Gloucestershire's Linda Franks 5 Miler will celebrate its Big 30 in 2024, which means there is more reason than ever to sign up for this popular road race. Scheduled to take place on Sunday 21 January, the 5-mile race takes place on a fast two-loop circuit on largely quiet residential roads.

Hosted by Almost Athletes (Cheltenham), the race commemorates the memory of a popular (and one of the original) members of the club who passed away suddenly many years ago. The race is typically held in mid/late January, on the Sunday closest to what would have been Linda's birthday.

This is usually a sell-out race and organisers will be releasing entries in waves, with the first batch available on 29 October at 6pm, then follows 1 November at 6am and 4 November at 7am. Set the calendar reminders now!

Speaking about their event, organisers explain: "The race started out as a 2/4 mile fun run, with proceeds going to a local charity. Such was the success that it became an annual event and ultimately evolved into a measured, mile-marked and chip-timed, 5-mile race which now forms part of the county race series, whilst keeping to its original premise of being a race for everybody."

This race is largely flat and has great potential to be a PB course. In 2023 James Denne of Western Tempo won in a time of 25:41 while first female was Gloucester AC's Gemma Collier in 29:15.

If you'd like to know more, visit the Linda Franks 5 Mile website.

Image: Almost Athletes