Gloucestershire

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Race Listing for Gloucestershire

About the area

The sporting landscape in Gloucestershire is dominated by the world-famous Cheltenham race course, successful professional cricket and rugby clubs and a quirky cheese rolling race each May. The latter of which makes international headlines as the height of British eccentricity.

But it has also a vibrant running scene with the gorgeous Cotswold towns characterising some of the most stunning off-road and road running routes available in England. Coupled with the type of quirkiness that sees hundreds chasing a round of cheese down a steep hill, the county hosts several themed races throughout the year that attract runners from far and wide.

These include the Stroud Beer Run, a 7.2mile road run that promises the top 100 a beer at the finish and the Cranham Beast a weekend of trail running in a traditional West Country carnival atmosphere.

There's lots of fun in the Gloucestershire running scene but that doesn't mean it doesn't have its serious side. Cheltenham-born Dan Robinson was ' for several years ' Britain's leading male marathon runner. He represented Team GB at the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games finishing 23rd and 24th respectively in Athens and Beijing. In between, he won bronze at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games and was 11th at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka.

Gloucester-born Vicky Holland represented Team GB in the triathlon at the 2012 London Olympic Games and won bronze at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. In terms of cult heroes, none come any bigger than the incredible Steve Edwards. The Moreton in Marsh runner is possibly the planet's most prolific marathon runner with a stack of records including over 600 sub 3:30 marathons under his belt. At this October's Bournemouth Marathon Festival, he is scheduled to complete his 700th official marathon.

There is also a healthy club scene with over a dozen well-attended clubs speckled across Gloucester. With five regular parkruns also taking place on a weekly basis in the county, there is no shortage of event opportunities.

In Cheltenham's Half Marathon, Gloucestershire has a real focal point for the county's runners. The race had nearly 2,000 entrants in 2013, nearly 3,000 in 2014 and a sharp rise was expected again for this year's event in September. And there's more good news with the arrival in 2016 of a new Gloucester City Marathon billed as a scenic race on closed roads. Gloucestershire has a running scene to make you smile, but it's not all cheesy.

We are compiling a list of running groups, clubs, stores and facilities in Gloucestershire. If you would like to add information to our listing please get in touch with us.

Founded On Facebook

The power of social media is behind the rise of Hucclecote Harriers.

We find out more …

A Gloucestershire running group that perfectly demonstrates the power of social media is Hucclecote Harriers. The village group was instigated in March 2015 by civil servant Ben Oldlady, a keen runner looking for people to train. He explains: “It started by going onto various associated Facebook groups - anything with Hucclecote in the name I just put a little message on there to say when and where I’d be going for a run and if anyone wants to join me, then come along.

“I did that for about four weeks and on the first night about 25 people turned up.” Now the group has about 250 members on its Facebook page with a hardcore of 40 runners turning up weekly.

“It’s every Tuesday night, we meet at the War Memorial. Usually 7.30pm, but now the light is fading it’s more like 7pm. We do a six week rotation, so we do something different every week for six weeks. Then at the end of week 6, we revert to week 1 and we do that rotation three times in a row.

“Then at the end of the three sets of six weeks we choose a new set of six runs to do. One week might be a sprint training session for an hour at the field, another week we run up a hill called Stump Lane, which is exactly a mile long from bottom to top. We run up and down that.

“Other times we might do off road running and split into three or four groups by ability level. Some days we might do a straightforward road run where we split into groups and it will be anything from 5k to 12k.

“Then we might also do a 20 minute out and 20 minute back run. Obviously the better you are the further out you go and it’s a test to see how far you can get out each time to see if you are improving. We also do a circuit based running exercise, it includes running drills, lunges and tyre drags, resisted running – just something different to work the muscles.

“Men, women, young, old, every running ability goes and we’ve run a ‘Couch to 5k’ as a separate group. The minimum requirement is to be able to run maybe two miles at whatever speed you like. But there are those who can only run one mile who can come to the out-and-back weeks.

“We’re different to most in that we are a community-group run by each other. We have got as many as 15 people who can take their turn to lead the group. With a rugby referee, bank clerks, hairdressers, police officers, and refuse workers among the group, the Harriers are an eclectic mix. But there is something in the air that keeps them coming back every Tuesday.”

If you want to find out more or join, simply apply to be a member via the Facebook group Hucclecote Harriers

Services in Gloucestershire

Do you operate a service for runners in the Gloucestershire area? If you'd like to be added to our list please get in touch with us!

Chiropody

• Longlevens Chiropractic & Sports Injury Clinic

One popular local service is Longlevens Chiropractic & Sports Injury Clinic which has become the go-to place for athletes and runners of all abilities. Established in 2006 by Director Simon Rose, the Gloucester-based practice is used by the county’s foremost professional sportspeople. The five-strong team are keen sporting enthusiasts with the highest level of expertise. On-site facilities include digital x-ray facilities.

Nutrition Advice

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Personal Training

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Physiotherapy

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Podiatry

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Sports Massage

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