I was suprised to hear that five men were going for the world record at the Abingdon Marathon this year …

At about five miles into the race, as they came past the Market Place, the leaders were already spread out, and Paul Fernandez from Abingdon Amblers was in second place. No Kenyans were with him.

It turned out the five were trying to beat the world record for running together connected. There are points along the course where runners get a good cheer. One is at the Market Place.

Another is at the corner of Preston Road where spectators can see the runners on three occasions.

Paul Fernandez was in second place for most of the race but within the last couple of miles overtook the leader and came in to win with a time of 2:32. First time I remember an Abingdon runner winning the Abingdon Marathon.

The winning lady was number 60, Liz Hartney, from Reading Road Runners, who broke the course record in the womens race.

There were over a thousand others runners taking part, runners of all standards, and they all had to run past the mural showing the Abingdon Marathon on the underpass where there is about two miles to go.

The video shows Paul Fernandez running up to Tilsley Park with 400 meters to go, and then the five connected runners breaking the world record.