Sport

Runners on the roads again

By Mark Adler

AROUND 750 competitors took part in a Covid-compliant Glastonbury 10km Road Run – one of the first such events to take place in 2021. with a new, phased start format and a new route avoiding Glastonbury town centre and the west Mendip hospital, the event was highly praised by runners of all abilities.

The annual race – organised by Mendip Athletics Club – began in 1981 on a course around Glastonbury Tor; this year’s took runners on a fast, flat route from Strode College Sports Centre towards Baltonsborough and back. Oliver Paulin, 24, a member of Coventry Godiva harriers, was the fastest man home with a time of 32:22; Kate Drew, 21, of Taunton AC, was the fastest female to cross the line at 37:07. wells City harriers were the top team, followed by Taunton AC, with Clevedon AC in third.

The first phase of runners heads off

Staff from St Dunstan’s School in Glastonbury were raising money for Asthma UK in memory of former student Amy Thomas, who died in 2017 from an asthma attack

Byron Joce, 60, ran in the first race in 1981 and completed the London Marathon the following year. He finished with a time of 1:06:14 The medals hark back to previous races

Local carnival clubs – including Wick CC – provided marshals. For most, this was their first fundraising event in 2021

Phase 24 runners – there were 50 groups in total Millfield School staff member Joe Lewis collects his medal

Podium finish

Damon in action

STReeT-based Damon Smith got off to a good start to the season at Brands hatch smashing his personal lap time, winning a trophy and coming away third in the championship overall. he won a podium place in the first race of the weekend, coming third on his Kawasaki ZX10R, frustratingly only 0.002 seconds from the fastest lap of the race.

Details: DS Racing Kawasaki #23 on Facebook and Instagram

Tennis for all

CheDDAR Tennis Club welcomed four players to its inaugural walking tennis group. The game has been adapted to enable players to use their racquet skills but with rules which prohibit running and allow two bounces of a slower ball making it easier for rallies to take place.

It is ideally suited for those coming back from injury or for those with reduced mobility. The players, some of whom had not held a racquet for more than ten years, thoroughly enjoyed being out in the fresh air and commented that the sessions would give them something to look forward to each week.

The game offers a great opportunity to develop tennis skills, build physical fitness and meet new people and the club welcomes anyone who would like to dust off their racquets and give it a try. Sanitised racquets can be borrowed if required.

The sessions, costing £7 and led by head coach Stephen Pearce, are held on Friday mornings 1112noon.

Also new to the club this year is the Pay and Play scheme for nonmembers aimed at attracting local residents and visitors to enjoy the wonderful facilities. Courts can be booked on the club’s website for only £5 an hour.

Boost for Wedmore FC

TheIsle of wedmore Football Club has been awarded a grant of £15,000 from the Premier League, The FA and Government’s Football Foundation, to ensure it provides the best possible playing surface for its players.

It follows a pitch inspection using the Football Foundation’s specially developed app, PitchPower, which assesses the quality of grass football pitches.

The club will now be able to use the grant to complete the maintenance work identified in the assessment, which includes applying fertiliser, aeration, seeding and other maintenance practices.

Club chair, Nick Beason, said: “we continually strive to provide the best facilities we possibly can for players, supporters and the wider community.”

Details: https://footballfoundation.org.uk/ grass-pitch-improvement

Bath museums ready to welcome visitors

Bath Preservation trust has announced the reopening of four historic destinations in the city following the easing of restrictions. the trust runs No.1 Royal Crescent, herschel Museum of astronomy, Beckford’s tower and the Museum of Bath architecture. at the herschel home, visitors can wander through and see replicas of the telescopes William herschel invented and used, see the music room where he and his sister Caroline tutored students and the workshop, where you can still see the furnace and smelting oven used to make the telescopic lenses.

Beckford’s tower, situated a little over a mile from the heart of Bath offers spectacular views across the surrounding UNESCO World heritage destination. countryside and of the city itself. No.1 Royal Crescent is one of Bath’s most famous and the Museum of Bath architecture is a great place to learn instantly recognisable locations, if not its most prestigious more about its honey- address. When it reopens on Wednesday, June 2nd, it will coloured houses, feature a remarkable new immersive experience, which will sweeping crescents and allow visitors to see life as it was lived in Georgian Bath elegant streets. the during the late 1700s. museum also gives Bath Preservation trust’s Director of Museums, Claire visitors insights into Dixon, said: “after such a long time closed, it is so exciting to Bath’s Roman history be able to welcome visitors back to our museums. Each one and its transformation represents an important aspect of Bath’s history and bears from a small, walled testimony to the astonishing people who came to live in this Herschel Museum music room medieval town into a beautiful World heritage City.”

Details: www.bath-preservation-trust.org.uk • Twitter @BathPresTrust • Facebook /@bathprestrust Instagram @bath_preservation_trust