STEVE Male's superior stamina came to the fore as he edged to a thrilling victory at the Maylarch Eynsham 10K.

In perfect conditions for distance running on Sunday, Oxford City's Vet 40 runner set a steady pace throughout, but had to rely on his staying power as he held off a strong challenge from Windsor, Slough & Eton's Andrew Gardiner to cross the line just a few strides in front.

At the halfway mark, Male was neck-and-neck with last year's winner, Gardiner, closely followed by Headington's Vasili Zverev, Cheltenham's Andrew Prophett and Windsor, Slough & Eton's Steve Kimber.

However, Male then pulled away to cross the line in 31mins 57secs, with Gardner finishing in 32.00 and Prophett 32.43.

There was an even closer finish in the Vet 60 race, where Oxford City's Dickie Langton just held off the challenge of his clubmate Phil Kimber to take first place.

Langton crossed the line in 41.00, with Kimber just two seconds adrift.

Witney Roadrunner Nikki Slater was the star of the show in the senior ladies' race as she stormed to victory.

Slater was always in control, finishing more than a minute ahead of her nearest challenger, Telford's Kim Green, to take the gold medal in 35.49.

Slater joined up with Sally Pitts and Gloria Raynor to take third in the ladies' team race, Pitts clocking 43.48 to claim the bronze medal position in the Vet 40 race and Raynor crossing the line in 46.34.

There was also considerable success for the host club, with Eynsham Roadrunner Kate Williamson winning the Vet 55 ladies' race in 45.09 to secure the county title over the distance.

Sheila Gascoigne clocked 45.21 to finish second in the LV45 category and first in the county championship.

The main race was accompanied by a one-mile run run, aimed at juniors not old enough to take part in the full 10km race.

George Reynolds won the boys' race, with Katherine Smith victorious in the girls' event. RESULTS CHECK MAYLARCH EYNSHAM 10K

OPEN RESULTS

(top 50)

1 S Male (Oxford C) 31.57, 2 A Gardiner (WSE) 32.00, 3 A Prophett (Cheltenham) 32.43, 4 V Zverev (Headington RR) 32.58, 5 S Kimber (WSE) 33.27, 6 R Forsbrook (Cheltenham) 33.34, 7 D Jordan (Cheltenham) 33.36, 8 D Merckel (Oxford C) 33.40, 9 G Harris (Headington RR) 33.54, 10 T Lock (Witney RR) 34.03, 11 P Egerton (Abingdon) 34.05, 12 T Hunn (Woodstock H) 34.06, 13 R Mullins (unattached) 34.13, 14 T Laver (Reading RR) 34.14, 15 T Wright (Banbury H) 34.37, 16 J Atyeo (Witney RR) 34.38, 17 S Mead (Woodstock H) 34.41, 18 P Vallance (Alchester) 34.46, 19 S Hands (Headington RR) 34.48, 20 S Bond (Reading) 35.03, 21 M Powell (Headington RR) 35.10, 22 B Vaughan (Woodstock H) 35.16, 23 K Smith (Swindon H) 35.17, 24 A Lockey (Bourton RR) 35.19, 25 R Beaumont (Woodstock H) 35.20, 26 M Tankard (Oxford C) 35.26, 27 R Bradley (Woodstock H) 35.30, 28 B O'Connor (Woodstock BH) 35.32, 29 M Hailey (Hook Norton) 35.33pb, 30 T Duffin (Stubbington Green) 35.34, 31 D Wheeler (Oxford C) 35.36, 32 M Proven (Reading) 35.37, 33 N Slater (Witney RR) 35.49, 34 L Boden (Witney RR) 35.52, 35 M Baillie (Witney RR) 35.59, 36 F Fulcher (unattached) 36.02, 37 D Hartwell (Oxford C) 36.10, 38 R Linnell (Woodstock H) 36.16, 39 A Burgess (Oxford C) 36.21, 40 J Elliott (Oxford Uni Tri Club) 36.40, 41 P Swanton (unattached) 36.43, 42 C Bedford (unattached) 36.43, 43 M Fray (Compton H) 36.53, 44 K Green (Telford) 36.54, 45 R Browne (Headington RR) 37.05, 46 C Colbeck (Headington RR) 37.06, 47 L Hartney (Reading RR) 37.11, 48 L Witham (Reading RR) 37.16, 49 R Edwards (Bourton RR) 37.24, 50 P Kennedy (WSE) 37.25.

OTHER LOCAL

CLUB TIMES

Abingdon Amblers: S Cartwright 37.29, T Greenland 39.25, P Stepney 40.53, S Twinn 43.28, A Marrison 43.39, A Church 45.21, H Smith 45.27, B Wheat 46.04, D Berger 46.17, D Roberts 46.35, S Mead 46.55, A Garner 47.36, E North 49.06, P Wilson 49.13, E Wheat 49.58, N Blatchford 55.05, S Turner 58.04, D King 59.14, D Daphne 1.02.00.

Alchester: C Bennett 39.09, J Burgess 39.16, J Pyper 40.00, G Clench 40.22, A Whitehead 40.31, M Lane 40.44, P Chivers 42.10, A Hines 42.26, S Howard 42.54, W Hunter 45.58pb, T Christie 46.55, N Lambert 47.29, N Cherry 47.37, R Clench 1.05.06.

Eynsham RR: L Parry-Jones (SL) 44.48, K Williamson (1st LV55 and county champion) 45.09, S Gascoigne (2nd LV45 and 1st County Championship) 45.21.

Headington RR: L Hurman (V50) 37.39, A Hist (LV35) 38.12, C Nellins (V50) 38.18, R Skilbeck 38.32pb, D Moore (SL) 39.12pb, M Hirst (V40) 40.51, A Jeffrey 40.52, J McLaughlin 41.06, I Smith (V40) 41.17, S Johnson 41.32, M Taylor (V50) 41.53, S Howard (SL) 41.57, K Byrne (V50) 42.37, R Green (V50) 42.41, A Hopkins (SL) 42.49pb, C James 43.49, T Mean 44.23, D Philps 45.30, A James (LV35) 46.06, N Dajda 46.10, M Johnson (V40) 46.30, A Moore (V50) 46.58, T Ganado-Leone 47.05, A Barry (LV35) 47.21, M Yeats 47.26, M Stone (V50) 47.37, A Munday (V40) 47.50, M Herworth (LV35) 49.26, P Brame 50.09, K Villiers (V60) 50.45, C Milne (LV35) 52.07, G Day (V40) 52.21, C Messervy (SL) 53.14, N Myers (V60) 55.24, E Fleckney (SL) 55.51, B DeMartino (LV55) 56.44, S Doel (LV55) 1.00.27, G White (V40) 1.01.15.

Hook Norton: M Brown 39.23pb, S Woolly 41.58pb, D Hailey 50.55.

Kidlington: J Finnigan 39.58pb, S Dawson (SL) 40.15pb, G Cripps 41.30, W Bunce (V50) 43.39, C Mower 43.46pb, J Warnock (V50) 45.00, A Search (SL) 45.32, M Jones 46.46pb, M Search (V50) 46.40, T Langrish (V40) 47.53, G Lancaster 57.08.

Witney RR: J-M Briens 38.27pb, K Chard 39.14, G Petts 39.29, C Whitehead 39.31pb, A Giles 39.49, A Reynolds 41.15, C Miles 41.17, P Burborough 43.31, A Smith 43.34, S Pitts 43.48, J Dadd 44.01, J McCormac 45.02, A Kennedy 46.20, G Raynor 46.34, J LeGood 49.18, A Braund 49.56, J Abrams 50.21, D Slater 51.00, S Sadler 51.18, S Haggett 52.15, I Fowler 52.26, D Roberts 52.34, N Parker-Coughlin 57.24, G Adkins 57.56, T Reynolds 1.64.20, J Bennington 1.06.16, A Petts 1.06.49, K Christiensen 1.07.21, G Mitchell 1.25.15.

OTHER RESULTS

BLACKLAND DOWNS CHALLENGE

(7.5miles)

Abingdon: G Richards 48.08, M Richards 59.03.

Eynsham RR: S Taylor (V50) 59.06.