THE winners of a fancy-dress costume aimed at turning Oxford orange have been announced.

For the first time, organisers of the Oxford Mail-backed Oxford Town and Gown 10k race ran a competition for the best costume for the race on May 12.

The race was in aid of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, which has orange for its charity colours – so the theme for the competition was, of course, orange.

Winners were Bertie 23, a Devon-based group of runners who ran in memory of their friend, Bertie Brookman, who died of limb girdle muscular dystrophy in 2010, aged 23.

They decided to dress in full-body tangerine-coloured Lycra “morph” outfits.

Toya Champ, challenge events manager for the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, said: “We were impressed with the creativity of the entries, but our winners really stood out by making the most of our colour theme.

“We would like to say a big thank you to all those who took part and helped us to turn Oxford orange for the day.”

The team comprised Lisa Watson, Rob Tupman, Rich Moore, Nick Watson, Matt Cranfield and Joe Venton.

The runners up for the adult contest were a team from St John’s College, Oxford: Leigh Paton, Gareth Wilkes, Gareth Watson, Jack Weston, David Wray, Ruth Evans, Siobhan Barnard, Jess Lees and Alex Harries who came in a selection of costumes.

The junior winners were the Orangettes: Rebecca Kelly, Rita Vardanyan, Megan White, Charleigh Staff, Amy Jones, Caitlin Ames and Ailis Prentice. A final runner up was Ryan Vale and his running team from Run With Me UK, Heather Smith, Reuben Smith and Paul Salmon.

The group were chosen thanks to the action shot of the team running alongside Ryan, 19, in his wheelchair.

Ryan, 19, from Swindon, has a series of conditions including developmental delay, epilepsy and autism.

Each wins a Town and Gown Crown cup for their efforts, as well as getting their picture published in the Oxford Mail.

The charity has broken its target of raising £112,000 at this year’s event.