… Near the half-way point runners returned to Abingdon along Preston Road . Number 1075 had a good lead by this point.

Harry has a picture of the leading lady at this point on his blog, and since I have already shown her near the Wharf and the Oxford Mail has a big feature on her, here is one of the second place lady as well, Number 1127.

The race was well marshalled with lots of volunteers. Well organised by Abingdon Amblers…
They were even trialing the latest electronic gadgetry. Each runner had a chip so their exact time was transmitted to a results boards as they crossed the line. The results are available at ChipTiming.co.uk which has the winner, Number 1027, as 2:28:37. So I nearly got it right on this picture…

There were a lot of runners still to come in. This is the 25 mile point on the Wootton Road.

And here is a runner going down the underpass, next to the Abingdon Marathon Mural. (By the way that little old lady came 668th with a time of 04:47:35 – far from last.)

A minute or so before the start this little old lady was trying to mix it with the fast runners at the front – until the stewards asked her to move back.

This is the start proper.

The early leader at the four mile point was 1087.

Followed a little later by the chasing group.

387 was the first lady through, not that far behind.

Some residents of East St Helen Street brought a table and chairs outside. The race began at 9:00. So this would have been about breakfast time.

And here she is again – not doing too bad at all – at the four mile point.

To be continued…

There was a bit of a queue when we arrived this afternoon – probably peek time.

The Craft Fair is under new management this year and they were asking people as they left whether they enjoyed it etc. etc. People here seem to be enjoying it.

As in previous years we ended up buying more wine and food than craft things.

On show there was a new Craft Fair van and signs and a CraftFair website.

Half the stalls change midweek, for the second week, and on Wednesday Evening they have a Charity Gala Evening Opening – costs £2.00 – and the proceeds go to the charities : Maggies Cancer Caring Centres and Sobell House Hospice. Complimentary Wine and Mince Pies will be served.

The Alpha Courses run by the Church in Abingdon have got underway. I caught this banner outside St Nics just after the wind had torn it down. There were more Alpha banners than ever this year and an Alpha advert in the Abingdon Herald.

An Australian comedian performing in the new Didc0t cultural centre was complaining that The Didc0t Herald – That is The Abingdon Herald’s Didc0t edition – lol! –– had too much Abingdon News.

Fat Face did have these signs with Dangerously Low Prices.

And over a week ago a new shop opened. This picture was taken during the transition when Walking had become ..lking.

It is where Abingdon Outdoor Traders used to be at the top of East St Helen Street – before they moved to the High Street.

The Abingdon Bowling Centre used to be in Coxeters, then it moved to Ock Street, and now it has come to the centre of Abingdon. It may sound a very specialist shop but people do come from far and wide – possibly even from Didc0t – to get their woods and their shoes and their trolleys.

And a week or so ago a brilliant vilonist called Tod0r Nikolaev performed at St Michael’s Church and I was sent this picture of him.