Sir – As a former runner it always seemed a privilege to be permitted to race through town centres on a Sunday morning and it was an agreeable surprise how often we were well received and supported by the local community. But it was a privilege and not a right.

Catherine Robinson (Letters, June 30) makes some cogent points on the subject of road closures for running events and these should be clearly addressed by the city council. I would exempt the Town and Gown 10K from her strictures, it has been part of the Oxford calendar for nearly 30 years, is well organised with support from a national charity and has a clearly stated and executed charitable purpose in supporting the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign. But this event aready gives runners their day out in the city centre.

The reasons for supporting the proposed half marathon on September 25 are less clear. It will cause far more disruption than the existing events, affecting East and South Oxford in addition to the city centre and impacting on the hospitals area in Headington. Other than for tourist reasons it is not obvious why the route has to go into the city centre at all. The race is being organised by a private limited company, registered in March 2011 and based in Somerset, and this company’s connections to our area, if any, are unclear.

The race is stated to be in aid of an Oxford charity but the level of this commitment is vague. As a runner I would have found the outline proposal for the race appealing, as a local resident I would query whether the case for such disruption has been sufficiently made out.

Robert Logan, Wolvercote