CARNIVAL Thursday is always a special evening for runners throughout the region, as they gather in the Meadows to take part in the annual Tavistock Relays, organised by Tavistock Athletic Club and supported by the Lions Club of Tavistock.

With separate races for 4-person teams in the men, women and junior categories, plus a family fun run, it's an enormous feat of organisation for the club. This year, with 60 male teams, 41 female teams and 29 junior teams taking part, meaning 520 athletes in total, plus there was another 50 in the fun run. On a perfect sunny evening, the course for each relay member was once round the 1.1-mile course which tracked up and down both sides of the river in the park.

In the men's race, the overall winning team was 'Hopton Harriers', made up of athletes from South West Road Runners, in an aggregated time of 20min 25s. The M40 category was won by a Tavistock Athletic Club team, the M50 by Plymouth Musketeers, and the M60 by East Cornwall Harriers.

Team Meadowlands won the Sports Clubs category and Tavistock Round Table the corporate category. Fastest individual leg was taken by Jack Clarke of East Cornwall Harriers in 4min 47s.

In the women's race, TAC won the overall team prizes with their 'Tavistock OGs' team in a time of 24:16, and also took first place in the F35 and F55 categories. East Cornwall Harriers won the F45 category. Fastest individual leg was run by TAC's Nikki Kelly in 5min 37s.

In the junior’s race, teams from the City of Plymouth AC (COPAC) won the boy's races in the 5/6, 7/8 and 9/10 age groups, with a TAC team winning the 11/12 age group. COPAC did equally well in the girl's races, winning the 5/6, 7/8 and 11/12 age groups, with TAC triumphing in the 9/10 age group.

With around 600 folk actually running the races, and their families and supporters also filling the Meadows, managing the event needed a big team of volunteers.

Race director Richard Nettleship thanked everyone inside and outside of TAC for helping with all the necessary tasks including marshalling, registration, catering, set-up and breakdown, and PA services.

In addition, he thanked the Lions of Tavistock for their overall support and practical assistance, the Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team for First Aid services, James Armstrong Physio for sponsoring the event, and the general public for their patience and understanding.