Running the OAR?!!
As the Welcome page states we set out to produce a walking route that gave good views around the Vale of Aylesbury. Imagine our surprise when we received the following email from Tom Chalk:
As an ultra marathon runner I have run most of the footpaths within a couple of hours of my home in Chinnor. Training can get rather boring running the same old footpaths so I was excited to find the map of the Outer Aylesbury ring on your website. Having run the original Aylesbury ring many times in the past I looked forward to a similarly well signposted path to train on in preparation for my attempt at the Thames Ring 250 mile race in July (250 miles non stop along the Thames, Grand Union and Oxford Canals) . Unfortunately the day I chose for the OAR training run was one of the wettest of the year so far, raining constantly all day! Not having an OS map, I was relying on following the signs. I found the OAR to be on the whole very well signed and some of the scenery very beautiful even in the rain! It took me 11 hours to complete the whole way round.
In July (2013) I am attempting to run the 250 miles non stop to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. A good friend of mine has to endure this horrible condition everyday and so any sponsorship is greatly received at www.virginmoneygiving.com/tomchalk
Roy and Stephen cheer on Tom on a training run
Please do follow the above link to support Tom and this very worthwhile cause. We will ask Tom to let us know how he gets on with both the run and the fund raising.
OAR sub committee
More Updates from Tom
Update from Tom (2013): Just to let you know that I finished the Thames Ring in 76 hours 14 minutes in third place of thirty starters. The last 18 mile section was particularly tough given the heat and an injury to my achilles which meant I could barely manage a shuffle.Apart from nursing my swollen and blistered feet I survived no sleep for four days remarkably unscathed! Tom has raised over £2,000 for his charity
January 2018 - Tom ran the Aylesbury Ring in 5 hours (and a bit)!
April 2021 - Tom ran the Bernwood Jubilee Way non stop, completing the 61 miles in 10:36. Like the OAR he found it to be a great route through some lovely scenery, very well signposted on the whole and would recommend it.