MORE than 200 runners descended on the historic Tuckers Grave Inn for the Somer Athletics Club’s Mother Tuckers 10km race.

Its inaugural event was on Sunday, 6th October, and is the newest addition to the West Country race calendar. The weather held (aside from a pre-race shower) as runners from across Wiltshire, Somerset, Dorset and Bristol made their way around a challenging, scenic course, guided by over 40 marshals, largely drawn from Somer AC.

A mix of quiet country lanes and bridleways took the entrants around the beautiful Somerset countryside near Wellow. After the half way water stop, the runners enjoyed The Trench (a narrow sunken bridleway) and then passed Stony Littleton Long Barrow before the Incline of Opportunity beckoned; a rising grassy climb to take in Littleton Woods, before returning to the finish at Tuckers Grave.

Tuckers Grave made for a fantastic Race HQ. There were the usual facilities plus a popular cake stall. Meanwhile, the Old Parlour provided breakfasts and hot and cold drinks to sustain supporters and spectators whilst the runners headed into the countryside.

The event’s charity partner was The Bowel Movement, a cancer charity with close connections to Tuckers Grave. They also had a stall and raffle, adding further funds to support their work in supporting younger bowel cancer sufferers.

First back in a speedy 36:19 was Jamie Williamson of Kinisi RaceHub in Bedminster, while the Wellow Way’s Liv Elliott was first lady. After two hours, the final runners crossed the line, while the overall and age category runners received Lucy Turner designed awards from Somer club chair, Jason Nash.

After an absence of a few years from the event calendar, it was a successful return for Somer AC, made possible by Tuckers Grave Inn, the sponsors, the club members and, of course, the participants; they look forward to coming back in 2025.

​ *Somer Athletics Club run fun & friendly athletics sessions for children of all abilities, aged 13 -18 years. They train every Thursday from 7.30 pm - 8.30 pm. All sessions are run by qualified coaches, trained to England Athletics/UKA standards (Leader in Running Fitness, Coaching Assistant & Athletics Coach). The current maximum number allowed per session is 30, with a minimum of three coaches.This also provides a great opportunity to allow parents/adults to run with Somer AC (Somer Runners), while their children are having fun with the club.How do we find out about the sessions?