A new race appeared on the local road running scene on Sunday, when Mendip Athletics Club organised the Glastonbury Levels 10K out of Strode College in Street.

The course had been used back in May as a Covid compliant alternative to the traditional Round the Tor event that the club has organised for the last 20 years, and so the marshals and officials had had some practice and the event went ahead smoothly.

In contrast to May, when the NOT the Round the Tor proved to be the UK's first large scale sporting event following the easing of Covid restrictions only the month before (with more than 900 entrants), this time around many race organisers were holding events postponed from the spring and the Levels event only attracted just over 250 runners with the major local draw of the Bristol 10K and Half Marathon possibly taking most of the potential runners away.

The course had raised some eyebrows back in May when the first eight runners over the finish recorded life-time personal best time, and so there was a selection of good quality runners at the sharp end of the race, which also included the Somerset County Championships.

The race was split into a total of seven "waves" that started at two minute intervals, to give all the runners plenty of room at the start, with runners aiming for similar times starting together.

From the hooter a small group of the elite runners quickly formed a pack, working well together though not willing to show their hand too early.

By the half-way turn, passed in just over 16 minutes, there were still six runners in contention, though shortly afterwards this dropped to four.

On the run back it was down to three, as Weston's Chris McMillan, Bristol's Adam Stokes and Wells Harrier Christian Green pulled away from Wells Harriers Zak Hurrell and Daniel Maydew and Weston's Kieron Summers.

Over the Cowbridge Road crossroads Stokes and McMillan were sharing surges, and going into the final quarter mile had opened a short gap on Green.

Leaving it to the last 200m McMillan put in a huge sprint to finally pull away for victory in a huge new personal best with 32:03, as both Stokes and Green (also beating his previous best by a large margin) breaking the course record set back in May with 32:12 and 32:20 respectively.

Green was the first of the Somerset runners to become Road Race Champion for 2021, with fellow clubmates Hurrell and Maydew picking up the minor medals.

Maydew was first junior home, a couple of seconds ahead of Summers who was the first of the Masters to finish.

Further down the field Nina Martin of Basingstoke won in a time of 39:10, with Becky Tovey (Romsey Road Runners, but recently moved to Chard) collecting the Somerset Championship gold in second in 41:03 to and Sharon Hutchings (Dorset Doddlers) third in 41:16.

Wells Harriers' Rosie Park was second Somerset lady, with U20 winner Phoebe Aspinall of Wells collecting the Somerset Bronze.

Full photography from the event can be found on the race Facebook page (search for Glastonbury Levels 10K).

The organisers would like to thank all the officials and marshals who supported the event, and Glastonbury Spring Water for generously providing supplies of water for the runners.

For those with long diaries, the next Round the Tor races will be held in Glastonbury on Sunday May 1 next year, with plans to hold the next Levels 10K event on Sunday September 18.

Results

1 Chris Mcmillan (Weston Athletic Club) 32:03

2 Adam Stokes (Bristol and West AC) 32:12

3 Christian Green (Wells City Harriers) 32:20

4 Zak Hurrell (Wells City Harriers) 32:58

5 Daniel Maydew (Wells City Harriers) 33:13

6 Kieron Summers (Weston Athletic Club) 33:15

7 Wayne Loveridge (Chard RRC) 33:34

8 Will Fuller (Weston Athletic Club) 33:55

9 Chris Selman (Weston Athletic Club) 34:03

10 Michael Parrott (Running for Time) 34:34

11 Joel Seward (Axe Valley Runners) 34:51

12 Richard Hardy (Axe Valley Runners) 35:50

13 Alexander Coombs (Wells City Harriers) 36:43

14 Robert Collier (Axe Valley Runners) 37:01

15 Nick Sanders (Bridgwater & District Road & Trail Runners) 37:08

16 Stephen Rose 37:24

17 Phil King (Team Bath Athletic Club) 37:37

18 Mark Bungay 37:42

19 Chris Walker (Wells City Harriers) 37:50

20 Matthew Hewer (Axe Valley Runners) 38:28

21 Tom Dukes (Wells City Harriers) 38:44

22 Michael Gorman 38:45

23 Martin Stapleton 39:07

24 Samuel Bevan 39:10

25 Nina Martin (Basingstoke & Mid Hants AC) 39:10

26 Keith Penny 39:18

27 Sam Rimmer 39:45

28 Paul Burrows 39:49

29 Graydon Widdicombe (Teignbridge Trotters) 39:50

30 Matt Powell (Burnham On Sea Harriers) 39:51

31 Lee Hurrell 39:58

32 Barry Awan (Team Bath Athletic Club) 40:10

33 Paul Thomas (Crewekerne Runners) 40:28

34 John Shapland (Bideford AAC) 40:29

35 Will Paterson (Running for Time) 40:35

36 Harry Till 40:51

37 Andy Speed 41:00

38 Leyton Green (Yeovil Town RRC) 41:01

39 Becky Tovey (Romsey Road Runners) 41:03

40 Jon Grover 41:07

41 Nick Fox (Llanelli AC) 41:11

42 Sharon Hutchings (Dorset Doddlers RC) 41:16

43 Paul Clark 41:29

44 Ross Brayley 41:36

45 Phil Paddick (Wells City Harriers) 41:45

46 Justina Burles 41:50

47 Chris Townsend (Cheddar RC) 42:05

48 Ethan Burr 42:06

49 Benjamin Percival (Langport Runners) 42:19

50 Brett Raynes (Team Bath Athletic Club) 42:25

51 Peter Green (Somer AC) 42:36

52 Peter Jeffery (Gloucester AC) 42:48

53 Craig Foley (Wells City Harriers) 42:50

54 Graham Goldsmid (Wells City Harriers) 42:54

55 Philip Goodridge-Reynolds (Chard RRC) 43:10

56 Sam Walker 43:21

57 Mike Chipping (Bristol and West AC) 43:46

58 Tim Fry (Lliswerry Runners) 43:49

59 Stuart Godfrey 43:51

60 Leigh Tucker 44:12

61 Joby Hodgson 44:21

62 Chris Hockley (Running for Time) 44:26

63 Stephanie Hodge 44:44

64 Helen Hinsley (Bristol and West AC) 44:51

65 Rosie Park (Wells City Harriers) 45:00

66 Andrew Robinson (Wells City Harriers) 45:13

67 Alicia Warman 45:29

68 Paul Knight (Wells City Harriers) 45:36

69 Paul Roper 45:55

70 Ben Harmsworth 45:58

71 Phoebe Aspinall (Wells City Harriers) 45:58

72 Sam Buzza (Weston Athletic Club) 46:15

73 Julie Culliford (Street Striders) 46:26

74 Justin Harmsworth 46:31

75 Rob Boseley 46:35

76 Callum Hoggarth 46:42

77 Louise Olding 46:51

78 Neil Billing 47:18

79 Emma Powell 47:22

80 Russell Payne 47:30

81 Emma Woodcock 47:31

82 Bob Depledge (South West Veterans AC) 47:34

83 Susan Williams 47:38

84 Stephanie Cole 47:38

85 Melissa Aspinall (Wells City Harriers) 47:45

86 Caroline Page 47:57

87 Daniel Tomlinson 47:57

88 Pete Mason 47:58

89 Mark Mayes 48:13

90 Teresa Lovern (Somer AC) 48:29

91 Steve Smith 48:29

92 Matthew Cunio (Somer AC) 48:31

93 Sarah Skelton (Askern District RC) 48:33

94 James Maxfield 48:34

95 Philip Carter 48:43

96 Jonathan Seymour 48:46

97 Lara Keirle 49:03

98 Stephen Hawkins (Lonely Goat RC) 49:05

99 Mike Rigby 49:11

100 Jamie Roberts 49:11

101 Jill Wring 49:13

102 Paul Hamlyn 49:22

103 Emily Macpherson 49:23

104 Catherine Roberts 49:32

105 Tim Humphreys 49:36

106 Samuel Astill 49:42

107 Nic Wall 49:42

108 David Williams 49:43

109 Shaun Rigby (Street Striders) 49:51

110 Ian Badcock 49:55

111 Akom Srithunma (Wells City Harriers) 50:09

112 Isabelle Walker (Wells City Harriers) 50:14

113 Katherine Morgan (Llanelli AC) 50:25

114 Mark Pople 50:26

115 James Buxton 50:27

116 Vic Millard 50:28

117 Craig Priddice 50:41

118 Toby Brown 50:44

119 Tracy Bishop 51:00

120 Geraint Jones 51:04

121 Dylan Mccann 51:07

122 Gideon Russell 51:07

123 Nick Bracey 51:20

124 Evelyn Wigley (Mendip Athletic Club) 51:33

125 Matthew Wigley 51:34

126 Nicholas Dawson (Running for Time) 51:44

127 Sophie Sandford (Mendip Athletic Club) 51:45

128 Clare Thornton 51:45

129 Ian Hosegood 51:53

130 Jon Callow 52:12

131 Alex Lewis 52:12

132 David Rogers 52:14

133 Ian Stewart-Pearson (Lonely Goat RC) 52:19

134 Kieron Chapman 52:31

135 James Peters 52:51

136 Denise Osborne 52:51

137 Tanya Denning-Kuijper 53:04

138 Holly Cook 54:11

139 Graham Porter 54:24

140 David Pepper 54:30

141 John Mitchell (Lonely Goat RC) 54:38

142 Miriam Blackbird 54:40

143 Amy Green 54:49

144 Jen Loveridge 54:49

145 Sadie Brookes 54:50

146 Amy Blizzard 55:06

147 Brian Mountjoy-Row (Yeovil Town RRC) 55:08

148 Nicky Barbuzano 55:09

149 Chella Pollard 55:19

150 Haydn North 55:23

151 Helen Baxter (Chard RRC) 55:24

152 Rosalind Mockford 56:01

153 Kelly Rowsell (Running for Time) 56:05

154 Elie Morgan 56:13

155 Emily Dawson (Running for Time) 56:20

156 Mary Ham (Burnham On Sea Harriers) 56:21

157 Kim Clark 56:27

158 Rachel Foster 56:31

159 Alan Hael 56:44

160 Julian Russell 57:01

161 James Lucas 57:11

162 Sarah Flourentzou 57:11

163 Philippa Scudds 57:16

164 Anja Hubrath 57:18

165 Jim Williams 57:43

166 Mark Pollard (Lonely Goat RC) 57:45

167 Philip Humphries 57:46

168 Christopher Clark 57:58

169 Gary Hume (Shapwick Runners) 58:06

170 Hannah Nokes 58:13

171 Marc Doney 58:19

172 Laura Nicholls 58:39

173 Mike Nicholls 58:40

174 Louise Rawlins 58:50

175 Len Horlock (South West Veterans AC) 58:56

176 Mark Wyatt 59:01

177 Andy Nokes 59:01

178 Christina French 59:01

179 John Grundy 59:31

180 Gabs Till 1:00:01

181 Chris Hammond 1:00:09

182 Isabel Edwards 1:00:11

183 Richard Hooper 1:00:23

184 Brian Clark 1:00:27

185 Cherry Cook 1:00:30

186 Rachel Watford 1:00:42

187 Iona Neill 1:00:57

188 Alex Phillips 1:00:57

189 Jaime Ledbury 1:01:08

190 Mark Stevens 1:01:25

191 Irenka Stevens 1:01:25

192 Kevin Penny 1:01:29

193 Emma James 1:02:03

194 Elaine Giddens 1:02:10

195 Debbi Grey 1:02:38

196 Richard Coles 1:02:38

197 Liz Paddick (Wells City Harriers) 1:02:49

198 Jacqui Maxfield 1:02:57

199 Sharon Masters (Yeovil Town RRC) 1:03:20

200 Satah Huddart (Shapwick Runners) 1:03:34

201 Lucy Hedgcock (Shapwick Runners) 1:03:35

202 Ann Deverill (Poole AC) 1:03:53

203 Craig Bateman 1:04:06

204 Victoria Cole 1:04:10

205 Kerry Weston 1:04:11

206 Ruth Brown 1:04:14

207 Shaun Dodson 1:04:50

208 Jennifer Probert 1:04:52

209 Theresa Jenkins 1:04:53

210 Becky Leigh 1:05:26

211 Geno Costanza 1:06:28

212 Joanna Parsons 1:06:45

213 Suzanne Pople 1:08:30

214 Clare Norris 1:08:42

215 Elaine Mason 1:08:42

216 Amanda Cox 1:10:13

217 Annie Cree 1:10:46

218 Judy Stevens 1:12:39

219 Becky Case 1:13:25

220 Mark Russ (Weston Athletic Club) 1:14:22

221 Sam Harris 1:14:22

222 Christine Kewish 1:15:00

223 Hayley Field 1:15:24

224 Sharon Doney 1:18:35

225 Rachel Bennett 1:18:36

226 Michelle Townsend 1:20:04

227 Lisa Clarke (Shepton Shufflers Running Club) 1:32:52