THE biggest ever Tavy 7 race could be on the cards for this November, after councillors in Tavistock gave the thumbs up to an increased entry. The annual race is organised by Tavistock Athletic Club, which this year embarked on an ambitious project to raise £100,000 towards a new purpose-built athletics track at Tavistock College. As part of the fundraising campaign, the club wishes to extend its race on the Whitchurch Down area to cope with 700 runners. But in order to accommodate this many people, the club needed permission to use an area of the Down for parking. Allan Herdman, club chairman, told the council: ?Three years ago we instigated a more rigorous traffic management policy that was a complete success. By diverting our traffic away from the narrow lane leading past Whitchurch Church we avoided conflicts that had caused problems in previous years. ?This year, as well as applying measures we have taken over recent years, we intend to appeal to participants to car share and use designated parking spaces further afield. We are confident we can achieve our aim of managing the car parking in a responsible manner with little or no impact on the moor.? Mr Herdman said the Tavy 7 was a ?firm favourite? in the running calendar that put Tavistock on the athletics map ? last year it was rated 28 in the top 100 races on the Runners? World website. ?A fantastic achievement, given that Runners? World is the most popular running magazine and website among runners in the country,? said Mr Herdman. Cllr Mandy Govier at last week?s meeting of the council?s properties committee said: ?We as a council encourage sport and I suggest we go with this. They have acted responsibly in the last couple of years, they have very good firms sponsoring it who wouldn?t like bad publicity, I think we should support it. Cllr Norma Woodcock said: ?I think it encourages people into the area, they may be using our restaurants and cafés, staying in our bed and breakfasts and generally bringing trade into the town.? Town clerk Roger Howard said as he had no response from Whitchurch Commoners regarding the expanded race, the council would have to assume they had no objection to the proposals. The decision was due to be ratified by the full council at its meeting on Tuesday.