Thursday 26th December 2024
VoAAC 62nd Boxing Day Race
2024 Results are here
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2024 PRE-RACE ENTRIES
Online entry
ENTRIES ON THE DAY:
Available till 9:30am
£2.00 additional cost
racesonline.uk | Chip Timing and Race Registration Services UK
09:25am Junior Race
09:45am 5K Race
Entry Fee 5K Race: £18 (affiliated) or £20 (unattached) – entries on the day £2 extra
Entry Fee Junior Race: £5
5K Max Entrants: 300 | Age Limit: 12 on race day
Junior race Max Entrants: 50 | Age Limit: 4 on race day
VoAAC Boxing Day Race Course Information & FAQ
JUNIOR RACE
THE START: 9.25am Under 12’s & accompanying parents
THE COURSE: 2 laps of a new course, which starts at the Clock Tower in Market Square and includes both Market & Kingsbury Squares. The course is still approx 800 metres and the route will be marshalled with a senior lead runner for juniors to follow. Finish will be in the High Street.
AWARD: Prize or medal to all finishers.
SAFETY: Please note that the junior race is run on a combination of public roads and footpaths. Runners should take great care if the conditions are either icy or slippery, to run on the pavements, only to cross public roads when it is safe to do so, and heed any instructions given by the Race Referee and/or Marshalls, especially at road junctions. Wearing of personal listening devises i.e. iPods is strictly prohibited and could lead to disqualification. Due to the number of sharp turns on the course, dogs are not allowed to accompany runners.
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5K RACE
THE START: (min. age 12) The 5K will start in the Market Square at 9.45am.
THE COURSE: The 5k race comprises 1 lap of the Market Square followed by 2 laps of Aylesbury Town Centre. The race will finish in the High Street. The route will be clearly marked and marshalled.
SAFETY: Please note that the race is run on a combination of public roads and footpaths. Runners should take great care if the conditions are either icy or slippery, to run on the pavements, only to cross public roads when it is safe to do so, and heed any instructions given by the Race Referee and/or Marshalls, especially at road junctions. Wearing of personal listening devises i.e. iPods is strictly prohibited and could lead to disqualification. Due to the number of sharp turns on the course, dogs are not allowed to accompany runners.
This year we are using Aylesbury Methodist Church, Buckingham Street, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire HP20 2NQ. It will be open for registration and Race number collection from 8.15am
Under UK Athletics Rules: UKA Licence 2023-46758
Certificate of Course Accuracy SEAA 23/319
Runners can leave bags in a designated area at the Race HQ at Aylesbury Methodist Church. However, this area will not be manned. All items are left entirely at the owners risk and the race organisers accept no responsibility for loss or damage..
Toilets are available at the Race HQ at Aylesbury Methodist Church.
It is hoped that Refreshments can be purchased at the Race HQ at Aylesbury Methodist Church. (TBC)
ALR Training Ltd (ALR Training & Event Medical Services) will be present at the race
Ample parking is available in the Exchange Street Car Park, Friars Square Multi Storey and Coopers Yard (in Buckingham Street). Please see the Bucks Council website at https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/parking-roads-and-transport/parking/find-a-council-car-park/ for further information.
Please note that there is a flat rate charge of £1.60 on bank holidays in many car parks.
All spectators are welcome to view the event. Please ensure that you keep clear of the runners at all times.
Updates will be provided on the club website at www.voaac.org.uk. In the unlikely event that the race needs to be cancelled, entry fees will not be refunded.
Will be published on the club’s website homepage initially at www.voaac.org.uk
Prizes
All finishers will receive a commemorative medal. Race Prizes will be presented at approximately 11.00am in the Aylesbury Methodist Church. The following prizes will be awarded:
1st Male and Female will each receive a medallion and a £50 voucher for Up & Running (Oxford)
2nd Male and Female will each receive a medallion and a £25 voucher for Up & Running (Oxford)
3rd Male and Female will each receive a medallion and a bottle of wine.
The following category winners will each receive a medallion:
Male Female
Under 13 Under 13
Under 15 Under 15
Under 17 Under 17
Vet 40 Vet 35
Vet 50 Vet 45
Vet 60 Vet 55
The 1st (First Claim) VOAAC male to finish will be awarded The Kirk Clifford Trophy.
The 1st (First Claim) VOAAC female to finish will be awarded The Ruth Allcock Trophy.
The first boy and girl in the Under 13’s race will each receive a commemorative medal.
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Results
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History of the race
The first Boxing Day race was held on the road in 1939, a handicap over about 4 ½ miles. Another was held on Boxing Day 1940, again a handicap but this time over the country. Both during wartime of course.
Boxing Day 1949 was the first post-war race as far as the Club can tell, a road handicap starting in the Market Square. No one could catch limit man Pete Keep. Age 15 (He was still living on the Bedgrove estate in 1998!).
The first non-handicap Boxing Day race has been held since 1950 and has covered several routes within the Town Centre since its inauguration. D Woods won the first race and returned as victor the following year. Throughout the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, Vale athletes competed for the J W Rouss Cup (it was last awarded in 1979). Some well known Vale runners of their day lifted the trophy they included John Collins, Rex Foulkes, Ron Gomez, Pat Ferguson, Bob Ellerton and Gordon Rimmer. In 2000 a new trophy was awarded to the first Vale runner home – the Kirk Clifford Trophy. Kirk had been a stalwart of the Club before injury and his Company had previously sponsored the race in the early years of the open era.
The race which began as a Club only event, was opened up to other enthusiastic runners in the 1980’s and 1990’s over a two loop course taking into account Walton Pond. It boasted steeplechase international Roger Hackney and Olympic swimmer turned tri-athlete Robin Brew amongst the previous winners, along with a string of wins and top three finishes by local athlete Andy Magnall. In 1996 the course measured 6.5km and included running up the High Street. A new course was introduced in 2005 making it an accurate standardised distance of 5km. The race was not held in 2010 due to a snow covered course.
The current course consists of three laps (1 large lap of 2km followed by two slightly smaller laps of 1.5km), each lap taking on the short climb up Castle Street which has been a spectacular feature over the years.
- 2019 Aylesbury Boxing Day Photos
- Boxing Day 2019 Post Race Report
- 2018 Aylesbury Boxing Day Photos
- 2017 Aylesbury Boxing Day Photos
Historical Race Records
