What a weekend of sport we have with the Euros final, Wimbledon finals, Tour de France and much more. Not to be out done, Westbury Harriers have been competing on road, track and trail across the country!
RACE REPORTS
English Schools Track and Field
Congratulations to Freya Bradley in the 3000m senior girls race at the prestigious English Schools track and field championships on Saturday at Alexander Stadium, in a time of 9.33.84. Out of a big field of 24 athletes, where the winner (Innes Fitzgerald of Devon) broke Paula Radcliffe’s championship record set in the event in 1992, Freya looked strong and paced the race perfectly.
Rodway 10k
By Trevor Fitsall:
‘Great course last night for the Rodway 10k organised by Emersons Green RC. A mostly off road event across Rodway and Siston Commons interspersed with sections along the Bristol to Bath Cycle Path. This used to be a winter event until mud and rain led to cancellations. The switch to a summer evening is much better…and a great value run at only £10 including medal and refreshments at the end.
Leading ‘Team Westbury’ home was my good self in a creditable 48.52 (33rd out of 150 ish). And the other Westbury Men and Ladies? Well see the picture below….
Tbh… I am starting to get a little paranoid….’
Hazelbury Hurrah
By Tim Carr
‘Getting my excuses in for Trevor being alone at Rodway, I was attending the Hazelbury Hurrah. It’s a little further away on the other side of Bath. A beer and pork pie for all finishers. It’s a lumpy 10k between Box and Corsham. Well worth the effort of getting there.’
Rose Inn 4 miles
Great job to all those Westbury Harriers who made the trip over the bridge on Tuesday to run the third race in the Rose Inn series. Jack Derrick was first WH home in 15th place overall (22:38), Ian Gawinowski (2nd M45 in 24:25), Trevor Fitsall (29:13), Kate Hoffen (1st W55 in 30:12), Helen Kirkwood (31:09), Felicity Russell (1st W65 in 32:42), Nicola Derrick (2nd W50 in 37:08).
Sri Chinmoy Ice Cream Relay
By Mark Andrews:
“Ice Creams, Medals and Series Awards at the Sri Chinmoy Relays! Such a lovely evening!
Not having competed in the relay event before I wasn’t sure what to expect! What a great event, lots of teams taking part, a real mix of abilities and running with the Junior teams was great too! Although being overtaken by an eight year old was possibly the low point of the evening!
A good turnout of Westbury Teams and Westbury runners taking part with family or friends.
Racing for just a mile over a hilly route is very different to what most of us do more often and I’m not sure I got it quite right!
Every finisher gets an ice cream which was enjoyed by adults and kids alike!
Presentations afterwards for performances on the night, for the 2 Mile summer series and for some other recent Sri Chinmoy events!
Tonight I was lucky to have Sarah Andrews and Heidi Andrews as fantastic team mates. Three fairly consistent legs bringing us home as the first V50 mixed team! Congratulations to Eithne Noonan V60 and Trevor Fitsall V50 for their 1st places in the series. Finally, congratulations to Tamsin Chick for collecting her award for a course record in her recent Duathlon!
Westbury Wipeout 2024
The Westbury Wipeout has been featured in the Bristol Post. The Wipeout, as always, was a great success and was clearly enjoyed by the youngsters. It’s an event we, as a club, should be very proud of hosting.
Great work by Neil, Alastair and the whole team.
CLUB NOTICES/UPDATES
ACADEMY – MINI SPORTS – MONDAY 15th JULY
This Monday (15th), it’s the Academy’s mini sports evening at Coombe Dingle – 6.30-8pm. Please can everyone get there around 6.20/6.25pm so we can get the children into teams and walk over to the track to start promptly.
If your child is NOT coming please could you let me (Carrie) know asap – I’m just trying to get them into balanced teams.
Please can all children bring a water bottle. Hoping the rain holds off for us but a coat might be useful, given the forecast! It will go ahead unless the rain is torrential 🤞😎
The week after Monday 22nd July – there will be NO session at Coombe Dingle and NO session at 6pm. We will be having a session in Blaise 7-8pm. Please all meet at the Westbury Harriers hut – teal building by the children’s playground at 7pm. There will be the opportunity to run in the river during the session and my experience is that children often end up completely wet. Please bring a change of clothes/towel /bag to sit on if you think this is your child. There is no need to go in the river so if you do not want your child to do this please let me know – this will only be a part of the session.
AVON ROAD RELAYS
A reminder about the next club relay which is the Avon 5km Road Relay Championships being held on Sunday 25th August 2024 (bank holiday weekend) at Cleeve Cricket club BS49 4PP, 11am start. 5km each leg on a relatively flat course. No cost, club pays the entry fee.
4 Legs Men & MV40 4 Legs
3 Legs All Ladies, U20 Men/Ladies, MV50,MV60
Categories – Seniors, MV40, MV50, MV60 FV35, FV45, FV55, FV65,
Anyone is welcome to take part, we will try and have teams in all age groups and people run in their vet age category but we may have to move people around depending on the teams. Please sign up on RunTogether (men, women and U20s) as soon as you can to help make the team managers jobs easier.
Any questions do chat to Tamsin, Geraint, Chris Palmer or Mike Mewse.
https://groups.runtogether.co.uk/WestburyHarriersRunningClub/BookClass/4cf13315-d971-493d-aa14-d6c59f13c553
VACANT CLUB ROLES
The committee still has a couple of vacant roles. Please do get in touch with Tamsin if you’re interested in taking on either role:
- Parent helpers for junior age groups at the Gwent League (to give out numbers, help lead the warm up etc.)
- Someone to manage new enquiries for juniors
ANNUAL CHARITY HASH AND CAKE SALE
On Monday 19th August, the club will be running the annual charity hash from Blaise. There will be a cake sale afterwards so please do bake or buy cakes to contribute to the event.
To celebrate the club’s 100 years, each Westbury Harriers member will receive a special Centenary mug. Thank you Mark and Sarah Andrews for organising this. The mugs will be handed out at the charity hash.
THIS WEEK’S TRAINING
Monday
Group tempo runs from Blaise at 6.30pm, with Wellbeing run at 7.15pm
Tuesday
Track session at Yate 7pm – seniors book on via RunTogether. Check the FB page for session details.
Wednesday Hill Session
Adults, all abilities. Meet every Wednesday at 12pm at the traffic lights by Saville Road on the Downs. Book on via RunTogether. Coffee in the Downs Café at 1pm for anyone that wants to come along.
Thursday Intervals
Juniors 6pm, Adults 7pm at Coombe Dingle
Senior session this week –
1-2-3-4-3-2-1mins with 1 min recoveries*
Aim for quicker than 5k pace for 1&2 mins, 5k pace or slightly slower for 3&4 mins
*option to drop 4 mins to 3 mins
**Options are suitable for those coming back from injury/time out, but remember as well it would be more beneficial to sometimes take the reduced option and run quicker, than to complete the full session and run at the same speed as previous training blocks.
EVENTS CALENDER/UPCOMING RACES
A reminder that we have an events calendar on our website where you can keep track of dates for training, events and races. (Thanks, Vicky, for keeping this updated). https://westburyharriers.co.uk/events/events-calendar/
Thursday 18th July – Purdown Pursuit Club Championship #8
Friday 26th July – Towpath Series 10k Race 3 Club Championship #9
Sunday 4th August 2024 The Westonbirt House Summer 10k – Westonbirt House Summer 10k, 4th August 2024 — icompete Club Championship #10
The issue with the club declaration on entry for this race has now been resolved.
Wednesday 7th August – Bitton 5k Series
Wednesday 14th August – Crook peak fell race, club championship #11
Monday 19th August – Annual charity hash run and cake sale @Blaise Castle
Sunday 25th August – Avon 5km Road Relay Championships: Cleeve Cricket Club
Saturday 14th September – the rearranged English National Cross Country Championships. Weston Park, Staffordshire. Team managers will send out details in due course. Club pays entry fee. Target team race.
Saturday 21st September – Midland 6/4 stage Road Relays – Sutton Park. Target team race.
A great website for races within an hour of Bristol is https://www.runfinder.co.uk/find-your-next-run
TRACK RACES
14th July: Midland League at Yate – endurance runners needed.
Check out Yate Midland League FB group https://www.facebook.com/groups/735921887780553
21st July 2024
Avon/Yate AC Masters Open 2024 inc. the Avon County & Welsh Masters
https://meets.rosterathletics.com/public/competitions/details/schedule?id=24741
27th August 2024: Avon open meeting at WISE
Avon open https://www.entrycentral.com/festival/3466
Track fixture list – https://yateac.co.uk/track-field-fixtures-list/
July 14th Midland Athletics League (Division 1) Yate
July 21st Avon/Yate AC Masters Open 2024 inc. Avon County & Welsh Masters Champs Yate Roster AthleticsJuly 26th- 27th British Masters Track & Field Championships Derby https://bmaf.org.uk/fixtures/
As a Westbury member you get free membership to Yate AC – so join up to find out what goes on https://yateac.co.uk/yate-district-ac-membership/
If we have missed any race events that you think should be listed or would like to send a race update that you participated in, please contact – communication@westburyharriers.co.uk
This week’s editor: Hannah Large
