DAVID Bruce got the defence of his Mota-Vation Series crown away to a good start with victory at a wet Charlton-on-Otmoor.

But the Oxford-based athlete, who runs for Highgate Harriers, was pushed all the way.

He crossed the line in 20mins 37secs, just seven seconds ahead of Alex Wall-Clarke, a second claim runner for Abingdon.

Oxford City’s Darrell Bellinger was also at the sharp end at one stage, but was edged out to finish third in 20.51.

The top three were almost a minute clear of the chasing pack, led home by James Bolton (Woodstock Harriers).

He took the vet 40 title with 21.40, just seeing off Abingdon's Paul Fernandez (21.50) and Oxford City's Julian Richardson (21.53).

The in-form Diane Moore was the first lady home.

The Headington Road Runners vet 35 athlete finished in 24.26, leading home clubmate Liz Barker (25.07), who was the first senior lady to finish.

Abingdon’s Fiona Bunn was just three seconds further back in third, which was comfortably the quickest under 19 time.

The top young runner among the men was Matthieu Marshall, from Oxford City, who finished 11th overall in 22.15.

Witney Road Runner Alan Reynolds was the first vet 50 in 24.21, while the vet 60 crown went to Bryan Vaughan (Woodstock Harriers), who finished in 25.00.

Sam Rees, running for Hook Norton Harriers, took the ladies’ vet 45 victory with 29.33 and Oxford City’s Gwyneth Hueter was the top vet 55 athlete in 30.09.

The second round of the series is at Bletchingdon on Thursday, June 5.

RESULTS

(senior unless stated)

MOTA-VATION SERIES ROUND ONE (Top 20)

MEN

1 D Bruce (Highgate) 20.37, 2 A Wall-Clarke (Southampton) 20.44, 3 D Bellinger (Oxford City) 20.51, 4 J Bolton (V40, Woodstock) 21.40, 5 A Burgess (Oxford City) 21.48, 6 P Fernandez (V40, Abingdon) 21.50, 7 J Richardson (V40, Oxford City) 21.53, 8 S Male (V40, Oxford City) 21.55, 9 M Tyrrell (Eynsham) 22.06, 10 T Jones (Witney RR) 22.10, 11 M Marshall (U19, Oxford City) 22.15, 12 M Robinson (Oxford City) 22.30, 13 S Kimber (WSEH) 22.31, 14 O Stepney (Abingdon) 22.31, 15 T Wright (Banbury) 22.38, 16 N Jones (Oxford City) 22.46, 17 C Birch (U19, Didcot) 22.47, 18 M Maxwell (V40, Oxford City) 22.48, 19 B O’Connor (V40, Woodstock) 22.48, 20 P Jegou (WHH) 22.49.

LADIES

1 D Moore (VL35, Headington) 24.26, 2 L Barker (Headington) 25.07, 3 F Bunn (U19, Abingdon) 25.10, 4 H Hale (Eynsham) 25.25, 5 J Franklin (VL35, Newbury) 25.42, 6 S Usher (VL35, Alchester) 25.59, 7 F Snare (Witney RR) 26.09, 8 J Bruce (Headington) 26.15, 9 S Rendell (VL35, Alchester) 26.21, 10 H Greenwood (U19, Kidlington) 26.35, 11 E Fidler (VL35, Alchester) 26.38, 12 A Hopkins (VL35, Headington) 27.03, 13 J Kalthoff (Headington) 27.06, 14 R Shaw (VL35, Headington) 27.16, 15 R Campbell (Headington) 27.27, 16 L Leach (Headington) 27.55, 17 K Hutchings (VL35 Witney RR) 27.57, 18 S Carter (Belgrave H) 27.58, 19 R Lapper (Oxford City) 28.12, 20 A Bachand (Headington) 28.30.

Abingdon AC – Men: 55 C Bedford (V40) 24.49, 59 J Webb 24.55, 69 M Lewy (V50) 25.29, 106 J Moore (V50) 26.58, 109 N Hamilton (V50) 27.07, 111 J Harvey (V40) 27.19, 127 S Smith (V50) 27.57, 128 P Stepney (V50) 27.57, 140 T Clarke (V40) 28.29, 163 T Greenland (V60) 29.30, 177 J Wigmore (V60) 30.17, 184 M Wilson (V50) 30.32, 190 C Penton (V40) 30.49, 214 J Newton (V40) 32.35, 221 B Mabbut (V40) 32.56, 233 A Garner (V50) 34.29, 234 J Styles (V50) 34.39, 240 J Bullock (V40) 36.08, 241 M Seager (V40) 36.08, 250 B Evans (V60) 39.40. Ladies: 35 S Mead (LV45) 29.59, 36 S Trickey 30.06, 53 C Matthews (LV55) 32.06, 56 P Terry (LV45) 32.14, 65 A Milliken Tull (LV45) 32.58, 74 G Lodowski (LV45) 33.35, 80 E Woosey-Griffin (LV35) 33.51, 83 P Wilson (LV55) 34.13, 85 M Hamilton (LV45) 34.18, 93 N Steinke 34.48, 111 H Smith 36.21, 112 M Jefferies (LV55) 36.21, 121 N Blatchford (LV55) 37.59, 125 J Howard (LV55) 38.15, 134 J Francis (LV45) 39.53, 136 C Onions (LV45) 40.10, 137 A Moger (LV55) 40.48, 145 H Bower 45.51, 146 M Coates (LV45) 47.04, 147 G Lenik 47.05, 149 E Moore (LV45) 50.26.

White Horse Harriers – Men: 39 J Cooke (V40) 23.43, 70 I Lambourn (V50) 25.33, 82 M Lane (V40) 26.10, 252 J Smeddle (V50) 42.33. Ladies: 24 H Chaundy 28.54, 28 R Bennett (LV35) 29.23, 58 J McCabe (LV45) 32.35.

Eynsham RR – Men: 25 R Storey (V40) 23.09, 42 M Alder 24.17, 46 D Ferrier 24.24. Ladies: 27 G Ferrier (LV35) 29.20, 38 K Williamson (LV55) 30.36, 44 J Pinnock (LV45) 31.08.

Oxford City: 45 R Webster (V40) 24.22.

Witney RR – Men: 24 T Lock (V40) 23.08, 31 G Petts 23.33, 44 A Reynolds (V50) 24.21, A Reynolds (V50) 24.21, C Ellis 24.41, G Ferris (V40) 24.55, K Hennessy (V40) 24.56, E Kay 25.34, P Ainslie (V50) 26.23, N Moglia (V50) 26.24, M Butler (V40) 26.28, K Read (V40) 26.35, A Giles 27.01, P Taylor 27.23, J Field (V40) 27.29, G Le Good (V60) 27.31, T Clarke (V40) 27.35, M Sheehan 28.36, A Church (V50) 28.38, B Godwood (V40) 29.07, R Walker (V40) 29.08, D Wymer 29.11, R Redford (V40) 29.37, W Downey 29.44, M Lock (U19) 30.23, J May 31.26, B Moore (V50) 31.44, K Morgan (V60) 31.53, J McCormac (V60) 32.03, C Morris (V50) 32.16, J Jones 32.59, N Moss (V40) 33.06. Ladies: 23 D Brown (SL) 28.43, 33 C Leather (SL) 29.45, 42 S Morley (LV35) 31.03, L Jones (VL35) 32.07, J Le Good (VL55) 32.52, H Smith (VL45) 33.01, T Moss (VL45) 33.18, J Gamage (VL45) 34.22, A Rouget (VL45) 34.27, C Morley (VL45) 35.19, S Christie (VL45) 35.31, H West (VL55) 37.00, M Kite (VL35) 39.21, H Makins (VL35) 57.03.

Woodstock Harriers – Men: 34 D Cantwell (V40) 23.40, 41 K Game (V40) 24.15, 49 S Cruikshank 24.29. Ladies: 32 B Tidball (SL) 29.42, 40 J Read (LV35) 30.42, 43 T Blackburn (LV35) 31.06.

CHALGROVE FESTIVAL 10K

Abingdon AC: 21 J Webb 39.19 (pb) 35 N Hamilton (V50) 41.13, 160 S Belcher (V40) 49.02, 262 S Hopgood (LV35) 54.23 (pb), 309 M Seager (V40) 56.51, 314 C Willcock (V40) 57.17, 323 J Bullock (V40) 58.02, 367 L Hamilton (LV55) 60.22.

Eynsham RR: 79 M Creasey (V50) 44.38, 356 L Bryant (SL) 59.23, 432 R Gascoigne (V60) 1.03.07.

Headington RR: 8 L Faulkner 37.25, 10 D Moore (LV35) 37.35, 12 M Pearce 38.12, 13 R Hallam (SL) 38.14, 16 K Lowies (V40) 38.52, 17 S Cayley 38.53, 22 T Clarke 39.20, 25 N Leach 40.24, 28 J Bruce (SL) 40.30, 29 A Foulkes (V50) 40.40, 32 J Barker (V40) 41.05, 45 R Campbell (SL) 42.45, 49 A Walton 43.03, 50 E Byard 43.06, 51 J Kalthoff (SL) 43.07, 55 L Leach (SL) 43.25, 76 C Slator (V50) 44.38, 88 A Huntly 45.29, 101 B Fiddian (V60+) 46.10, 104 C Goodall (LV35) 46.28, 114 P Brame (V40) 47.01, 120 M Johnson (V50) 47.21, 121 N Varney (LV35) 47.23, 125 A Felton 47.29, 131 R Payne (LV35) 47.49, 147 H Marshall (V60+) 48.22, 161 P Lister (V50) 49.03, 173 D Hartwell (V50) 49.32, 182 C Scott (LV35) 50.08, 188 I Matthews (LV55+) 50.30, 189 A Sulley (V40) 50.37, 206 S Procter 51.54, 215 A Barry (LV45) 52.20, 216 G Norris (V60+) 52.20, 241 G Day (V40) 53.39, 248 E Carter (V35) 53.58, 261 D Barron (V50) 54.22, 298 T Procter-Legg 56.26, 332 R Clarke (V40) 58.14, 353 R Gibbs 59.29, 405 J Keyser (LV55+) 1.05.47, 412 P Smith (LV55+) 1.06.46, 415 S Doel (LV55+) 1.08.02.

MILTON KEYNES HALF-MARATHON

Abingdon AC: 156 L McGill (LV35) 1.37.41, 562 J Newton (V40) 1.55.46, 932 M Coates (VL40) 2.08.24, 4537 K Lean (VL40) 2.17.29, 4538 G Lean (V35) 2.17.29.

Didcot Runners: Dave Eggleton (V40) 1.45.10.

MILTON KEYNES MARATHON

Didcot Runners: R Sharp (V45) 3.54.21, R Brind (V40) 4.34.21, S Jones (V35) 4.38.54, L Neighbour (SL40) 4.52.08, L Absolom (SL50) 4.52.08, J Scarborough (V60) 4.55.16, N Francis (V50) 5.00.20, C Thompson (LV40) 5.07.00.

Headington RR: 1507 U Neale (M40) 4.46.44.

WORCESTER MARATHON

Didcot Runners: R Sharp (V45) 3.32.26.

Eynsham RR: L Hillsdon 4.00.25, I Keeley (M50) 4.32.56.

WORCESTER HALF MARATHON

Didcot Runners: S Howes 1.53.32.

HAGBOURNE FUN RUN

Abingdon AC: 7 A Pennington (U14B) 30.02, 10 J Moore V50 30.16, 13 K Francis (U12B), 31 J Wigmore (V60) 34.36, 32 G Pennington (U15G) 34.58, 79 L Herbert (SL) 41.04.

ABINGDON PARK RUN

Abingdon AC: 4 R Kemp (V35) 17.43, 7 M Price (J15) 18.38, 8 J Webb 18.53, 11 M Lewy (V50) 19.02, 24 J Moore (V50) 20.55, 28 V Tilling (JL11) 21.28, 32 P Stepney (V50) 21.49, 34 D Richards (V55) 21.53, 36 A Durham (V45) 22.04, 38 J Wigmore (V60) 22.13, 44 M Wilson (V50) 22.38, 45 K Harris (JL11) 22.40, 48 S Trickey (SL) 22.45, 52 L Gray (JM11) 22.58, 56 C Winton (SL) 23.01, 57 T Scott-Langley 23.01, 59 J Graham (SL) 23.18, 61 J Wiblin (LV45) 23.29, 88 S Hopgood (LV40) 24.35, 91 A Milliken-Tull (LV45) 24.44, 103 L Herbert (SL) 25.21, 107 L Blackmore (SL) 25.41, 118 Garner (V55) 26.32, 125 Dawkins (V60) 26.53, 126 K Pulford (LV60) 26.54, 129 J Styles (V50) 27.05,139 N Blatchford (LV65) 27.33, 144 H Smith (SL) 27.44, 147 J Francis (LV45) 27.50, 151 C Onions (LV50) 27.58, 152 A Moger (LV55) 27.58, 155 C Penton (V45) 28.11, 160 E Woosey-Griffin (LV40) 28.36, 162 C Bolton (LV35) 28.47, 172 L Hamilton (LV55) 30.07, 173 C Willcock (V40) 30.15, 184 L Fuller (LV40) 31.01, 186 M Piper (LV35) 31.27, 217 L Astbury (LV45) 34.40, 221 M Hamilton (LV45) 35.33, 222 J Weston (SL) 36.15, 223 E Moore (LV45) 36.28, 235 H Bower (SL) 41.52, 236 M Seager (V45) 41.53.

Didcot Runners: M Deering 18.05, T Lamble (LV35) 22.56, T Reddy 25.57, J Shand (LV45) 26.11, T Moggeridge (LV) 27.23, P O’Connell (V40) 27.52, G Jackson (V80) 30.49, Alison Gordon (SL) 32.44, Andrew Gordon (V35) 32.46.