TV presenter Davina McCall braved every weather as part of her 500-mile Sport Relief challenge.

And now people across Oxfordshire are being urged to follow her lead and play their part in raising money for Sport Relief.

Around 600 sprinters, joggers and walkers will be taking part in the main event, the Oxford Sport Relief Mile, which offers one mile, three-mile and six-mile races and takes place at Cutteslowe Park, on Sunday, March 23.

The last three Oxford Sport Relief Mile events have raised a total of £60,000.

Pupils at St Ebbes Primary School in Oxford are preparing to take part.

PE co-ordinator, Sue Whidborne said: “We've drawn up a map of the course and, like before, we will have the whole school taking part, from tiddlers to the big fish.

“This will involve approximately 300 children and a staff of around 40 teachers and teaching assistants and I'm going to try to get everyone running!”

The pupils of North Oxford’s Cherwell School have been performing laps of their school field on bikes, wearing flippers and in a pantomime horse costume.

PE teacher and Head of Year Seven, Neil Busby explained: “Around 1,000 pupils from across our two sites take part in our Sport Relief Mile and we have probably raised £3,000 so far.

“It’s something that everyone can get involved in and the teachers as well as the pupils have great fun coming up with fancy dress costumes and unusual ways to tackle the mile – in 2010 we even had people take part in flippers.”

Oxford Mail:

  • David Walliams at Osney Lock during his Sport Relief River Thames Swim in 2011

All the money raised by Sport Relief goes directly to Comic Relief to be given in the form of grants to charities and projects across Britain and the developing world.

From this money, 270 southern charities benefited and in Oxfordshire that has included the mental health charity Oxfordshire MIND, as well as Age UK Oxfordshire and the Base 33 Youth Trust.

230 Squadron, nicknamed The Tigers, hence the striped ‘onesies’, have been taking part in the event since it started.

And this year the Puma helicopter force based at RAF Benson are pulling the mighty 3650 Pannier locomotive at Didcot Railway Centre on March 15.

RAF Benson public relations officer Nikki Hamilton said: “I’m sure they will be going all out to make this year even more fun and to raise even more money.”

Councillor Mark Lygo, Oxford City Council’s Board Member for Sport, Parks and Events, said: “We are keen to make this year the best yet and I hope that many of us will don the trainers and give it a go.”

On Friday March 21, the BBC will also host a special night of Sport Relief TV.

  • To take part in Sport Relief this year visit www.sportrelief.com
  • Sport Relief cyclists have raised more than twice as much money as they had hoped for cycling 60 miles last weekend. Katie Rhymes lead a group of four cyclists from Oxford to Chipping Sodbury as part of Team Honk – a relay of over 150 bloggers travelling across the length of the country. The Oxford team had aimed to raise £500, but have now raised £1,032 for Sport Relief. To sponsor the Oxford Team Honk visit my.sportrelief.com/sponsor/oxfordteamhonk or text HONK to 70005 and donate £5 to Sport Relief.