Westbury Harriers Weekly News
Evening all,
Apologies for the slightly late arrival of the newsletter this week. Hope everyone in Bristol this weekend managed to catch a glimpse of the balloons! It looks like another warm week of weather which should make for a glorious evening in the Mendips for the next club champs race – Crook Peak Cake Race on Wednesday. On Thursday, there will be a change to the usual training as we will be meeting on the Downs instead of Coombe Dingle for a 5k time trial – more info below. Also remember there’s an Altra try on night at Up & Running tomorrow.
Happy running everyone!
RACE REPORTS
Run Through Trails 24k
by Seema Srivastava
Great Runthrough Trails 24K race in the Brecon Beacons yesterday. Friendly, well-organised, well marked route with generous cut offs. There was a 51 and 10K too. Great to see this addition as August can be a bit sparse for local trail races.
Ivybridge 3 Tops fell race#
by Hannah Large
An impromptu trip to Devon last week to see family meant that I was able to run the Ivybridge 3 Tops fell race on Wednesday evening, organised by my cousin at Erme Valley Harriers. This is a glorious 10k-ish loop on the open moor taking in Western Beacon (twice) and Ugborough Beacon. There were a couple of really steep climbs, two stream crossings and the usual Dartmoor tussocky sections. It was a glorious evening and I was happy and very surprised to come home as first lady. There was also a free junior race before the seniors started. For the U9s and U11s, this involved 1.5km up and down the Western Beacon. Our 7 year old was super happy to win a packet of Haribo for coming first U9 boy. He can’t wait to join WH properly when he’s eight! It was also lovely to chat with Alison and Dave Engledew who I’m sure many of you know. If any of you are ever down in Devon over the spring and summer, I’d highly recommend the Dartmoor Fell Series which runs every year – a great selection of races on the moor, most with junior races too. The next one is the Haytor Heller on 6 Sept which is probably one of my favourite ever races! https://swfellrunners.uk/series-races/
World University Games
A couple of weeks ago, Rosie Hamilton James represented Great Britain in the World University Games in Germany. Racing over the Half Marathon, in hot humid conditions (also a lot of it solo) she finished in 11th place, in a time of 1hr 16 mins. Not far off her Bristol Half time. Winner was a woman from China in 1hr 12 min.
A great effort and experience in a world class field!
CLUB NOTICES
THURSDAY TRAINING – 14th August *CHANGE OF LOCATION*
On 14 August our regular Thursday session will take place on the Downs instead of at Coombe Dingle. Meeting outside the cafe at the Watertower the session will involve a 5k time trial. We have done this session twice before so many of you will already be familiar with it. It is suitable for all groups and all of the runners who regularly attend on Thursdays.
Our warm up run will take us to the start of the course which is over towards Sea Walls for any latecomers. The Club flag will be put up so you can find us!
The session will be fully explained but in summary we all run a 5k loop. With the help of the Coaches/Leaders everyone gets an estimated finish time, we then start in groups, the slower runners starting first, if we get our estimates right we should all finish pretty much together! It isn’t a race, but is a good opportunity to see where current fitness and pace is, also great preparation for the Avon Road 5k Relays just over a week later.
Please book on using Run Together in the usual way.
MONDAY TRAINING GROUPS
We have made a slight change to the structure of our Monday Groups.
Group 3A has not been operating as a separate group for some time. The availability of Leaders and numbers of runners meaning we have been combining that group with Group 2 or shuffling runners up to Group 2 or down to 3B. To simplify things we will no longer be posting a 3A run and the options on Run Together will be Group 2 or Group 3. For those runners who have been booking on to 3B, you will now book on to Group 3. There may be some additional runners towards the front of the group but no change to the group overall.
For those who have been running with 3A the position is a bit more complicated. You will now need to book on Group 2 or Group 3. This might be a tricky decision for some runners, particularly as Run Together doesn’t allow you to see who is booked on and whether or not there will be others towards the back of Group 2 that you can run with.
Our suggestion is that you book on to the Group you intend to run with. When you arrive at training you can speak to the Leaders, see who else is running and change group if necessary. All we ask is that you make sure that the Leaders of both the group you originally booked on and the group you are now running with know what is happening.
This also applies to anyone across the other groups who may be unsure about whether or not they could move up to the group above.
UP & RUNNING x ALTRA TRY ON NIGHT – TUESDAY 12TH AUGUST
UP & Running will be hosting a try-on night on Tuesday 12th August. Altra will be bringing the new Experience Wild 2 trail shoe and Experience Flow 2 (neutral) road shoe to test out. Altra are known for their Zero or Low Drop shoes and specific Footshape toe box, which enables more natural movement of the feet. If you’ve never tried Altra shoes before, now is your chance. Refreshments will be provided.
Arrive from 6pm so you have more chance to find available sizes. The run will be 5km around the Downs, and we will set off at 6:30pm.
There will also be 20% OFF on all Altra shoes on the night and for the rest of the week until 17th August.
ADD TO THE CALENDAR: The Gwent Cross Country League
The fixtures for next season are:
Saturday, October 11th 2025 Margam Park (Swansea Harriers)
Saturday, November 8th 2025 Cardiff in conjunction with Cross Challenge
Saturday, December 6th 2025 Blaise Castle (Westbury Harriers)
Saturday, February 7th 2026 Chepstow Race Course (Bristol & West AC)
Saturday, February 28th 2026 Parc Bryn Bach (Parc Bryn Bach RC)
TRAINING THIS WEEK
MONDAY – Tempo Session
Group runs from Blaise Club House 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 session at Yate 7pm – Seniors book on via RunTogether App.
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:
5k time trial on the Downs (see details above – all welcome)
Note 1: You can sign up to all sessions via the RunTogether App.
Note 2: There is no longer a separate booking for Group 1 on a Thursday. There is still the same focus as originally outlined, but as the weather and field are in good conditions over the summer, Group 1 can be accommodated into the existing session.
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/
Club Championship info and rules on this link: https://westburyharriers.co.uk/events/club-championship/
Wednesday 14th August – Crook Peak Cake Race (Club Champs): https://www.fellrunner.org.uk/races/5856fd20-4006-49fa-89a2-ee243f26d2d5
Friday 15th August – GWR Towpath 5k: Towpath Series – Great Western Runners
Saturday 16th August – Limitless Trails Beast of Llangattock: https://www.limitlesstrails.co.uk/beast-of-llangattock
Tuesday 19th August – Severn Bridge 10k (Club Champs): https://sites.google.com/site/roguerunsevents/home/our-events/sb-10k-half
Saturday 23rd August – Torbay Twilight 10k: https://torbaytwilight10k.godaddysites.com Use the discount code Westbury3 for a £3 discount on the entry fee
Saturday 23rd August – The Green Man / The Green Boy: https://www.greenmanultra.co.uk/the-summer-green-man-ultra/
Sunday 24th August – Avon 5km Road Relay Championship (See info below)
Saturday 30th August – Mendip Marauder: https://www.albionrunning.org/mendip-marauder
Sunday 31st August – Wyedean Ultra: https://www.rogueruns.co.uk/home/our-events/wyedean-ultra
Saturday 20th September – Maverick Trail Race X Series Afan Forest South Wales: https://www.maverick-race.com/products/the-maverick-x-series-afan-forest-2025
Saturday 27th September – Maverick Original Mendips: https://www.maverick-race.com/products/the-maverick-original-mendips-2025
Sunday 28th September – Forest of Dean Autumn Half marathon: https://www.forestofdean-halfmarathon.co.uk/autumn/
* Avon 5km Road Relays Championships
Date: Sunday 24th August, 11am start (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 women, V50/V60/V70 men
4 person teams: senior men & V40 men
Championship event so no charge, club pays the entry.
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.
Westbury always have loads of teams at this event, so do come along and get involved. Always a great event local event, fun, enjoyable, suitable for everyone, competitive for those that want 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 over the summer.
Reserves always welcome.
Suitable for all abilities groups 1-6. Talk to Tamsin or Mike.M/Mark.A for more information.
Sign up on RunTogether
If there are any races or interesting events that you think should be added, please email: communication@westburyharriers.co.uk
Editor: Hannah Large
