ABOUT 400 children and adults competed in this year’s Hairy Legs sporting challenge in Goring.
The event, which started and finished at Sheepcot Field, off Gatehampton Road, involved cross-country obstacle races.
Adults took part in the main race while teenagers entered Teenage Kicks. Both involved two laps of the 6km course.
The runners had to climb over hay bales and scramble over cargo netting while following public footpaths through the countryside around the village.
Click here to see more photographs of the 'athletes' and the costumes.
Meanwhile, younger children competed in Little Legs, a shorter race which finished with a run through a corridor of foam. They were led round by Harry Rose, 17, the son of joint organiser Phil Rose, dressed in a panda costume.
Harry went on to win Teenage Kicks while Little Legs was won by Alex Darbishire (years 4 to 6), of Reading Road, Goring, and James Hilton (years 1 to 3).Â
Chris Lucas, from South Stoke, was the first man to finish the main race for the second year running while the first woman was Tara McInnes, from Streatley.
In the “old crumblies” section for over-50s, the first man was Andrew Stanton and the first woman was Goring resident Becca McKenzie, who has competed in every Hairy Legs challenge since it began in 2002. Some runners wore fancy dress. Jules Hopkinson, of Gatehampton Road, was dressed as Freddie Mercury while fellow villagers Leslie Best and Robert Scurr ran as Princess Leia and a stormtrooper from
Star Wars. Organisers hope to have raised about £1,000 towards sports projects at Goring and Streatley primary schools.
Mr Rose said: “I’m delighted with how it went. Our purpose is simply to put on a great day for the community and when you look at how busy it was I think it’s safe to say we achieved that.
“Many people have said it’s one of their favourite events in the village calendar.”
