In-form Peter Monaghan will be seeking to retain his title in the 30th Taunton marathon and half marathon tomorrow.
Monaghan won the half event 12 months ago and will start among the favourites, although he can expect strong opposition from Team Bath's Matt Young and the Torbay AC pair of Aaron Tocknell and Simon Longthorpe.
While Taunton pales compared to the size of the Bristol or Bath half marathons, race director John Lewis, who has been involved since the launch, reports over 1,000 entries have been received for the half with 250 in the full marathon.
"Entries for the marathon have held up very well but we are ten per cent down on the half this year, although it is still more than enough runners to make a competitive event with a really good atmosphere," said Lewis.
"Putting on the event is certainly more complicated than 30 years ago. There was less traffic then and you didn't have the level of Sunday trading, but runners seem to enjoy it which is the main thing so we are doing something right."
In the marathon Taunton-based Chris Ray will be a popular winner if he can improve upon his third last year while Weston AC's Liz Wiggins will be looking to go one better than her second twelve months ago. Defending champion Ellie Sutcliffe is out injured.
The British Milers' Club South West Grand Prix gets underway this month and organiser John Knowles is anticipating another record-breaking summer.
"Last year we saw plenty of personal bests and some great races and hopefully that will be the case in 2013," said Knowles.
The first meeting will be held on Tuesday April 30th , in which the 800m the main focus of the meeting with further meetings scheduled for May 21st (800&1500m), June 25th (800m), July 30th (1500m) and August 27th (800&1500m). For further entry details see the website at: http://www.britishmilersclub.com/
Also on the road tomorrow are the Horton Spring Bull Run in south Gloucestershire (http://www.hortonbullrun.co.uk/) and the Cotswold 10k in Temple Guiting (http://www.beyondthelimitations.co.uk/).
It is also worth remembering that the Yeovilton 5k Summer Series, held over a flat and fast course, kicks off next Wednesday (April 10).
The race HQ is the Nuffield Bar, RNAS Yeovilton, (opposite the Fleet Air Arm Museum off the A303) and the races are held on the second Wednesday of each month, starting at 7.15pm on each occasion. The other dates are May 8; June 12; July 10; August 14 and September 11.
Entries will be taken on the evening of each race or you can pre-enter for the series by logging onto the website at: ww.yeoviltownrrc.com
Off-road races include the Chedworth Roman Trail 10 (http://www.cirencester-ac.org.uk/), the Trowbridge Lions 10k (http://www.trowbridgelions.org/) and the Exe to Axe 20 miles race (www.sidmouthrunningclub.co.uk).
The City of Plymouth AC is holding a spring warm-up track & field meeting for all age groups at the Brickfields Stadium tomorrow and entries will be taken on the day. For full details of the timetable see the club website at: www.plymouthac.co.uk
Also a reminder that entries are still being taken for the inaugural Team Bath AC/Stroud & District Field Fest Open meeting at Bath University on Sunday April 14 (ww.teambathac.org). Also on the same day is the Sprints & Hurdles Open meeting in Yate, south Gloucestershire (http://www.yateac.co.uk/) and the Yeovil Olympiads spring open (www.yeovilolympiads.com).
Entries will be take on the day for the second Bridgwater 10 road race next Sunday (April 14) and further details are available at: www.totalbuzzevents.com
Adrian Marriott ran his first 100k last weekend and while he didn't make the finish line he admitted afterwards: 'I certainly learned a lot!'
"Things were looking good until just after the 4-hour mark when my legs fell off and I was reduced to shuffle!" said the Wells City Harrier.
He kept going for another three-and-a-half hours before stepping off the course just past the 50 miles mark.
"I am now looking forward to a bit of a rest and then some spring road races and some races on the track in the summer," added Marriott.
