| Chairman’s Update Traditionally these months are quiet ones for anyone involved in running the club. Athletes are getting back to their winter training, competitions are more occasional, and the weather and long nights mean that it is not possible to do as much work at the track. And I am happy to report that so far this autumn many of our committee members have been able to take a deep breath and enjoy a bit of a track break themselves. However, the club remains active, with our cross country teams enjoying their best start to the season for many a year. Our seniors sit on top of the Oxfordshire Cross Country League after the first Round races and our juniors are in medal positions in all age groups. In the Chiltern League, following promotion from Division 2, our teams are showing up extremely well in 5th position overall, higher than we have been for many seasons, and close behind the titans of cross country running Milton Keynes, Chiltern Harriers, St Albans and Bedford and County. A number of our veteran athletes have recently returned from Madeira where they took part in the European Masters Championships – hopefully there will be a full report in this Newsletter. The club has just hosted a successful match for the Chiltern League, featuring 30 clubs and over 1300 athletes. In December we will host the Oxfordshire Cross Country League Round 2 match and in January we will host Round 3 combined with the County Championships. Please get in touch if you wish to participate as a runner or would like to volunteer as part of the hosting team. Richard Hart, November 20th 2025 ———————————– Cross Country As a club we have made an impressive start in both Cross Country Leagues with a big turnout and some fantastic performances.The Oxfordshire XC League campaign started at a sunny Cornbury Park on November 2nd. 38 senior/u20s navigated the grueling course with both Men’s teams (Jonathan Davies, Harry Cann, Duncan Lawrence, George Potter, Florian Belbeoch, Will Potts and Maxwell Robinson) and Women’s teams (Gemma Bridge, Melissa Hawtin, Lauren Hawtin, Laura Fenwick) finishing top overall.Gemma Bridge took 1st place in the women’s race with Jonathan Davies 2nd in the Men’s. U20s Harry Cann, Will Potts and Emily Channon all joined the senior ranks for the first time with XC OCAC senior debuts for Ross Finlay, Prezmek Nowakowski, Jess Buck and Faye Selby.The Quadkids stole the show in the junior races, where the top 3 athletes from each club score for the team. Our U9 girls team (Vika Hardy, Sophie Leach, Sophie Mumme-Young) finished 1st, U9 boys (Leon Nowakowski, Henry O-Donnell, Jesse Kentish) were 2nd, U11 girls (Alice Mumme-Young, Isobel Leach, Harriet Hirst-Sewell) were 2nd and U11 boys (Rorke Rowlett, Joseph Conway, Edward Campbell) were also in 2nd place. Amelie Lorimer finished in 1st place in the U17 Women’s race also leading the team (with Sylvie Kentish and Amber Machenzie) into first position. The fantastic XC turnout continued at Horspath for the 2nd Chiltern League fixture on November 15th. 40 Senior and 25 Junior athletes helping the club climb to 5th in Division 1 overall with the men’s and women’s teams finishing 3rd and 2nd, the Veteran women finishing 1st, and both the U20 men combined u17/u20 women finishing 2nd.Ben Crowther, Stephanie Giles, Katy Tuncer, Servane Wentzel, Claudia Griffell and Olivia Wentzel all donned the OCAC vest for the first time in XC and U20 Peter Fleming made the step up to join the senior ranks. Finally, congratulations to the 18 junior OCAC athletes who have been selected to run for Oxfordshire at the end of November- good luck and enjoy the race! Sarah Davies amd John Kentish     ———————————– Youth Age Groups GB Selection for Obstacle Course Racing Congratulations to Ariana Davis, one of our Quad Kid athletes who has been selected for the GB squad for the OCR European and world championships in 2026.OCR is an obstacle running sport. Ariana took part in her first season of competitive obstacle racing this year, having participated just for fun previously. As a result of finishing on the podium at a qualifying Spartan race last month, Ariana has been selected to represent Britain at both the European and World Obstacle Racing Championships next year. Sportshall Congratulations to all those who participated at Sportshall Round 1 Witney. The results are in and summarised as follows : U11 Boys – 1st 🥇 Girls – 4th 👏 U13 Boys – 4th 👏 Girls – 1st 🥇 U15 Boys – 3rd 🥉 Girls – 1st 🥇 Congratulations for the following athletes for winning the listed event sections: Kareem Bryan 13.50 1 Lap 🔥 Maya Anane 13.20 1 Lap & 3 Lap 🔥🔥 Sameera Abubaker 5.84 Triple Jump 🔥 Anna F-Nagy 46cm Vertical Jump 🔥 Emerald Lewisman 55.1 4 Lap 🔥 Grace McCulloch 7.73 Shot 🔥 Round 2 November 23rd Witney, availability request to follow. Please get involved and represent your club. Your team needs you. Let’s go Oxford City 🏃♀🏃👏 Oxfordshire Track and Field League Congratulations to every athlete that took part in the League this Summer. Trophies for the Summer League have been received for: Overall Girls Team 2025 U17 Girls Team 2025 U9 Boys Team Let’s train hard this Winter and aim for continued success next Summer! ———————————– OCAC Academy Jack Frost is biting! Winter training has begun! Now that we’re truly moving into the cold weather season, rest assured there is no such thing as too many layers. Your coach will thank you if you come to track wearing multiple layers on both top and bottom. If you get hot it is best to remove a layer, rather than not have the option, so dress warm. When you get hot, take it off, but between reps put it back on and fight off the chance of cold and injury. I know, I know, “I am hot coach”. You might be hot for a moment, but we know how quickly that cold will bite through the skin and chill muscles. Cold muscles is a rapid way to injure yourself, so again, wrap up warm. Coaches moan over. Recruitment Winter is a doubly exciting time, not only is our training new and exciting but our club is readying to take on new recruits. If you have friends, neighbours or family who would like to join OCAC, we are ready to start tasters for newcomers now. Please reach out to our club admin for more details. Also, we are on the hunt for some eager juniors to start their coaching journey. If you love being on track and you would like to assist with coaching a junior track group, please reach out to Coach Walker, bryan.walker@oxfordcityac.com. ———————————– News AGM Our AGM was on Thursday 20th November. If you would like to become more involved and join the Committee please get in touch. Great interview with Jade O’Dowda here: Jade O’Dowda speaks on Paris and career so far in interview  ———————————– Results blast Links to results from selected events over the past week. Oxford Park Run Bicester Parkrun Harcourt Hill Park Run University Parks Park Run Chiltern CCL, Round 2 Horspath Wendover Woods 50 Miles Fulham 10K GO SEOA Middle Champs, Binton Woods Gosport Half Marathon Rugged Radnage 5K & 10K Tempo Winter Series , Race 2 Ilmington Woodstock 12 And here is the Club Power of 10 Link ———————————– Any Other Business Lost property, there are lots of items at the club, if you have misplaced anything please come and check. Items must be claimed by Christmas or they will be disposed of.It is the 80th anniversary of the club next year. The Committee is open to ideas as to how to celebrate this, so please get in touch with your thoughts. If you would like to submit content to the Newsletter or highlight a great performance or contribution please send an email to Toby |