March is traditionally a busy month for runners and the end to March was busy even by the standards of Radstock’s Somer Athletics Club.

Once again, Frome’s The Old Showfield Parkrun saw the climax of many weeks of hard work from Somer Runners’ beginner’s group. Under the watchful eye of the Radstock based running club’s coaching team, the students completed a structured ten-week programme as they progressed from novices to gaining the skills to complete a 5km run.

Coaches Tracey and Adrian Holborn, and Ali and Des Rabbitts, gave the students a mix of practical guidance, in-session training every Thursday, and “homework” in the form of training targets. The coaches also provided the support to allay any fears and amend plans to reflect the abilities of the runners group as they progressed from non-runner to new runner. The target was to finish with a flourish in Frome on 25th March and undertake the weekly “free forever” Parkrun at the Old Showfield.

Somer turned out in numbers to support their newest clubmates. More than 40 beginner, Youth and Senior runners ran the course, volunteered as Parkrun marshals, or cheered their latest clubmates from the sidelines.

Many of those supporters were subsequently engaged in running events across the weekend. Fifteen runners took on different events at the Bath Skyline event with most running on Saturday evening, enjoying the night-time vista of the city from Bathampton Down and Sham Castle. Meanwhile, Sunday saw teams running the Yeovil Half Marathon, the Lightning Bolt 10km near Chippenham, and the challenging Big Cheese trail run in Cheddar on Sunday.

Somer Runners welcome new members of all abilities, every Tuesday and Thursday at 7.15pm at the Catherine Room at the Centurion Hotel in Westfield; in addition, they have Juniors (8-12 years) and Youth (13-17) branches that meet on Thursdays in Chilcompton. For more details, visit www.somerac.org.uk or their Facebook group. They would love to help you achieve your running aims in a friendly environment.