Afford Rent-a-Car Potteries Marathon, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire: Sunday, June 16WHY RUN IT?Challenge, atmosphere, supportBritain’s top summer marathon has five notable hills, and celebrates its 21st anniversary this year. The mostly urban route

Unknown runner caught in a torrential summer thunderstorm at The Trunce....

UK triathlons. Honestly, you're spoilt for choice, and that's just as it should be.  The Best: Spring RacesThe Best: Summer RacesThe Best: Autumn RacesThe Best of the RestPicture credit: Mark Howell

Weight 320gEvaluation You need to think of summer if you try on this shoe. It’s designed for ventilation, and lots of it. The upper is made from a wide fabric weave, open cell padding and a plastic mesh, but that’s just the start. Turn the Climacool

, and the shoes do get a little better each year (this summer’s has a more durable outsole, for instance), but the reality is that there are an awful lot of other good shoes on the market, and even our 15-stone-plus testers find it hard to get excited by these

Weight 324gEvaluation Weartesters raved about last summer’s update of the Boston. They loved the deep yet responsive cushioning, and the way the ride was made so smooth by the deep lengthways grooves and hollows in the outsole and midsole

:05:10/1:18:35A pleasant, rural summer event 2002 date: June 11 Burnham Beeches 1/2M (17) 1:14:50/1:21:41Hard summer event run in the attractive Buckinghamshire countryside 2002 date: August 1812 New Forest 1/2M (18) 1:14:53/1:26:47Scenic, forest-based, late-summer

-Surrey borders, is a popular summer event that attracts good fields for the three races.Best monthly eventThe Serpentine 5K is a simple, no-frills event – a fairly flat lakeside 5K in London’s beautiful Hyde Park – held on the last Friday of each month. The race

for short, summer trail races.Try it on if you liked Salomon XA Pro; New Balance 870.

As summer draws to a close – well, if you could call it summer – your early morning and late evening runs will start to get cooler, so you’ll need some in-between kit to see you through to hats-and-gloves weather. These long-sleeved tees are light