THE OXFORD Half Marathon is set to return next year after a successful race over the weekend.

Runners, joggers, and walkers gathered in their thousands on Sunday to take on 13.1 mile challenge for the first time in over a year.

This year, the race saw a much-needed return to vital fundraising that charities rely on – over the pandemic, many of these charities were left struggling as fundraising events, such as the Oxford Half, were cancelled.

Many of those participating were running for a good cause, with thousands running the race for 57 charity partners.

Julia Woodcock, who is the community fundraising manager at Helen & Douglas House Hospice, praised the 70 runners who chose to raise money for the charity.

She said: “​There is always such a fantastic atmosphere on the streets of Oxford on this day, it’s also such an important fundraising event for so many charities.

“We had around 70 runners raising money for Helen & Douglas House this year and all the money raised will make such a difference to the local terminally ill babies and children and families we support.”

Alexandra Foster decided to run her first half marathon to raise money for Oxfordshire Mind – a mental health charity take on the challenge to help raise awareness for Oxfordshire Mind, a mental health charity that seeks to offer advice and support to those with mental health problems.

The Unicorn School teacher, who ran it with her colleague Izzy, said: “We are passionate about supporting the mental health of young people we work with as well as our own staff team.

“Now more than ever, in this post-pandemic world, we are experiencing the impact of lockdown on all of us and the strain this put on mental health services both locally and nationally.

“We decided to wear unicorn headbands so our supporters would be able to spot us – it really brought a real smile to our faces, even in the toughest stretches to hear ‘Look! There’s a Unicorn!’”

Other local charities runners chose to support included Headway Oxfordshire, Sobell House, and SSNAP.

Six schools from across the county also took part in the event on Sunday as part of the ‘Oxford Schools’ Challenge’.

This meant that hundreds of children, between the ages of five and 11, ran 1.1 mile worth of the race to complete their own 13.1 mile challenge for their school.

Keen runners who are inspired to take on the challenge next year can bypass the Oxford Half Ballot 2022 by purchasing via the Limelight Sports Club Membership Platform.

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