There's a change of date and venue for a quintet of Gloucestershire's most popular races. With a commendable 'can do' spirit, race promoters Beyond The Limitations, led by event manager Norman Wilson, have dug deep and crossed borders to provide meaningful competition for Glostonians and others – in Wiltshire!

Castle Combe's famous motor racing circuit lies in the Costwolds Area of Natural Beauty, near Chippenham in Wiltshire. The West Country's home of motorsport has been welcoming fans of car and motorcycle racing events since 1950 and a young Stirling Moss was one of the first-ever winners.

The heart-shaped 1.85-mile course provides the ideal venue for a COVID-secure running event and the road surface is flat, smooth, and potentially fast. Chip timing will be employed along with wave starts and there are ample toilet facilities and free parking at the private venue.

The races affected are Gloucester 10K and Gloucester 10 mile on Sunday 24 January 2021 and Gloucester Marathon, Half Marathon, and 50K Ultra on Sunday 28 February 2021.

Gloucester 10K is run in memory of Dave McNamee and the winner will receive the Dave McNamee Cup. The event record-holders are Jon Hopkins (Swansea Harriers, 29:27) and Rachel Felton (Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers, 34:37) in the 10K; Josh Lunn (Bedford & County, 49:12) and Molly Browne (BRAT, 59:57) in the 10 miles.

Gloucester Marathon record-holders are Robert Turner (Edinburgh AC, 2:42:45) and Susannah Gill (3:04:55) while the fastest half marathon times are owned by Will Munday (Swansea Harriers, 1:09:57) and Natasha Cockram (Micky Morris Racing Club, 1:19:04). Gloucester 50K best performances are 2:57:58 by Ollie Garrod (South London Harriers) and 3:28:07 by Samantha Amend (Belgrave Harriers).

Race and entry details are available at Beyond The Limitations here and via runABC South race listing here

Image from Gloucester 50K 2019 courtesy Beyond The Limitations on Facebook