Text 1: The first Bellmere Fun Run, by Jo Ellis

An original contemporary blog.

I offered to organise our village fun run after the usual organiser moved away. We chose a route around the playing field and the riverside path, then spent three Saturdays measuring it and marking places where runners would turn. I put entry forms in the library and asked the local running club to lend us some numbered bibs.

On the morning, I arrived at half past six with my sister and two neighbours. We tied signs to the railings, set out water cups and checked the route for fallen branches. At nine, the first runners gathered by the start line. My sister recorded finishing times while I handed out cups of water. By lunchtime, we had collected the signs and counted the entry money.

Text 2: A village race, by Arthur Bell

An original memoir extract set in the early twentieth century.

Our annual race began at the old mill, and I was given the task of preparing the course. Two days beforehand, my brother and I walked the lanes to warn farmers that runners would pass their gates. On race morning, the blacksmith fixed a notice to the inn door, and the schoolmaster carried a flag to the far end of the course.

The runners assembled after breakfast. My aunt pinned paper numbers to their coats, while I stood near the bridge to point them towards the finish. When the last runner had passed, we gathered the flags and notices and returned them to the schoolroom. The village band played as people waited for the results to be read aloud.