Rob Green is set to defend his crown in the Linda Franks 5 Mile race on Sunday.

The CLC Striders runner won last year’s event in an impressive 25 minutes, 50 seconds, some 43 seconds clear of Stroud Athletic Club member Benjamin Gregory, who was his nearest challenger.

“It was a phenomenal run,” said Peter Mitchener, chairman of Cheltenham-based Almost Athletes, the club who organise the race. “He ran the final mile in sub five minutes.”

The race has been a major part of the Gloucestershire sporting calendar for more than 30 years with all 300 places for this year’s event taken.

“We get some quality runners in the field,” said Mitchener. “There are quite a few from Western Tempo who may challenge Rob this year.

“It’s a flat course, it will be a quick time.”

Mitchener, who is 59, will be running on Sunday and he said: “My best time is 33.33, which is very pleasing for a mathematician!

“I’m hoping for for under 35 minutes, I’ll be happy with that.”

Mitchener will certainly be very busy because he’s also handing out the prizes at the end of the race.

“I won’t be handing one to myself,” he laughed. “There will be prizes for the first three men and women and also the age category winners.”

Every runner will receive a medal and Mitchener added: “It’s a big event for the club, it’s one of three races we organise, the others are the Bugatti 10 at Prescott and the Meteor Mile at Gloucestershire Airport.”

Both of those events take place in the summer.

Sunday’s race gets under way at 9am from the Reddings and will raise money for Caring for Communities and People (CCP).