THE starting gun has been fired on plans for a race which could see up to 10,000 people pounding Oxford’s streets.

The Oxford Half Marathon, which organisers hope will eventually attract similar numbers to the popular Reading Half Marathon, will also raise tens of thousands of pounds for children’s hospice Helen and Douglas House, in Magdalen Road.

The website for the new event goes live tomorrow and people will be able to sign up to take part in the race on Sunday, September 25.

The aim is to attract 3,000 in this year and 10,000 by 2012, making it Oxford’s biggest sporting fixture.

It is not the city’s first half marathon – Oxford’s Rotary clubs organised an event which attracted between 1,000 and 3,000 runners annually from 1988 to 1993.

Organisers Andy Heyes and David Box focused on Oxford as a potential race location 18 months ago.

Mr Heyes said: “We had a vision of staging a major city half marathon and Oxford is such an iconic city with a strong sporting background.

“We do not want to rival events like Reading, we want to match them.”

The run will start and end at the Kassam Stadium on a route which takes in parts of the city centre, as well as going through the grounds of the Cowley Mini Plant, which is the race’s main sponsor.

It is on the same day as the Windsor Half Marathon, for which places have already sold out, and London’s Run to the Beat half marathon, but Mr Heyes was confident there was demand and said finances were in place.

He added: “We wanted to support a local charity and we looked at Helen and Douglas House and were just blown away. We want to raise awareness as well as money for them.”

Entry costs £20-22, with part of the fee going to the hospice along with runners’ individual sponsorship.

Hospice head of fundraising Jo Mitchell anticipated it would bring in £10,000 to the charity’s coffers in the first year, rising to £30-40,000 in subsequent years.

She said: “These half marathons are great avenues of fundraising and as this isn’t a one-off, but a regular event in the calendar, it will be fantastic for us.”

Runner Ed Byard, from Long Wittenham, said: “It is ambitious to try and match Reading, but Oxford is a beautiful city and I think they should be very successful.”

fbardsley@oxfordmail.co.uk

Go to http://www.oxfordhalfmarathon.co.uk/ for full details and online entries.