Westbury Harriers – Weekly News
Evening everyone. Lots to report this week, hope everyone has had a great weekend and you’ve enjoyed the lovely autumn weather.
In this week’s newsletter:
- Club notices
- Training this week
- Race reports / results
- Upcoming races
1. CLUB NOTICES
MEMBER OF THE MONTH – OCTOBER
Kardia Ho
After joining us earlier this year Kardia ran an impressive 40.42 at Bristol 10km in May. A regular at training and Blaise parkrun, she also competed for Yate through the summer season achieving Pbs in the 1500m and 3000m.
Nina Postans
The number of children taking part in the academy sessions is impressive as is their enthusiasm for their running and just being out in the fresh air having fun. The way the sessions are organised and managed is really good.
Nina leads the session well ensuring structure, whilst allowing the children to have fun. Nina has been heavily involved in the organisation and administration of the academy behind the scenes and her time and energy is really appreciated.
APOLOGIES FOR CLUB HOUSE
Apologies to those who were looking forward to their post Blaise parkrun refreshments yesterday. Slight key mix up meant the team didn’t have the right key. Apologies from me (Tamsin) for this and thanks to Elaine and Maggie who were volunteering. Next opening will be Saturday 21st Nov.
CLUB SUPPER
Please sign up to the next Club Supper to be held on Monday 26 October, 7:45pm to eat at 8pm, at Coombe Dingle. Lasagne and garlic bread. £9:50 per head. Vegetarian option available but please state dietary requirement when booking.
Deadline: 19th October
MAKING TRACKS – Night Trail Run Series
Run 1: Wednesday 21st October @ 7pm – meet at Blaise Castle Estate, outside the cafe. The main car park closes at 7.15pm, but there is free on-street parking on King’s Weston Road or Hallen Road. ///loss.overnight.bake
https://w3w.co/loss.overnight.bake
Sign up on the link below. Bring trail shoes and head torch.
As the nights draw in, it can feel harder to get out for a run in the evenings, particularly if you’re worried about trail running solo in the dark 🔦
We know that women and people of marginalised genders can face additional barriers and concerns when it comes to running at night. But we also think there’s something pretty magical about being out on the trails after dark. We want to create a comfortable, supportive environment which helps you build confidence with exploring the trails after sunset. That’s why we’re organising one social trail run (approx 50 mins – 1hr) each month throughout Autumn/Winter – each in a different part of town. Open to all women and people of marginalised genders.
You may be totally new to trail running in the dark, or you may be an experienced trail runner who would like some company on evening runs. Everyone is welcome and no-one will be left behind! We also have a few headtorches available to borrow if you don’t have one of your own.
Sign up for our Oct-Dec events via the Google form – see link in bio. Meeting point locations and further details also in the Google form.
Looking forward to seeing you there!
Thanks Hannah, Yvette and Olivia
HALLOWEEN RUN…
If you go down to the woods this Halloween what do you think you will find? On Wednesday 28th October around 6:30pm you might perchance upon this scary mob. Why not join them in Blaise for off-road ghostly running followed by spooky treats, Trail shoes and running lights recommended, scary fancy dress encouraged – you might win a prize. FREE to brave participants.
THE GWENT LEAGUE…
For anyone new to the club or that has not participated before, the Gwent League is one big team effort. Whatever age or ability you are, you score for the team, your age group team (and all the age group teams younger than you) and as an individual. So we really encourage everyone to get involved as we need you. We have people come back year after year, so we know it is ‘fun’. We appreciate your time coming to participate and know some people can’t make all fixtures, but do try to make 1 or more.
Team managers will assign you a number and these will be available for you on the day in the team folder, located in the club tent. DO NOT throw away this number, it is for all fixtures. We now return these to the folder in numerical order after the race so we don’t lose them. Please sign up in advance particularly for the first fixture so team managers can get numbers sorted.
You will need to wear you club vest or T-Shirt (White with blue hoop). Spikes or trial shoes are usually needed. However, for Pembrey you would be OK usually in trainers.
GWENT LEAGUE – BLAISE CASTLE – VOLUNTEERS NEEDED:
With the first Gwent League race at Pembrey Country Park complete, and the next at Llandaff Fields; Cardiff (08/11/26), it is now time where I start asking for volunteers for the Gwent League at Blaise Castle; which Westbury Harriers host to great success each and every year. This year, it is on Saturday 5th December.
I know a lot of our members will be running; but we would greatly appreciate your help, as there are multiple volunteering slots throughout the day (see below). We need > 20 Marshals out on the course at any one point, with some floating volunteers able to respond where / if needed.
Approximate volunteering times are noted below, based on last year (full schedule for the Gwent League has not be released yet); but may change closer to the time.
If there are specific slots that you’d like to have, please let me know and I’ll do my best to accommodate.
Volunteering Slots:
- Early Setup: 09:00 -> ~11:00
- Early Marshall: ~11:00 -> ~13:45
- Late Marshall: ~13:45 -> ~16:00
- Late Cleardown: ~16:00 onwards
- Club House: time to be agreed on at a later date, but expected to be the following day / week.
As usual, all timings will be thought out such that you won’t miss your race and have time to warmup and cooldown.
If you are able to help, please email me at – volunteers@westburyharriers.co.uk
Kind Regards,
Alastair Blackwood – Volunteer CoOrdinator.
2. TRAINING THIS WEEK
MONDAY – Tempo Sessions:
Group runs from Coombe Dingle Sports Complex 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.
Hills – location to be decided closer to the time depending on numbers
3. RACE RESULTS/REPORTS
CARDIFF HALF MARATHON
Our “Athlete of the Year” Ben Rawlins picked up a surprise PB as he ran his fastest Half Marathon on what was due to be a training run at the Cardiff Half Marathon on 4th October. With a late entry and a slight cold Ben wasn’t sure whether to run but decided to have a go and lined up on the front row alongside the international elite runners. Ben worked with a group of six runners to share the pacing and surprised himself with a 2.07.48 clocking. Cardiff is a good venue for Ben who won the SSAFA 5K Series title earlier in the year with a 14.36 win in the last of the 3 race series. Ben has his last triathlon race of the year (Challenge Majorca 70.3 on 18th October) before returning to race for our cross country teams.
Ben met up with his training group before the race weekend for a track session (see photo – Tom R, Josh, Matt, Ben, Tom P). The group followed training with a meal, drinks and (pretty poor!) snooker with coach Mike Mewse. They then headed off in different directions for cycle and triathlon events but will be back together for the cross country season.
Photo – from the left – Tom Reed, is our Peter Griffin award winner (for most championship and Gwent League appearances). Josh Morland was our 4th top scorer in the Gwent League last season and is stepping up to be Team Manager for the English XC Relay championships. Matt Cant, our Club Captain (and former GB cycle squad member) ran a 33 min PB in the summer and is off to a cycle race in Belgium before returning to our cross country teams. Tom Peaston – one of our most improved athletes this year, was our top runner in the Avon Road Relays and ran an excellent 35 minutes at the Clevedon 10K – a 4 minute PB !
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
Upcoming club relays
Saturday 24th October – British Masters Cross Country Relays – Oxford
Provisional Gwent League Dates 2026/27 season
Sunday November 8th Cardiff (rugby fixture on the 7th)
Saturday December 5th Blaise Castle
Sunday 14th Feb. 2027 Trelai Park, Cardiff (Cardiff AAC)
Saturday/Sunday March 6th /7th (date and venue TBC)
Other local races:
Sunday 25th October 2026: The Clock Change Challenge (CLUB CHAMPS) – AUTUMN – Clock Change Challenge – Course Maps
Sunday 1st November 2026: Nightingale Nightmare (CLUB CHAMPS) – Nightingale Nightmare 2026 (This sells out quickly!!)
Thursday 19th November 2026: Weston Prom #3 – (CLUB CHAMPS)
Thursday 17th December 2026: Severn Bridge Night Race – (CLUB CHAMPS) RogueRuns – Severn Bridge 5 Night Race (This also sells out quickly)
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: Sophie Westmacott
