On Sunday we supported the Wells Festival of Running. The event is organised by Wells City Harriers and involves three different race distances (10k, 5k and a junior 1.2k) as part of a celebration of all things running with stalls and a real festival feel. Kinisi Run Hub were proud to be supporting and were there with a pop up shop.
The race HQ is at the Wells Town Hall which provides an ideal setting for the event. We set up our gazebo just outside the town hall along with various other vendors. The start is in the Market Place and the finish is at the Bishop's Palace so everything is close together and very easy to navigate your way around.
It was a great day for the event, the sun was shining and the weather was warm which put everyone in a good mood. Over 900 participants took on the three races which made for an exciting day of racing.
The race starts in the Market Place and goes along the High Street which is perfect for spectators to see the start before moving on to watch from other sections of the course. The first kilometre loops through Wells before venturing out of town. There is a short section that cuts through Palace Farm and then onto the cycle track out to Dulcote. From there the course weaves through the Somerset countryside and this section involves a pretty steep hill that is about 500m long but once getting over it there is a nice downhill stretch back into Wells. Then its along the moat of the Bishop's Palace towards the end of the loop. The 5k race was one lap and the 10k race was two laps but did involve a short out-and-back on the second lap to make up the missing distance.
I took part in the 10k event which was the third and final race in the programme. It was a quick start but we soon settled into a rhythm. I was leading the race with Neil Golding for the first kilometre but from there I started to pull away and gradually increased my lead. It turned into a solo time trial and with this being only my second hard run since the Bristol Half a few weeks ago I was looking to put in a good shift and get my body used to running hard again. I was happy with my performance, when I looked back at my splits I did set off a little quick but it was a good run out and I felt stronger than I did at Weston Prom on Thursday so am in a good position to push on to more races this summer.
I managed to take the win in 32:48 followed by James Plumstead and Neil Golding who had a great sprint finish battle to finish in 34:31 and 34:33. The women's race was won by Niki Morgan in 42:40 followed home by Tanya Batten in 43:45 and Connie Jordan in 44:06. In total there were 438 finishers in the 10k race. Full results of the Wells Festival of Running 2026 here.
Well done to everyone who raced and thank you Wells City Harriers for hosting a great event!