Best foot forward for OX5, urges Olympic runner Hannah (From Banbury Cake)

Best foot forward for OX5, urges Olympic runner Hannah

6:10am Saturday 9th March 2013 in News By Katriona Ormiston, Reporter. Call me on (01865) 425426

OLYMPIC runner Hannah England is calling for people to put their best fundraising foot forward for the OX5 Run tomorrow.

The ex-Cherwell School pupil and Oxford City Athletic Club runner will start the race at 10.30am at Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, with chef Raymond Blanc.

The OX5 Run raises money for the Oxford Children’s Hospital in Headington.

The 26-year-old middle distance runner reached the semi-finals of the London 2012 1,500m women’s race.

She said: “I’m absolutely delighted to be asked to help start the OX5 Run this year. It’s a brilliant event, which helps raise a lot of money for charity.

“The Oxford Children’s Hospital is a great cause and hopefully this year’s race will raise even more.”

The five-mile run, jog or walk is the hospital’s biggest fundraiser and last year raised £60,000.

Equipment bought with 2012 proceeds included a new eye scanner for babies and children and a portable ventilator to transport sick children.

In 2011 it helped pay for a chill out room for teenagers and a mobile intensive care unit.

Oxford Children’s Hospital spokesman Sarah Vaccari said: “We would like to thank the Oxfordshire community who have really got behind this year’s OX5 Run.

“With more than 1,050 runners, and Raymond Blanc and Hannah England joining us at Blenheim, it’s going to be a very special day.”

She said: “We hope that this year we will be able to do even more to help our young patients and their families during their time in hospital.

“We are very grateful to the Oxford Mail for such strong support and also Allen Associates, the event sponsors.

“You can still enter on the day if you get there early, but registration will close at 9.30am prompt, and costs £15.”

The route will take in a circular route in the historic grounds of the palace, where former Prime Minister Winston Churchill was born in 1874. Route markings and stewards will guide runners around the lake and past the Temple of Diana, where Churchill proposed to his wife.