On Sunday I took part in the Wells Festival of Running organised by Wells City Harriers which involved different race distances and a festival on the Cathedral Green organised by the Wells Rotary. There were 5k and 10k race options for adults and a 1.2k kids race as well as shorter races around the Cathedral grounds. Kinisi Run Hub were proud to be supporting the event with a pop-up shop on the Cathedral Green.

The race HQ was in the Wells Town Hall in the centre of town with the races starting in the beautiful Market Place under the gaze of two medieval gateways – the Penniless Porch and the Bishop’s Eye. The race weaves briefly through the town centre starting down the High Street before going out into the countryside and through Palace Farm.

Then it is along the cycle track out to Dulcote before looping back around to Wells along the B3139. The loop finishes alongside the moat of the Bishop’s Palace which guarantees a fast and furious grandstand finish!

The 5k is one loop and the 10k is two loops with a small out-and-back add on during the second lap. There is a big hill about 3k into the lap which lasts until about 4k so it is quite long and you have to do it twice in the 10k!

In terms of my race, I took part in the 10k but was feeling a bit fatigued after back-to-back races on Thursday and Friday so set off at a steadier pace and soon found myself in second not too far behind the race leader Lester James (Team Bath AC). I settled in at a pace I felt I could hold for the 10k and the gap stayed about the same around the first lap.

As we got into the second lap I started to close the gap on the race leader and when we got to the hill at 8k I was just behind him and came past as we went up the hill. I managed to open up a small gap and was leading until a couple of hundred meters to go. Unfortunately I did not realise how close the finish line was as it was around the corner once we got back to the river. Lester came tearing past me and it was a bit late for me to react before the finish line so I had to settle for second. Still it was a great race!

Lester James (Team Bath AC) won the race in 32:46, I finished second in 32:50 and Aidan Daniel (Team Bath AC) was third in 33:43. Phoebe Aspinall (Wells City Harriers) won the women’s race in 39:53 with Emma Rigby (Street Striders) second in 42:54 and Rosie Frapwell (Unattached) third in 44:30. In total there were 401 finishers in the 10k. Full results here.

The 5k race was won by Johnny Suttle (Vegan Runners UK) in 16:32 with Oskar Beck (Wells City Harriers) second in 16:53 and Craig Smith (Unattached) third in 17:12. The women’s race was won by Sophie Nicholls (Wells City Harriers) who also finished fourth overall in 17:21 as Zoe Dale (Wells City Harriers) took second in 21:16 and Lauren Ashurst (Unattached) was third in 22:37. In total there were 158 finishers. Full results here.

The course was well marked and there were plenty of volunteer marshals on the course to guarantee no one got lost. Well done to everyone who raced and thank you to Wells City Harriers for hosting a great event!