Westbury Harriers – Weekly News
Evening all,
One week to go until the next Gwent League fixture in Cardiff – numbers are looking good so far but keep on signing up! Well done to all those WH runners who braved the ghosts and ghouls in Leigh Woods this morning for Southville’s Nightingale Nightmare, and to the intrepid gang who ventured into Blaise at night for the club’s Halloween run on Wednesday evening. No sign of the full Nightingale Nightmare results yet but it looks as though Jonathan Riley continued his great run of form to take 1st place. Fantastic running and fantastic costumes everyone! A WH men’s team also travelled to the English National Cross Country Relays this weekend – probably less fancy dress involved but no doubt some fast and furious racing. Race report to follow (hopefully).
In this week’s newsletter:
- Club notices
- Training this week
- Race reports / results
- Upcoming races
1. CLUB NOTICES
RUNTOGETHER APP ISSUES
Last week there were problems with EAs Run Together system that we use to manage bookings for our Senior training sessions. We were working behind the scenes with EA to try and get this resolved and indeed following issues on Monday we were informed that everything had been sorted prior to our sessions later in the week. Unfortunately this turned out not to be the case and we aware that many of you experienced problems with bookings, particularly on Wednesday and Thursday. Although these were issues beyond our control we apologise for any inconvenience and thank you all for your patience.
We hope that this problem has now been solved by EA and that you will be able to book on as usual for our sessions this week. If for any reason you do experience further problems then in the first instance please try all options to try and book on. Run Together operates both via their website and an app. If one isn’t working the other might be, please try both.
GWENT LEAGUE #2 – CARDIFF 8th November
It’s just over a week to the next Gwent XC League fixture at Llandaff Fields Cardiff where we’ll get the chance to run alongside some of the country’s best XC athletes as the fixture is also part of the British Cross Challenge. Cardiff is a fairly flat course around some rugby playing fields. The ground is usually fairly good, a few light patches of mud in places depending on the weather. There are a few twists and turns where the ground can get a bit slippy. If you are a newbie, this is a good one to try as not too far away and a doable course. For those travelling with family, there is a cafe on site and a children’s playground. As it’s part of the British Cross Challenge it’s set-up is more atmospheric with a loud PA system and live stream on YouTube.
Parking is a challenge with very little on-site and many of the local streets are resident only. The website suggests the following car parks:
Sophia Gardens: Parking Lot, Pontcanna, Cardiff CF11 9SZ
North Road: North Road, Cardiff CF10 3DU
Cardiff Civic Centre: King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff CF103NB
It’s also possible to park in the Tesco Extra nearby – you can book online in advance via Your Parking Space and then it’s a 10 min walk to the park. Various parking apps also offer nearby parking.
Sign up on RunTogether here (and remember it’s free to run XC this year as the club is covering all entry fees!)
Senior/Masters Women – https://clubspark.englandathletics.org/Book/75a8d332-72b9-4214-94cb-ba1e4d3406c2?campaign=RunTogether
Senior Men – https://clubspark.englandathletics.org/Book/8cec5eab-6fc0-4b68-bf0d-0b8c3cf2a996?campaign=RunTogether
Timetable & Fixture Information here
Remember 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 numbers 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.
You will need to wear you club vest or T-Shirt (White with blue hoop). Spikes or trial shoes will be needed.
Team managers will create a WhatsApp group from those signed up for the fixture so we can arrange lift shares and communicate, please let us know if you don’t want to be added. The group is deleted after the fixture.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: GWENT LEAGUE – BLAISE CASTLE
We are 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.
10 x 2mins (1min recovery) @10k effort, aim to increase effort as session progresses, finishing off at slightly harder than 5k effort
Option to complete 8 (especially for those who are doing Gwent and still want to train).
3. RACE RESULTS/REPORTS
WINTER SUGAR LOAF FELL RACE
by George Griffiths
Yesterday I ran in the winter Sugar Loaf Fell Race – an incredible race that was my first fell race a few years ago with fellow Westbury members. I wanted the same time or better from back then and got pretty damn close – just a couple minutes out so that’s a win for me. Highly recommend this and the summer version for next year!
Brilliant running George – so great to see you back running and fell racing! There’s also a junior version of the Sugar Loaf race which happens the following day (today). Well done to Jude, a WH Academy runner, who was 2nd in the U10 race, only 2 seconds behind the winner who set a new CR.
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
Provisional Gwent League Dates 2026/27 season
Sunday 8th November, Cardiff (Rugby fixture on the 7th)
Saturday 5th December, Blaise Castle
Sunday 14th February 2027, Trelai Park, Cardiff (Cardiff AAC)
Saturday/Sunday March 6th / 7th (Date and Venue TBC)
Other local races:
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: Hannah Large
