Tewkesbury Allrunners are – just like The Local Answer – celebrating their 10th anniversary this year and one of their big highlights will be, naturally enough, a run to mark the milestone.

The club, made up exclusively of ladies, are organising a special parkrun on Saturday 20th July when as many people as possible – men, women and children – are being encouraged to take part.

That date is just short of 10 years to the day since Tewkesbury Allrunners went on their first ever run on 28th July 2009.

Jo Teague, who was on that inaugural run, is heading up the 10-year anniversary celebrations and she said of the parkrun: “Everyone is invited. If you came on a beginners’ course at the club, came and ran for a few nights or run regularly then it would be great to see you on the 20th July at the Tewkesbury Parkrun.

“You can bring along kids, families and friends to celebrate 10 years of this special club which has touched so many people’s lives.

“As ever with Allrunners events, there will be cake and a chance to catch up with friends.”

If that sounds like fun, then that’s exactly the message that the club want to get across.

“You can walk it, jog it or run it,” said Linda Coxshall, who is one of 10 or so runners from that first run a decade ago still very much involved at the club.

“We don’t like to talk about times, we’re just about getting round. Our ethos is about encouraging other runners - getting there and doing it is an achievement.

“I think that’s why we’ve lasted so long, it’s all about supporting each other. We’re not so competitive.”

And the club have certainly gone from strength to strength since being formed by Kerry Newell.

These days Kathy Lewis is head coach – Julia Ballard is also a qualified coach – and there are seven run leaders of which Linda Coxshall is one.

The club meet at 6pm every Tuesday evening at the Sea Cadet Hall, just off Spring Gardens, in Tewkesbury and Linda added: “We had about 20 people take part on the first night, now we regularly have 70.”

And they’re very easy to spot too because they run in red vests – “Yes, we’re ladies in red,” laughed Linda – and as well as their regular runners they also have 400 or so active members on Facebook.

Runners have to be 18 to be a member of the club – one or two are as old as 70 – but there are plans to set up a youth section under Kim Broom.

And anyone new to the sport of running will certainly be taken very good care of because the club run two beginners’ courses every year.

“They last for 10 weeks,” explained Linda. “Everyone gets a T-shirt and we get them up to three miles.”

And 45-year-old Linda knows they work because she went on one herself.

She’d never run before she joined Tewkesbury Allrunners and she said: “You start off by walking 15 steps, then running 15 steps. You walk/run, walk/run and slowly increase.”

And Linda has improved to such an extent that a couple of years ago she ran the London Marathon.

“We’ve got quite a few runners who take part in marathons and they raise money for charity,” continued Linda. “And one of our members, Helen Gould, has run ultra marathons.”

Raising money for good causes is very important to the club, and they are affiliated to England Athletics and run under the RunTogether umbrella.

They are involved in the #RunAndTalk programme which has been created with the aim of improving mental health through running in England. It is supported by Mind, the mental health charity, and Tewkesbury Allrunners organise a run in aid of mental health.

“Running gives you the chance to run and have a chat away from the pressures of work and family,” said Linda.

“We like to go off-road in the summer, across the fields, around Tewkesbury Ham and along the River Avon.”

And if for any reason you can’t run you can still remain involved.

“We have a walking group as well,” said Linda. “So if you’re injured you can still get out for an hour or so.”

There is no annual membership fee at Tewkesbury Allrunners, you simply pay £2 every time you run.

And it certainly works. Ask Linda if she thought the club would ever be this successful and she said: “Gosh, no. Who’d have imagined it? It’s lovely.”

And the good news is that they are still growing.

“We can cater for as many ladies who want to come along,” added Linda.

Hopefully a large number will turn out for the parkrun at The Vineyards on 20th July. Linda will obviously be there and it will be an extra special day for her because it also her birthday.

“I might have an extra slice of cake after the run,” she laughed.