Oxford is a beautiful city with a lot of history. It is predominately known for having a leading University said to be the second-oldest university in the world.
The weather was miserable. Many runners sported the classic bin bag look to keep themselves dry. Those who assembled at the race village had about a 10-15 minute walk to get to the start areas.
Eventually, the start of the race got underway following the flat route that gradually weaved its way away from the centre. Despite the heavy rain, there was a satisfying amount of crowd support at the beginning and end sections of the route. The course took you past the ancient colleges, chapels and other buildings. I didn’t really take the surroundings in. Perhaps it was because of the weather…I had my headphones in my ears and was just concentrating on keeping going.
In spite of the weather, the race didn’t feel like it really dragged on. Throughout the course there were plenty of music stations to liven the atmosphere, at every mile. The goody bag was reasonable, nothing special. It contained a technical t-shirt, snack bars, a beer, eyeliner and some dry spray hair shampoo.
You can read my full blog review at http://runiversityoflife.com/oxford-half-october/