Westbury Harriers Weekly News
Evening all,
Only a few hours ago I arrived back from a week’s holiday in Montenegro, hence the newsletter being a day late. We had a spontaneous trip (booking 2 days before the flight) that involved hiking and trail running in the Lovcen and Durmitor national park, and relaxing on the bay of Kotor (visiting Perast, an old Baroque town) with dramatic mountain views along the coastline. A week wasn’t long enough to see everything, but well worth the visit. Back to reality, summer holidays are over, time to look forward to the upcoming races over the next few months for the club! Get all the dates in the diary.
We’ve added 4 extra Club Championship races (see below), the Nightingale Nightmare, hosted by Southville Runing Club, is one of them and very popular. A fun one to do in Halloween fancy dress.
This weekend we’re back at Blaise Castle parkrun, and opening up the club house (thank you volunteers). All welcome to join, whether you do the park run or not. Come for the social and refreshments.
In this week’s newsletter:
- Club notices
- Training this week
- Race reports / results
- Upcoming races
1. CLUB NOTICES
WESTBURY HARRIERS AT BLAISE CASTLE PARKRUN – SATURDAY 19TH SEPTEMBER 2026
The Clubhouse Park Run Team will be back, opening the club house on Saturday 19th September.
All are welcome to attend (club runners and park runners), and there will be refreshments afterwards.
MOVE UP MONDAY – 21ST SEPTEMBER
Monday 21st September will be a Move Up Monday for our Senior Groups.
We encourage all runners to book onto the Group that best matches the pace they currently run at. We understand that moving up to a quicker group can be a daunting prospect.
Move up Monday is a formal opportunity to try running with a quicker group. Our Leaders will be anticipating that they might have new people in the group and will plan the route and pace accordingly. If several runners move up together that should give runners additional reassurance and support.
So, if you are running towards the front of the group you usually run with then this is the ideal opportunity to see how you get on running with the group above.
REMINDER – DATE FOR THE DIARY – SATURDAY 24TH OCTOBER 2026 at Horspath Athletics Stadium, Horspath Rd, Oxford, OX4 2RR
Just want to draw your attention to the British Masters Cross Country Relays so you make a note of it.
https://bmaf.opentrack.run/ro/x/2026/GBR/bmaf-xcr/
Women: It is 4 in a team for V35, V45, V55 and 3 in a team for V65, V75 each running 3km. Race at midday.
Men: It is 5 in a team for for V35, V45, V55 and 3 in a team for V65 & V75 each running 3km. Race at 13.45 V35/45/55 and midday for V65/V75
Team managers will be in touch nearer the time to see if there is any interest. Entries close 10/10/26. This event used to be held up north, where as this venue is much easier for us to get to. Entries close 10/10/26 – so will check in with people nearer the time who is interested.
REMINDER – GWENT LEAGUE DATES
Provisional dates for the first three fixtures for the Gwent XC League are now available. Please save the dates for these and dust off your spikes, ready for a fun season of running loops around muddy fields! More details to follow but XC really is a fantastic experience and it’s great if the club can get as many runners out as possible.
– Pembrey Park (Round 1) – October 10th
– Cardiff (Round 2 – in conjunction with Cardiff X Challenge) – November 8th
– Blaise Castle (Round 3) – December 5th
– Saturday/Sunday February 13th/ 14th (date and venue TBC)
– Saturday/Sunday March 6th / 7th (date and venue TBC)
BLACK TO THE TRAILS – Sunday 11th October at Blaise Castle Estate – CALL FOR WH VOLUNTEERS TO HELP
Westbury Harriers are proud to be supporting the inaugural Black to the Trails (BTTT) Bristol trail running event on Sunday 11th October from 9am at Blaise Castle. This is an opportunity for Westbury to support local communities in Bristol, many of whom are new to running or running off-road. There is a 1K, 5K and 10K race. BTTT is the UK’s most ethnically diverse running event and all are welcome.
We need at least 3 volunteers to be at the Pavilion clubhouse to support the event, with 1 volunteer per shift from 8-10, 10-12, 12-2pm. Please contact Seema Srivastava (WH Committee Joint EDI officer) if you are able to help. We would encourage WH members to sign up to the BTTT event – under 16s are free. https://www.blacktothetrails.co.uk/bristol
REMINDER FOR PARENTS OF JUNIORS/ACADEMY
Please pay any overdue subscriptions for your children ASAP. Academy groups started today (14th Sept).
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.
4x 30sec – 60secs – 90secs – 60secs – 30secs
(30secs recovery between intervals, 2 mins between sets)
*option drop to 3 sets
Aim keep moving between each interval within a set, get used to changing pace (intervals aren’t ‘flat out’)
3. RACE RESULTS/REPORTS
LAKE 62 – End of Season Triathlon
by Anne Dockery
On Saturday 6th September, I tackled my first Standard Triathlon and am happy to report that I completed it in 3:56.03.The swim was very hard for me, as I am so slow and I had to battle through grabby weeds, but the canoeists supported me to the end. I was very cold and found it hard to get out of my wetsuit but soon warmed up on the beautiful bike ride . My run was definitely a bit of a ‘shuffle’ but I completed the grassy 10k in 1.11.04. Really friendly and supportive race. Recommend it!
Rosie Daly, also WH, came 1st woman in the Aquathlon in a time of 1:19.51. Fantastic!
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 Races
Saturday 19th September – Midland autumn 4/6 Stage Road Relays – Sutton Park
Saturday 24th October – British Masters Cross Country Relays – Oxford
Other local races:
Sunday 20th September 2026: Oldbury 10miler (CLUB CHAMPS) – Thornbury Running Club – https://www.thornburyrunningclub.co.uk/trc-races/oldbury-power-10-miler/
Sunday 27th September 2026: Forest of Dean Autumn Half marathon (CLUB CHAMPS) – https://www.forestofdean-halfmarathon.co.uk/autumn/
Sunday 27th September 2026: Black Nore 10k – https://www.fullonsport.com/event/black-nore-10km-2026/profile
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 fairly 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 reasonably 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: Yvette Casallas
