Weston Athletic Club’s popular Christmas Cracker 10k race will make a welcome return to the beach at Weston-super-Mare this year. The race takes place on Sunday 19 December at 11am, and once again the main adults’ 10k race will be preceded by a 2k event for junior runners.

Entries are now open for the adult and junior races on the club’s website at www.westonac.co.uk/christmas-cracker.

The 10k race will take place on its usual route along the beach, seafront and through the village of Uphill with a race entry limit of 2,500 runners. The junior races will follow a 2k course on the beach, divided into two age categories starting at 9.30am and 9.45am.

This year’s event will be overseen by new race director Jason Wyatt who is taking over the reins from longstanding race director Malcolm Gammon. Jason said: “Huge thanks to Malcolm for all his dedication and leadership over the years, always putting on a first class event and raising huge amounts for charity. He’s going to be a very hard act to follow.

“We can’t wait to welcome everyone back to the beach this year and it will be a great way to celebrate the festive season. The Cracker is always a hugely enjoyable event for runners and for us as organisers and I’m really looking forward to race day and seeing thousands of penguins, snowmen, Santas, stars, trees and fairies hurtling down the beach.”

The plan is to run the event as usual, but alternative measures are also being considered should the circumstances change again before Christmas. Jason added: “We’re committed to running the event as usual, but if we’re restricted from doing so we’ll give all our runners the opportunity to switch to a virtual version of the event to run at a time and place they choose. This proved really popular last year.

“Runners will also be able to opt to donate their entry fee to our race charity Weston Hospicecare or receive a refund if they decide not to run the virtual alternative.”

The entry fee for the 2021 race will be lower than in previous years at just £12 (or £10 for affiliated runners) as the club has decided not to offer a t-shirt this time because of coronavirus. Jason added: “We’re trying to keep things simple this year. If we’re able to run the race as normal next year, the entry fee will increase and a t-shirt will be included. Race finishers will all still get a medal this year. Regrettably, there’ll be no mince pies this year, but all being well they’ll see a return in 2022.”

Entry to the junior race is £3 to include a medal and donation to charity.

Weston Athletic Club will also be running their popular 10 week Christmas Cracker training group from Monday 4 October at a cost of £30 for the course with all proceeds donated to Weston Hospicecare. The training sessions will be held on Monday evenings with optional Saturday morning sessions. Sheryl Selway from Weston AC is organising the programme and said: “This programme is a great way for people to go from not running at all, or running a little, to being able to run the 10k distance in time to take part in the race.

“We’ve been running the sessions since 2014 and we’ve seen hundreds of runners begin their running journeys with us over the years. Many are still running with us now and I would encourage anyone who’s keen to get into running to get in touch. The groups are hugely supportive and great fun, and everyone says it’s much better than going it alone.”

More information about the training course is available from Sheryl at sherylselway@btinternet.com.