Abingdon is a small market town in Oxfordshire that hosts a very fast marathon every year in late October. The race is almost an unknown entity but those who do run it will tell you of a beautifully crafted race that you will want to do again and again. This race is definitely for the charity runner who has taken on a big city event and wants a completely different experience.

About the race

When you arrive in Abingdon you realise you are in a very different place to the normal big charity run. When you look around the small market town in the Oxfordshire countryside you realise how lucky you are to get out of the hustle and bustle of the big city. You line up with 1000 other runners at the start in the Tilsey Park athletics stadium and prepare to get underway. You start with a lap of the athletics track and you are cheered on by friends and family as you exit and hit the great outdoors. The race takes you on a really beautiful route through countryside and along rickety roads. The main roads are not all closed to the general public so bear this in mind when you are getting into your full stride. The course really has everything, secluded footpaths, country lanes, ancient town centres and a number of other different terrains for all marathon runners to enjoy. The end of the race sees you loop around back to the Stadium you started in for the final 400 meters of the race and a cheer from a much bigger crowd which has gathered.

Fundraising

This is a small marathon event but it is a marathon all the same. If you decided to take it on for charity make sure you do yourself justice and try to raise a minimum of £1000 for your chosen charity. The average person now has 170 friends on Facebook so £5 from each of them will get you close to this target. Check out the run for charity fundraising A to Z for some great ideas to help you reach your target.

Support on race day

This is an event that sees 1000 runners so the support is definitely relative to the size of the race. The organisers do a very good job of making the start and finish feel more like a race with 5000 participants. Not a charity run at all at present but such a good run it should see the charity involvement grow, especially as the race closes very quickly.  

Training

This is a very fast marathon and if you want the chance to set a PB this is the race for you. To achieve this make sure you follow a full marathon training plan and perhaps practice a sprint finish.

Quality of race organisers

The pre race organisation is very good and you definitely feel as if they know how to treat the potential runners. On the day the race is fantastically looked after, everything runs very smoothly and they should be very proud of the event. The question would be can the event get much bigger? But the answer would probably be, does it need to! The medals are great and the goody bags and technical t-shirts almost seem to much for the amount you pay.

Run for charity event rating

To choose a charity to support in this event click here or if you already have a charity in mind click here