft re-established Headington as the superior team with a lead of about half an hour.

Neville Baker and Fraser Howard took on the last two legs, protecting the lead, and finishing 24 minutes ahead of Reading Roadrunners, with Swindon dropping back to third.

Headington's B team also had a successful day, being in third place overall at one point, with Eddie Shoesmith, Kirstie Anderson and Noah Gins all among the five fastest runners on their respective stages.

The later stages took their toll, however, and the team got to the finishing line in seventh place overall, 50 minutes behind the A team.