Westbury Harriers Weekly News
Evening all,
It’s been a busy week in the race calendar, with the Cotswold Relay, Westbury Wipeout, Sri Chimnoy 1mile race and Brean Banger – Read the race reports below. Next Club Championship race is the Purdown Pursuit on Thursday 16th July, followed by the Lightening Bolt 10k race on Sunday 19th July. Monday tempo session resumes tomorrow, back at Blaise Pavilion.
It’s set to be another scorching week, stay hydrated!
In this week’s newsletter:
- Club notices
- Training this week
- Race reports / results
- Upcoming races
1. CLUB NOTICES
BLAISE PARKRUN, SATURDAY 18TH JULY – COME ALONG
Join us at the pavilion for refreshments after Blaise Parkrun – Saturday 18th July
After a successful first welcoming event at the Blaise Parkrun, we’ll be opening the club house again this Saturday 18th July. Everyone is welcome to pop in for a quick social following the Parkrun. They’ll be refreshments and volunteers to introduce any potential new members to the club. The plan is to open the clubhouse every 3rd Saturday of the month, the next will be Saturday 18th August. It’d be great to see you if you can make it.
YATE AC – TRACK RACING
As a Westbury Harrier member you can join our sister club Yate AC for free. As Westbury is registered for road and cross country disciplines only, for track we compete for Yate AC who are only registered for the track discipline.
To do this join Yate as Westbury associate member.
Complete the other discipline form. This needs to be signed by a WH committee member/team manager and then sent to both Westbury and Yate membership secretaires (membership@westburyharriers.co.uk and yatemembership@outlook.com). You only need to complete this form once.
You will then receive email communications about the athletic leagues Yate participate in – YDL, UDL, Avon T&F, Midland League and National Athletic League.
Once registered you may want to check your power of 10 profile updates to show Westbury and Yate so your results show. Any issues email power of 10
AVON ROAD RELAYS. SUNDAY 30TH AUGUST – Avon 5km Road Relays Championships 2026
10am start (Please note new start time of 10am and it is Bank Holiday Sunday)
Location: Cleeve, Bristol BS49 4PP
3 person teams: U20 men/women (must be 16 or over), senior women, V35/V45/V55/V65/V75 women, V50/V60/V70 men
4 person teams: senior men & V40 men
Cost: Free. This is a championship event so no charge, club pays the entry.
Teams: People will try to be accommodated into their age appropriate team but with relays we may need to move people about to ensure we have complete teams. Please sign up on RunTogether as early as possible so we know who we have as organising relay teams is always interesting (a slight headache!)
Suitable for: Everyone (16 years and over)
Team Managers for this event Women: Tamsin Men: Mike Mewse
This is an Avon championship road relay. Each person in a team runs a 5km circular route on local country lanes and paths. Westbury always have loads of teams at this event, so do come along and get involved it is always a fun and social morning. It is a great event local event, enjoyable and suitable for everyone. Held at the cricket club, where there is small children’s playground and plenty of space if you are bringing the family. We look to ensure everyone is included. From putting out competitive teams, welcoming new club members into a relay event and a great starting point for those who may not have run in a relay before. Don’t worry if you will have just come off holiday or won’t have done much running over the summer, it will be the same for everyone. It is good season starter. The organiser has put a team limit this year of 70 teams in total as the event is getting so popular, so early sign up again would be appreciated.
Reserve Runners: Always needed and welcomed, let the team manager know.
How to get involved: Sign up on RunTogether
Men’s Team
https://clubspark.englandathletics.org/WestburyHarriersRunningClub/Coaching/Summary/c3a2b594-f88a-4311-ac47-b16837243a13
Women’s Team
https://clubspark.englandathletics.org/WestburyHarriersRunningClub/Coaching/Summary/b17a0c9c-2944-4a33-b895-4f9fc24069c6
Any questions talk to a team manager at training or drop them a message.
2. TRAINING THIS WEEK
MONDAY – Tempo Session:
Group runs from Blaise Castle Pavilion at 6.30pm. These are perfect sessions for a Tempo pace run. Equally there are plenty of groups available if you want a recovery or social run. Book via RunTogether.
TUESDAY – Track Session:
Track at Yate
WEDNESDAY – Hill Session:
Adults, all abilities. Meet every Wednesday at 12pm, corner of Saville Road by the Downs. Sign up on RunTogether App.
THURSDAY – Interval Session:
7pm at Coombe Dingle Sports Complex.
5 x 2mins (1min recovery) 2mins @5k pace/effort
5 x 1min (20 sec recovery) 1min @3k pace/effort
5 x 30secs (30sec recovery) 30secs quicker than @3k pace/effort
*option to do 4 of each
3. RACE RESULTS/REPORTS
COTSWOLD WAY RELAY, SATURDAY 4th JULY
by Eithne Noonan
20 Westbury Harriers formed 2 teams to represent the club on Sat for the 34th Cotswold Way relay. They joined over 100 other teams to cover the 103 mile route from Chipping Camden to Bath Abbey. The race is divided into 10 stages, all varying in distance and elevation and all offering stunning views.
Conditions were very favourable for the first few stages but became hot and humid as the day progressed. As usual, there was a very friendly atmosphere and great camaraderie between participants.
As the race is spread out over the entire day, we had great fun keeping track of each other on our WhatsApp group, the first photo posted just before 7am and the final one just after 7pm. See a selection of our before and after photos, some managed to look as fresh at the end as when they started! Everyone had a great run and enjoyed the event.
Preliminary results:
Open team 27th out of 43
Vets team 16th out of 16
When you consider the vets team age is 40 and over, we did very well as many of us are older (even 30yrs older!)
Well done and a big thank you to all the runners and volunteers who took part on behalf of Westbury Harriers, especially those who stood in last minute.
SRI CHINMOY ICE CREAM RELAY 2026, TUESDAY 7TH JULY
by Mark Andrews
A lovely summer evening in Eastville park for the final race of this year’s series, the 3 x 1 mile relay event.
This is always a fun and popular event attracting both junior and senior runners.
Westbury Harriers were well represented and picked up plenty of Medals.
Congratulations to the Hanna family for their first place in a really competitive family team category. Helen, Carole and Eithne won the female Vet medals, Mark, Sarah and Monica were the mixed Vet medal winners.
The prizes for the 2026 series were also presented tonight, well done Eithne for winning this year’s Female Vet 70 trophy.
The highlight of the evening of course is that everyone gets an ice cream at the end!
BREAN BANGER – WEDNESDAY 8TH JULY
by Carolyn Dent
A small group of Westbury Harriers enjoyed the Brean Banger tonight. Lovely views and cool breeze on Brean Down. Medal, cider and ice cream! Club champs race this year. It’s a good one!
3rd place overall for Jonathan Riley and first FV55 for Monica Warnock and great running all round!
WESTBURY WIPEOUT – MONDAY 6TH JULY
by Rachel Liston
Monday saw the return of the legendary Westbury Wipeout — and what a brilliant event it was! Thanks to the incredible support of the whole club, this continues to be one of the hottest tickets on the running calendar.
350 brave adventurers took on the challenge, charging headfirst down the Descent of Doom, navigating the perilous waters of Shark Lagoon and splashing beneath the Troll’s Bridge.
This event is one of my absolute favourites. There’s something wonderful about seeing children return year after year, just as excited as they were the first time. For one evening only, they’re actively encouraged to run into the streams, scramble up muddy banks, explore hidden corners of the trails. The usual rules are temporarily suspended: getting soaked is encouraged, muddy shoes are a badge of honour.
Meanwhile, an army of parents, volunteers and supporters cheered every splash, scramble and sprint from the sidelines, creating an atmosphere that was every bit as special as the course itself.
As a mum of two children who were absolutely living their best lives on Monday evening, and as someone who witnessed countless muddy smiles crossing the finish line, I’d like to say a huge thank you to the organisers and everyone who helped make the event possible (lots and lots of you!!). These events don’t happen by magic, and we’re incredibly fortunate to have such a dedicated community behind them.
4. UPCOMING RACES / CLUB CHAMPS
A reminder that we have an events calendar on our website where you can keep track of dates for training, events and races. https://westburyharriers.co.uk/events/events-calendar/
And club champ races here: Club Championship – Westbury Harriers
Other local races:
Thursday 16th July: Purdown Pursuit (TACH) – Club Champs https://www.sientries.co.uk/event.php?event_id=17733
Sunday 19th July: Lightning Bolt 10k – https://www.icompete.co.uk/events/lightningbolt10k2026race3
Sunday 27th September: Black Nore 10k https://www.fullonsport.com/event/black-nore-10km-2026/profile
Please send anything you might want to see in the newsletter to: communication@westburyharriers.co.uk
SOCIAL MEDIA:
WESTBURY HARRIERS FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/groups/westburyharriers/
WESTBURY HARRIERS INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/westbury_harriers/
If anyone is on Instagram, we would love for you to tag us, so we can share your posts/stories taking part in club events or other races!
Editor: Yvette Casallas
