MOTORISTS are being asked to by cautious during the 29th annual Deane DLO Taunton 10k race on Sunday (September 27).

Tone Leisure is hosting the run at Blackbrook Pavilion, with over 600 people setting off at 11am.

The course takes them around Chestnut Drive, Upper Holway Road, Holway Avenue, South Road, and Stoke Road before heading out to Stoke St Mary, then back along Haydon Lane, past the golf driving range, to the finish at Blackbrook Pavilion.

Race director John Lewis, from organisers Taunton Carnival Committee, said: “We had an immediate response from the launch at the end of July and it was pretty constant from then on.

“The majority of runners for this race are local, with many not being club members but just doing it for themselves.

“The shorter distance attracts runners who don’t fancy the half marathon.

“Local clubs Taunton AC, Running Forever and Taunton RC are well represented and we have some ‘visiting’ clubs from Devon.”

Mr Lewis has urged drivers to be cautious and patient around the route with so many runners on the roads.

He added: “Races are generally run on anti-clockwise courses to reduce conflict with traffic as much as possible.

“We have a 30-minute road closure at Lisieux Way/Blackbrook Way roundabout so we can set up the start and get the race under way safely.

“Apart from that there are only two points on the 10k route where traffic is held up for runners, at the Upper Holway Road junction and in Chestnut Drive, where we have to get runners from one part of Stoke Road to the other.

“The field isn’t spread out at these points so the hold ups should be only a few minutes.”

Look out for race reports and pictures in next week’s County Gazette with full results on this website.