Sunday, 30th March saw the sun shining on the fifth annual Hemington 10K race and the draw of Hemington Primary School's Grand Raffle. "Together, the two events raised about £2,500," said Anna Mercer, Chair of the Hemington Friends Association. "Not bad for a school of just 52 pupils!"

The day, however, was not just about fundraising. The organisers were very pleased to welcome back Jim Plunkett-Cole (first in category and fourth overall) and his collie running buddy, Alfredo, who last year ran the 10K together as part of a personal challenge to run at least 10K every day for the whole year.

Jim and Alfredo have carried on their challenge into this calendar year and were joined on January 1st by a tribe of new recruits who are challenging themselves too, by logging distances each day of anywhere between one and ten kilometres.

"The 100-strong tribe of 2014Kx365 participants are mainly based around Somerset and the South West," said Stu Wilkie, part of the leadership team of 2014Kx365, "But the miracle of internet

communication means we have members as far away as Ireland and even Canada. The Hemington 10K was our first chance for a team get-together though, and as it's such a friendly little race, it suited us perfectly!"

Local running clubs seized the chance of a run in the sunshine, too. Somer Athletic Club, Avon Valley Runners, Bristol and West AC and Frome Running Club all put in a very strong showing, each taking home prizes. However, 2014Kx365 are leading by example, having four finishers in the top ten – Jim, Stu, Peter Green and Alex Francis, who ran the children's race as a warm-up with his five-year-old daughter, Lois, and then went on to finish ninth in the main race – with new PBs for many of the tribe, despite Hemington being a notoriously tough course.

It wasn't just a day for the adult runners. Race Director, Jo Merrick, is also involved in youth coaching at Somer AC and is very keen to make running accessible to everyone. This took the form of a 500m children's run around the village and an intermediate 3.8K fun run open to all ages. "We had a truly amazing day. Mother Nature obviously doesn't have a day off on Mothering Sunday and chose to bless us with the most fabulous spring sunshine. This brought lots of additional participants to join us for what was a great family event," said Jo.

Jo also gave out spot prizes to midfield competitors this year, so that anyone could go home with a prize, no matter their speed or ability. "Spot prizes were given for very unusual reasons!" she laughs. "It might just have been for fancy shoelaces!"

2015Kx365 are accepting new participants onto next year's challenge, which starts on 1st January 2015. The date of next year's Hemington 10K hasn't yet been set, but the race has its own Facebook page and website: http://www.hemington10k.org">www.hemington10k.org. The next family-friendly event on the local running calendar is the Jack and Jill Challenge on May 11th. Once again, there's something for everybody. Entry forms from: http://www.somerac.org.uk/jack_jill">www.somerac.org.uk/jack_jill