On 20th April, club member, Kim Keogh, ran her 100th parkrun at Shepton Mallet.

To help her celebrate the occasion, Somer AC staged a ‘takeover day’, where all marshalling, timing and other duties were performed by members of the athletic club. Many members of the club also ran the 5k course. Kim was busy in the few days before her milestone achievement, baking cakes to distribute free to all finishers (enough for 200 people!). The perfect sunny weather added to the occasion, with a very large field of parkrunners.

The week before was Shepton Mallet’s 100th parkrun, and many people ran the course dressed as Joan the Cone in celebration. Joan the Cone is a little doll that sits on the ‘turn around’ cone at the furthest point of the course, and as such, has also completed 100 parkruns! The field of runners was a sea of red dresses, with many runners wearing wigs, traffic cones and other attire.

Somer AC took the opportunity to invite the many finishers of their latest ‘Couch to 5k’ course to run at Shepton’s celebratory parkrun, each person being able to run with an experienced Somer AC mentor for support. This was an opportunity for these newer runners to run a 5k in a fun situation, and to show that anyone can enjoy running – you don’t need to be a talented, fast runner! That being said, the newbies produced some very impressive times.

Many of these runners have said they will become regular parkrunners, and have formally joined Somer AC, realising that an athletic club is for people of all abilities. Somer AC hold regular ‘Couch to 5k’ courses.

The next course will be advertised on their website: www.somerac.org.uk

Parkruns take place at Shepton Mallet (Collett Park) every Saturday, starting prompt at 9 a.m. Everyone is welcome to attend – you can run or walk the 5k distance. It is not a ‘race’, although it is timed. (The ‘race’ is for each individual to improve on their own time.) Parkrun is also a social occasion and fun way for athletes, and non-athletes, to keep fit! Other local parkruns take place at Bath, Keynsham, Southwick and Street.

Jean Gibbs