The organisers of the Bury St Edmunds Festival of Sport have hailed the week-long event as their best yet.

East Anglian Daily Times: Left to right: Geoff Miller, Terry Clements, Mayor of St Edmundsbury, Joshua Hulse, Esther Little, Paul Milton from Lovewell Blake and Warren Smyth, Abbeycroft Leisure, outside the Athenaeum. Picture: SPORTSAIDLeft to right: Geoff Miller, Terry Clements, Mayor of St Edmundsbury, Joshua Hulse, Esther Little, Paul Milton from Lovewell Blake and Warren Smyth, Abbeycroft Leisure, outside the Athenaeum. Picture: SPORTSAID (Image: Archant)

A range of taster sessions for a variety of sports were held in and around Bury St Edmunds last week, and the event coincided with the inaugural St Eds Running Festival.

The running festival saw 912 competitors take part across four distances – a marathon, half-marathon, 10k and fun run – which all began from the Skyliner Sports Centre at Moreton Hall.

The festival of sport was the third to be organised by OurBuryStEdmunds.

Chief Executive of OurBuryStEdmunds Mark Cordell said: “This year’s festival was a great success.

“As it coincided with half-term it meant we could offer opportunities to all age groups. We had six different free to enter public participation events in Charter Square and I’d especially like to thank the Arc for supporting this as well as the representatives of the different clubs that organised them.

“It was really noticeable how well supported our local sports clubs and groups are by people who give up their own time to organise events and activities.

“There’s no doubt that these volunteers are the unsung heroes of our grass roots sport.”

As part of the festival, a SportsAid lunch also took place to help support some of the country’s brightest sporting stars of the future.

Former England cricketer and selector Geoff Miller OBE entertained diners at the Athenaeum at the lunch, which was supported by Abbeycroft Leisure and Lovewell Blake.

The event also saw SportsAid grants presented to two local teenagers – athlete Joshua Hulse and basketball player Esther Little.

Joshua competes at both 400 and 800 metres and this year secured first place in the England Athletics 800m at under 17 level, and second at under 20 level in the Welsh international.

Esther plays for Ipswich, England and Great Britain. This summer she played for Great Britain Under 16s in the European Championships where she was named as vice-captain.

She also plays for Ipswich Women in the National League.

The OurBuryStEdmunds Festival of Sport is promoted by a partnership led by the Business Improvement District (BID) organisation OurBuryStEdmunds and including Abbeycroft Leisure and St Edmundsbury Borough and Suffolk County Councils.