The River Parrett Trail—Crewkerne Running Club On Saturday 7th October, Crewkerne Running Club staged a 'trial' of a new format for the epic Parrett Trail Relay Race, an event that has been held annually since 2003. The scenic 85km long route broadly follows the entire length of the River Parrett from the Bristol Channel, through Somerset to its source in Dorset. The event was a 'real time' relay over eight consecutive legs with the participants carrying quirky wooden batons (pictured right). Starting at 09:00 at Steart and with the kind permission of both the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) and Natural England, the runners set off along a short section of the England Coast path and then onto trails through the nature reserves to reach the first handover point at Combwich harbour. The 2nd leg took the runners along the riverside to the next handover along-side the floating harbour marina at Bridgwater. From here the route took competitors along the canal tow-path through the hidden heart of the town before heading back out into the countryside after passing be-low the M5. Passing by Moorland, the village devastated by winter flooding in 2013/4, another handover was made at Burrowbridge and under the looming presence of the 'Mump'. Stoically resisting the temp-tations of the King Alfred Inn the runners then followed along the river's eastern bank all the way through to Langport.

After a short intermission in the town, to help regroup the teams, the race set off again at 13:00. Legs 5 & 6 took the runners across the still flat moorland, passing the impressive Midelney pumping station, then onward through Kingsbury Episcopi and Bower Hinton before finally reaching the lung bursting climb up Ham Hill.

Leg 7 saw the competitors back down from Ham Hill to again cross the now much smaller river as they headed out through Wigborough, then onto Merriott before crossing back to reach the final handover at Haselbury Mill. The Mill owners kindly offered use of their community field for the event and here passing runners were supplied sweets, drinks and encouragement by the enthusiastic marshals Stuart Stacey and George Smith. For the final leg competitors are seen safely across the busy A30 initially following the winding path of the Parrett before branching away to pass through North Perrott. Crossing the railway line on their way to South Perrott, in the distance they could see the climb to the finish at Winyard's Gap. Daunting as though this might have seemed, the prospect of actually finishing and being handily located at the Inn seems to have helped, at least judging by the smiles on the faces of the finishers.

Clive and Sarah at Steart

Amazingly after all that running, the two home Crewkerne teams captained by Darren Frost and Andy Dickinson, finished in the same overall and fastest time of 7hr 49mins. Honours for 'hero' of the day go to Matt Haywood for unexpectedly having to complete three legs after another member of the 'Just glue it!' team had to retire along the route. Race organiser Dave 'Downhill' Carnell, said that he was pleased that the event had gone off well with a full day's fun racing. The weather had been moderately kind and nobody got lost (at least not completely!). 

Dave Carnell—Crewkerne Running Club

Sally Vickery (Rights of Way Volunteer Modifications Officer, Local Access Forum Secretary, Area Warden – Retired December 2017)