First character raced around some shops (6)
I believe the answer is:
arcade
'some shops' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'first character raced around' is the wordplay.
'first' says to put letters next to each other.
'character' becomes 'a' ().
'around' is an anagram indicator.
'raced' anagrammed gives 'rcade'.
'a' put next to 'rcade' is 'ARCADE'.
(Other definitions for arcade that I've seen before include "shopping precinct" , "Lots of games" , "Colonnade" , "Covered passageway with shops and stalls" , "Covered way with shops on either side" .)