Phil Hails was celebrating after he landed the Oxfordshire title at the White Horse Half Marathon in Grove.

Although Hails had to settle for third place in the open race, he led the way for county honours, landing the senior and overall men's titles.

To cap a great day for the west Oxfordshire club, Witney's men's and women's team both retained the titles they won last year.

Hails was pipped into third place in a sprint finish, but the two athletes in front of him were not Oxfordshire-registered.

The conditions were not favourable for long-distance running, with a cold and blustery wind along the whole course.

But Hails produced a powerful run, calling on his reserves of stamina to cross the line in 1hr 15mins 15secs.

The open race was won by Epsom & Ewell Harrier Phil Sanger, who triumphed by almost a minute, crossing the line in 1.14.20.

Alchester's Nigel Marley held off Hails in a sprint finish for second place, clocking 1.15.14, but the Oxfordshire title went to Hails.

It was a hugely successful day for Witney, with several other titles going back to west Oxfordshire.

Tony Lock finished fourth overall and first vet 40 in the open race and county championship.

Lazloe Boden (3rd vet 40) and Jean-Marcs Briens (17th senior man) helped Witney retain their team title.

They were followed home by Woodstock Harriers and Headington Roadrunners in both open and county categories.

Meanwhile, John Abrams proved age is no barrier as he finished first in the vet 70 category in the open race, and also won the county title.

Elsewhere, David Parsons (Oxford City) posted a time of 1.24.58, knocking more than two minutes off the course record to win the vet 60 crown, while Woodstock Harriers' Bryan Vaughan lifted the vet 50 honours, crossing the line in 1.21.15.

The women's race was led home by Kidlington's Sophie Dawson, who clocked 1.25.51 to land the senior women's county championship.

Witney's Nicola Gomm was second lady home, securing the vet 45 title in both the county and open race.

Her time smashed the previous course record her her age group by more than six minutes as she clocked 1.26.33.

Sally Pitts was third, and with Gloria Rayner finishing second in the vet 35 category in the county championship, Witney's ladies emulated the men by retaining their title.

Headington Roadrunners finished second, with Spa Striders in third.

Alchester took team bronze in the county championship.

The host club, White Horse Harriers, also enjoyed some success, with Lucia Singer picking up gold in the vet 35 ladies' county category, finishing in 1.38.26.

RESULTS (top 50, senior men unless stated) 1 P Sander (Epsom & Ewell) 1.14.20, 2 N Marley (Alchester) 1.15.14, 3 P Hails (Witney RR) 1.15.15, 4 T Lock (Witney RR, V40) 1.15.36, 5 V Zverev (Headington RR, V40) 1.16.41, 6 S Pritchard (Banbury H) 1.16.43, 7 D Randall (Cheltenham, V40) 1.17.51, 8 B O'Connor (Woodstock H) 1.19.38, 9 J Bolton (Woodstock H) 1.19.38, 10 J Reburn (unattached) 1.19.52, 11 I Gladwell (West End, V40) 1.19.58, 12 S Pye (Amazing Feet) 1.20.07, 13 R Beaumont (Abingdon) 1.20.22, 14 B Vaughan (Woodstock H, V50) 1.21.15, 15 L Boden (Witney RR, V40) 1.21.21, 16 C Jordan (Hinckley) 1.22.10, 17 J-M Briens (Witney RR) 1.22.32, 18 G Fisher (unattached, V40) 1.22.54, 19 M Sheppherd (Team Kennet) 1.23.02, 20 M de Gobbi (Headington RR) 1.23.10, 21 S Matthews (Long Eaton) 1.23.49, 22 D Tame (Hook Norton ) 1.23.53, 23 R Gould (Alchester) 1.24.00, 24 E Mezzetti (Oxford C) 1.24.09, 25 M Simms (unattached) 1.24.11, 26 M Townsend (Woodstock H, V40) 1.24.14, 27 P Gilder (Swindon Striders) 1.24.18, 28 R Treadwell (Oxford C, V50) 1.24.26, 29 K Adams (Woodstock H) 1.24.28, 30 J Stewart (Woodstock H) 1.24.31, 31 G Clench (Alchester, V40) 1.24.35, 32 A Pike (Woodstock H) 1.24.48, 33 D Parsons (Oxford C, V60) 1.24.58, 34 P Godwin (Headington RR) 1.25.12, 35 M Kerrigan (unattached) 1.25.16, 36 K Fowler (Woodstock H, V40) 1.25.29, 37 R Skilbeck (Headington RR) 1.25.37, 38 P Coles (Marlborough) 1.25.41, 39 S Jones (unattached) 1.25.49, 40 S Dawson (Kidlington, SL) 1.25.51, 41 C Birch (Oxford C, V40) 1.26.11, 42 P Bradley (Maidenhead, V40) 1.26.25, 43 N Gomm (LV45) 1.26.33, 44 A Tyler (unattached) 1.26.39, 45 J Harvey (Abingdon, V40) 1.26.52, 46 M Sas (Swindon H) 1.26.53, 47 A El-Sour (Spa Striders) 1.27.06, 48 G Bird (Headington RR, V40) 1.27.13, 49 R Schofield (Abingdon, V50) 1.27.15, 50 G Rennie (Reading RR) 1.27.16.

COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP INDIVIDUAL PRIZES Overall men: P Hails (Witney RR).

Senior men: 1 P Hails (Witney RR), 2 S Pritchard (Banbury H), 3 B O'Connor (Woodstock H).

Vet 40 men: 1 T Lock (Witney RR) 1.15.36, 2 V Zverev (Headington RR), 3 B O'Connor (Woodstock H).

Vet 50 men: 1 B Vaughan (Woodstock H), 2 R Treadwell (Oxford C), 3 R Schofield (Abingdon).

Vet 60 men: 1 D Parsons (Oxford C), 2 M Worthington (Headington RR) 1.28.08, 3 R Langton (Oxford C) 1.33.38.

Vet 70 men: J Abrams (Witney RR) 1.59.15.

Overall ladies: S Dawson (Kidlington).

Senior ladies: 1 S Dawson (Kidlington), 2 R Elliott (unattached), 3 F Burge (Headington RR) 1.28.44.

Vet 35 ladies: 1 L Singer (WHH) 1.38.26, 2 G Rayner (Witney RR) 1.39.26, 3 A James (Headington RR) 1.44.27.

Vet 45 ladies: 1 N Gomm (Witney RR), 2 S Pitts (Witney RR), 3 B Hickman (unattached) 1.39.24.

Vet 55 ladies: 1 D Hailey (Hook Norton) 1.52.54.

TEAM PRIZES Senior men: 1 Witney RR 39pts, 2 Woodstock H 57, 3 Headington RR 96.

Senior ladies: 1 Witney RR 292pts, 2 Headington RR 321, 3 Alchester 487.

OTHER CLUB RESULTS Eynsham RR; T Siret (LV35) 1.58.56, J Kavanagh (LV45) 2.01.52.

Headington RR: M Worthington (V60) 1.28.08, F Burge (SL) 1.28.44pb, S Howard (SL) 1.32.14pb, M Biglin (V40) 1.32.59, A Turner 1.33.27, I Smith (V40) 1.34.34, N Andrews 1.37.18, G Hudson (V40) 1.38.23, A Elkirate (V50) 1.39.05, M-A Fischer (LV45) 1.42.23, G Norris (V50) 1.44.33, S Cowls (V40) 1.44.54, I Kelly (LV35) 1.45.46, M Johnson (V40) 1.46.11, E Armitage (SL) 1.48.39, I Matthews (LV45) 1.49.36, C Warwick (LV35) 1.52.02, F Bailey (V40) 1.13.41, J Maxted (V50) 1.57.21, B De Martino (LV55) 2.04.38, F Josephs (V60) 2.15.49, C Metcalfe (SL) 2.15.50, M O'Sullivan (LV55) 2.16.15, R Logan (V40) 2.17.28, A Chevassut (LV45) 2.17.51, S Doel (LV55) 2.21.12.

Kidlington: J Moss 1.27.40, C Moore 1.38.58, W Bunce (V50) 1.39.41, M Search (V50) 1.43.04, A Finnigan (SL) 1.43.06.

Witney RR: A Reynolds 1.28.20pb, K Chard 1.30.57, G Hunter 1.39.29pb, S Martin 1.42.42pb, C King 1.43.05, M Duffield 1.49.17, S Haggett 1.50.14, I Fowler 1.56.15, E Hunter 2.03.14, A Pearson 2.06.00, S Pearson 2.23.52.

Woodstock H: S Howell (V40) 1.31.53, T Maddison 1.36.01, J Gibson (SL) 1.36.02, G Howell (LV45) 1.47.19.