[The web-site of the Glastonbury Road Run]

Entries are now being taken for the 2021 event with Free Snoods. Entries are ON-LINE only up to April 17th. Click HERE to Enter Online.

If you've got a question, would like to get involved, sponsor us or request a donation please don't hesitate to get in touch.

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GLASTONBURY LEVELS 10K EVENT LAUNCHES - SEPTEMBER 19TH 2021 - * UPDATE *

What a great morning. Thank you to everyone who supported us. For the provisional results please CLICK HERE. Can anyone who spots anything amiss please get back to me ASAP. I will process the results and get age graded scores added late tonight or first thing in the morning.

Mendip AC are delighted to announce the creation of a new event for the autumn road race calendar - the GLASTONBURY LEVELS 10K. Our idea is to create a runner friendly event with an emphasis of providing a low cost quality race promising fast times and a scenic course. We effectively ran a trial of this new event in May 2021 when the covid restrictions meant we couldn't hold our usual Round The Tor event and we have used much of the feedback from the 800+ runners to ensure that we retain the good bits of May's event.

We will be retaining the wave start system that proved so popular. Gone are the days of fighting to get some space among nearly 1000 runners! With staggered starts times based on estimated finishing times you will be grouped with runners of similar ability and will instantly enjoy a clear road in front of you. Yes, there is the challenge of trying to catch the group in front if you are feeling particularly good on the day, but you will have plenty of help to pace yourself to that PB you really deserve. Our out-and-back course is pancake flat on good, traffic free roads. You will get to see your club-mates on-route and get to encourage them - we had many reports from out on the course of the great atmosphere among the runners.

As we are expecting the covid restrictions to be over by race day we are planning a race village at Strode College Sports Centre, with food and refreshments and possibly a sports retail stall. There will also be a secure bag-drop and we are looking to provide a full race photography service. There will be plenty of space to warm-up or socialise, and we are planning to use the outer car-park to provide free car parking for early entrants (there is a limit of around 200 cars, so once you have entered you will be given instruction on how to secure your space).

The local clubs and county association have given us a big vote of confidence in allowing us to host this years Somerset County Road Running Championships. We are donating £1 of each entry fee to the county association to help with various development initiatives that they support. We are also on the short-list for the South West Inter-County Road Race Challenge, which could see a number of very fast times set at the head of the race. We have expanded the provision of age-category awards and are hoping that the number of entries will allow us to offer our usual Glastonbury Age-Graded prize awards.

Please look out for us on Facebook and Instagram as we get closer to race day, and also on this website where further details will be posted in due course. Meanwhile, for our on-line entry system please follow the link to runBritain Entry Portal

LATEST EVENT NEWS

39th ROAD RUN FINALISED RESULTS

After correcting a few issues with the rolling wave starts, and finding a few of you who made it past the finish line without setting the alarms off, I am happy to release a full set of race results. Unfortunately Runny Mcrunface failed to make the final draft! Again, if anyone does spot anything amiss do email me with details.

Click Here for 10K RESULTS and Click Here for Age Graded RESULTS

Glastonbury Road Run

ABOUT THE RACES

The Glastonbury Road Run, with its main event the "Round the Tor 10K" event, takes place on the Sunday prior to the early May bank holiday each year, on traffic-free roads. The original Glastonbury Road Run was held over a 5.69 mile course around Glastonbury Tor in 1981 and races have been held every year since, with the exception of 2001 when the event was cancelled due to the Foot and Mouth outbreak, and 2020 when the event was cancelled due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. The Road Runs remain the largest road running event in the county of Somerset, and its main race the is county's largest 10K race (around 800 in the last three years). It is held on a mainly rural course that undulates around the ancient and mysterious Isle of Avalon mostly following the original 1981 route, starting and finishing within a stones throw of the alleged burial place of King Arthur within the grounds of Glastonbury Abbey.

The "Round the Tor 10K" is part of the Somerset Road Race Series. Check the LINKS section for details of the other events in this series.

39th Glastonbury Road Run - May 2nd 2021

This years Glastonbury Road Run will be held on Sunday 2nd May 2021. Due to the severe restrictions put in place over the last year due to the Covid-19 Pandemic we have been forced to make a number of very significant changes in order to be able to hold our event in a safe manner. The first events will likely be allowed in England four weeks before our Road Run, though a number of covid-safe events were held last autumn using very similar arrangements to the ones we will be using, so they have proved to be viable and safe. The primary restriction is to avoid any large gatherings, and to maintain hygene and social distancing at all times. In order for this to happen we have needed to find an outdoor venue large enough for everyone to maintain their distance. We are also having to avoid any crowds of runners at the race start, which means runners will be allocated to small groups that will arrive at Race HQ and start at intervals throughout the morning of race day. We are also stipulating that spectators will not be allowed at the event, nor on the course. We have agreed with the town council to avoid Glastonbury Town Centre and also to avoid the West Mendip Hospital which is involved with the vaccination role-out. We will therefore be based at Strode College Sports Centre, about a mile from the usual 10K start. The course we will be using avoids any built-up areas, and is both flat and very fast. Regrettably, we felt it was impractical to offer our usual collection of supporting races, but are confident that many of our usual 5K entrants will be able to manage the new 10K route without any problems. We will keep adding to the information displayed on the web-site, including race license and course accuracy certificates, lists of entrants, a detailed Event Briefing, and Race Results, so keep coming back to the site as race day gets closer.

Entry Procedure

For this year's event we are only accepting on-line entries. This is vital because we need to ensure that we can communicate with you all about the event for covid-safety reasons. Please note that entries will close at midday on Saturday 17th April and there will be NO late or on-the-day entries . You will be able to check the list of entrants (see the link in the top box to the right) but please allow three or four days for us to process your entry before checking. You will recieve your Race Pack, including Instructions, Number Bib and Commemarative Race Snoods in the post approximately one week before race day. Prior to us posting out your race pack you will be required to complete a covid return-to-activity form via the internet to indicate that you are symptom-free and have read the covid safety rules for the event. Anyone who has not recieved this by Wednesday of race week is requested to contact the Race Director. For the on-line entry system <>

This years on-the-day instructions will be available for download by the middle of April and will be sent out to all entrants. A up-to-date list of race entrants is also now available (see RACE INFO box at Left) and will be updated every couple of days until pre-entries on Saturday 1st May.

Race Timetable and Courses

The first runners will start their 10K event at 10.00am, with successive waves of between 20 and 25 runners starting at 2 minute intervals. You will be allocated a starting wave and time based on your estimated finishing time for the event, so that the faster runners will start first, followed by the slower runners. Hopefully everyone will find this an enjoyable way to start and run your event, as you will be running with a group of other runners who are all aiming to run similar times. Because of the need to strictly control numbers at Race HQ runners are requested not to arrive until half an hour before their allocated start time and to leave immediately following completion of their run. We will be utilising the car park area at Strode College as a warm-up area and there will therefore be no on-site parking for race entrants. For this year's event a brand new course has been found that avoids the issues of closing off the centre of Glastonbury and blocking access to the local hospital who will be busy with covid-19 vaccinations on the day of the races. The course is flat and very fast and gives many fine views of Glastonbury Tor. Due to hygene reasons we have been advised by UK Athletics that water should not be provided on-course for 10K events, so if you feel you will require a fluid top-up on the way around you are advised to bring something with you to run with. Any such bottles must be carried through to the finish. Bottled water will be provided to all runners at the finish. Click Here for the Course Map

Results - The Chip Timing System

This year we have contracted FR Systems to provide Chip Timing for the event and to manage the posting of your race packs. FR System are probably the UK's leading provider of chip timing solutions, and time many of the area and national championship events, in addition to a great many more local races. The technology we have selected has the "chip" attached to you running number - so no need to fiddle about with tying a tag onto your shoes or having to queue to have it cut off at the end of the race and will remove one of the potential covid issues. As this year we are operating a wave system to get you started in a covid-safe way all times for the event will be chip times, and you will therefore have your individual time from when you cross the start line to when you cross the finish line. We are looking to provide a timing mat at half way both to check everyone has run the full distance, but also to enable us to give you a half-way split time. No system is completely error-free, so if you think that there has been a problem please contact the organisers as soon as possible - we will have the usual video back-up so should be able to sort out any results issues.

Awards

In addition to a free race snood for each entrant, each finisher will receive a commemorative medal. Due to the increased costs of laying on a covid-safe event, we are reviewing the provision of awards and will provide updates closer to race day. Click Here for Prize List Details. Please come back to the web-site for updates on any additional awards that may be introduced as we are hoping to add to the list. Please

Race-Day Photos

We are endeavouring to provides photographers on course, aiming to take photos at the race starts, on course (with our classic views of Glastonbury Tor), and at the finish. Details will be released closer to race day.