EACH new year there are promises of starting a health kick and getting into shape.

And some Didcot residents fulfilled that resolution on Monday by taking on a run with a difference.

Organised by Thames Valley Orienteering Club, the Didcot Urban Run saw residents navigating Ladygrove with the help of a map and electronic timing chip.

Publicity officer for the club Mike Shires said: "We give you a map and you have to find your own way around a course, finding the checkpoints around the estate and using your electronic timing chip to register each one.

"There were plenty of traps set by the course planner - dead ends, walls, vegetation and it is the participant's task to navigate around the complex streets and alleys, finding the best way to each checkpoint.

"It is always good fun and it is a run with a bit of a difference to shed all those mince pies we ate over the holidays."

For more information about the club's races across the county visit: tvoc.org.uk