10K Success – Despite Bullying Driver Hazard

WITH over 700 entries, 2006 saw one of the biggest ever Thame 10K road races, marred only slightly by one entrant collapsing short of the finish and an impatient driver creating challenges for a steward.
The young runner was helped by therapy staff from The Practice and assisted over the finishing line.
An eye witness to the ugly incident on the Thame by-pass, Norman Brand, made the following comments:
“Congratulations to the stewards of the Thame Road Race for their courteous supervision of the traffic and hundreds of runners at the Towersey Road/by pass junction on Sunday. And shame on the bullying motorist who overtook several patient, stationary cars and slowly forced his way past a woman steward who had the anxious task of looking out for competitors and at the same time avoiding being mown down. This driver called out: ‘We’ve got people waiting for us.’ He must have had tremendous faith in the road system if he did not plan the possibility of a short delay into his journey. He might have encountered a traffic jam, for instance. The woman steward acted with great presence of mind, not to mention bravery. Perhaps a suitable penance would be for the driver to encounter her socially some time: at a parents’ evening maybe, or the National Trust, or a hospital waiting room: better still, the dentist’s. Where would he put himself?

Full times and placing on Thame Runners’ website:
Link

Photo By Rob Wheal, Thame