Witney Road Runners' Philip Hailes showed he was fully tuned up by finishing second in the Akzo Nobel Abingdon Mara- thon.
Running with an iPod, Hailes was promoted to second after last year's winner, Colin Paton, crossed the line first again only to be disqualified because he failed to officially enter the race.
The British Army Athletic Association runner had worn race No 886, which had originally been allocated to Carl Povey, who was a non- runner.
Paton crossed the line in 2hrs 34mins and 41secs - six minutes faster than his winning time of 12 months ago.
However, it counted for nothing as victory was awarded to Handy Cross Runners' Trevor Hunter, who completed the 26.2-mile course in 2.37.05.
Hailes was next in 2.39.58, with Wootton Road Runners' Michael Aldridge, who clocked 2.40.50, promoted to third.
Fourth spot went to Abingdon Amblers' Paul Fernandez, who ran a measured race to finish in 2.41.54.
Headington Road Runners' Gerry Smith's 12th place in 2.49.06 made him the first home in the men's veteran 50-59 category.
Top 20 finishes were also posted by Headington's Mark Richards, who was 16th in 2.50.21, and Oxford City's Trevor Dixon, who came 19th in 2.50.48.
First woman home was Ranelagh Harriers' Marie Synnott-Wells, who finished 49th of the 681 finishers in 2.58.50.
RESULTS (Top 50) 1 T Hunter (Handy Cross) 2.37.05, 2 P Hailes (Witney) 2.39.58, 3 M Aldridge (Wootton) 2.40.50, 4 P Fernandez (Abingdon) 2.41.54, 5 B Bingham (Loftus) (V40) 2.42.57, 6 M Lane (Ranelagh) (V40) 2.44.12, 7 C Dixon (unattached) (V40) 2.46.29, 8 S Davies (Mansfield) (V40) 2.46.35, 9 G North (Barrow) (V40) 2.46.40, 10 C Jordan (Hinckley) 2.46.54, 11 C Mattocks (Wootton) 2.48.42, 12 G Smith (Headington) (V50) 2.49.06, 13 J Collins (Boxhill) 2.49.26, 14 I Paramore (Barrow) (V40) 2.49.30, 15 P Hay (unattached) 2.49.42, 16 M Richards (Headington) (V40) 2.50.21, 17 R Shute (Reading) 2.50.31, 18 N Jeffs (Bracknell) 2.50.44, 19 T Dixon (Oxford City) (V40) 2.50.48, 20 M Bridgeland (Chelmsford) (V40) 2.50.53, 21 R Wilson (Greenock Glenpark) (V50) 2.51.07, 22 J Crowther (Holme Pierrepont) (V40) 2.51.10, 23 R Gurd (100 Marahton Club) (V40) 2.51.31, 24 E Parsley (Midland Masters) (V40) 2.51.37, 25 D Brisco (Army) (V50) 2.52.09, 26 J Armstrong (London Heathside), 27 D Worcester (Chichester) (V50) 25.3.07, 28 C Pearson (unattached) 2.53.53, 29 A Karagic (Horsforth) (V40) 2.54.07, 30 R Corsini (Darwen) (V40) 2.54.16, 31 D Blackman (Southampton) 2.54.35, 32 L Tolhurst (Overton) 2.54.37, 33 M Parry (Crawley) (V40) 2.54.58, 34 M Gooding (Reading) (V40) 2.54.59, 35 R O'Sullivan (Amber Valley) 2.55.08, 36 D Parkins (Wootton) (V40) 2.55.31, 37 D Tame (Hook Norton) 2.55.48, 38 P Reynolds (Field Hospital) 2.55.59, 39 P Bowden (Witney) (V40) 2.56.05, 40 J Mason (Wootton) 2.56.24, 41 A Kearns (Exmouth) 2.56.39, 42 I Meadowcroft (Headington) (V40) 2.56.48, 43 R Ellis (Langport) 2.56.50, 44 S Rankine (Worthing) 2.56.57, 45 D Roberts (unattached) 2.57.31, 46 I Hazell (Wootton) 2.58.09, 47 L Hill (Dumfries) (V40) 2.58.24, 48 G Tracey (unattached) 2.58.32, 49 M Synnott-Wells (Ranelagh) (LV35) 2.58.50, 50 M Firouzi (Overton) 2.58.31.
C Paton (British Army) was first across theline, but was disqualified because he failed to officially enter the race. All runners were subsequently promoted one place.
OTHER CLUB RESULTS Abingdon Amblers: 329 H Smith (LV35) 3.40.56, 330 A Church (V40) 3.40.56, 345 J-L Coudret (Abingdon) (V40) 3.43.00, 397 P Pichler 3.50.50 Alchester RC: 379 M Clay 3.47.53.
Banbury Harriers: 156 R Haddrell (V40) 3.19.35.
Cherwell Runners:305 C Evans (V70) 3.37.58, 594 M French (V40) 4.31.03.
Didcot Runners: 646 D Coolbear (V60) 4.57.04.
Eynsham Roadrunners: 183 L Poole (V60) 3.23.01, 553 J Kavanagh (LV45) 4.17.32.
Headington Road Runners: 97 C Nellins (V50) 3.08.48, 139 Y Fitsakis 3.16.21, 148 G Bird (V40) 3.17.51, 273 G Hudson (V40) 3.33.23, 318 C Slator (V40) 3.39.48, 322 E Flouri (L) 3.40.11, 331 N Meston (LV35) 3.41.04, 350 F Bailey (V40) 3.43.42, 352 R Treadwell 3.43.54, 398 M-A Fischer (LV45) 3.50.58, 427 P Read (V40) 3.54.39, 450 H Nickau (V40) 3.56.43.
Oxford City: 381 P Grimsdale (V50) 3.48.11.
Oxford University Press: 494 E Thompson (L) 4.04.52, 509 S Strachan (LV35) 4.07.50.
Radley: 478 T Loyd (V40) 4.01.11.
Witney Road Runners: 61 L Boden (V40) 3.00.21, 184 T Redhead 3.23.12, 290 A Giles 3.34.55.
White Horse Harriers: 500 P Casey (V40) 4.06.12, 635 J Smeddle (V40) 4.46.18.
Woodstock Harriers: 93 M Townsend (V40) 3.07.53, 122 K Fowler (V40) 3.14.03, 142 J Ashworth 3.16.35, 200 P Brackett (V40) 3.24.44.
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