Westbury Harriers Weekly News
Hi everyone,
A little reminder about club supper on Thursday 29th January, we need more people to sign up. Lasagne is on the menu, isn’t that a classic favourite for most people?
Well done to those who raced on the weekend. Speaking of racing, I was glued to Open Tracking following a few dots that I knew were competing on the Spine winter races. It’s addictive watching the social updates and seeing the dots move slowly along the course. It follows the Pennine Way, a self supported race with a few aid stations and these brave runners have to deal with very tough, harsh weather conditions and challenging terrain. If you’re a keen dot watcher, then next weekend we have 3 Westbury Harrier ladies tackling the Arc of Attrition in Cornwall, myself included. Good luck to Hannah Large and Olivia Zeltner, you can follow all the action on the UTMB live streaming website. Praying for calm weather and little rain! Wishful thinking.
Read all the important information below, and see you all soon.
In this week’s newsletter:
- Club notices
- Training this week
- Race reports / results
- Upcoming races
1. CLUB NOTICES
CLUB SUPPER – LAST CALL!
Last shout out for club supper on Thursday 29 January at 8pm (straight after training) at Coombe Dingle Pavilion. Lasagne and garlic bread. £6.60 per head. Please say if you have any dietary requirements. Deadline for numbers is this Thursday 22nd. We desperately need some more people to sign up. You don’t need to go to training to come along!! Please confirm on Facebook and pay my monzo account to secure your place.
NEXT GWENT LEAGUE
The next Gwent League is Saturday 7th February at Chepstow racecourse. Details on the Gwent website.
Academy/Juniors – look out for correspondence from your team managers about how to sign up to race.
Seniors, please sign up on RunTogether.
Women and V65 Men – 13.25pm, 6.75km
Men – 14.15pm, 9.7km
RUNNING CLOTHING – Important safety reminder
Please remember when out on road sessions to wear light/reflective clothing so you are visible.
MENTAL HEALTH CHAMPIONS
The club has two mental health champions, Seema Srivastava and Tamsin Chick. Mental health champions are part of the England Athletics #Runandtalk programme which is a network of volunteers across affiliated running clubs. The role of a Mental Health Champion is to support people to access the mental wellbeing benefits of running, remove stigma and get people talking about mental health. We are here as a point of contact and to link in with #RunAndTalk initiatives.
BOAT TRIP
We are trying to organise an upriver boat trip on Saturday 20th June 19:00 – 22:00 on Bristol Packets ‘The Bagheera. We need to pay the deposit to secure the boat asap. I am asking for a non-refundable deposit of £10 per head. We need at least 22 people to make this work, but can go up to 50.
The approximate cost of the trip is about £24 ph + about £13:75 for onboard fish & chip. This cost of the trip will depend on numbers, could be under £20 + F&C if we get 50 people!
CLUB KIT
Membermojo store is now updated with new vest stock. Junior sizes now available.
Westbury Harriers at membermojo (XL club hoodies at discounted rate. £13)
Club training kit available via our online store:
2026 ENGLISH NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
The championships is being held this year in Sedgefield, Co Durham on Saturday 21st February 2026. You can enter yourself here. Entries close on 6th Feb 2026. No late entries are accepted. Some team managers may do a club entry – await details from your specific team manager around entry and arrangements.
Please let your team manager know if you are planning on running.
Junior Girls – Jason Michael
Junior Boys – Neil Miller
Senior/Master Men – Mike Mewse
Senior/Master Women – Tamsin Chick
This is a championship event and you can claim back the race entry fee and some monies towards travel expenses from the club here.
The National XC rotates location around the country each year. Due to the location of this year’s event we do need to plan ahead in terms of logistics. So please contact your team manager as soon as practical to assist them in the organisation. This event is suitable for all club runners.
2. TRAINING THIS WEEK
MONDAY – Tempo Session:
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 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 Session:
Coombe Dingle Sports Complex, meet at 7pm.
5mins (90 secs recovery), 5 x 2mins (1min recovery), 5mins
2mins @5k pace/effort
5mins @10k pace/effort
Please think of night running safety. Wear bright/reflective clothing and bring head torches etc.
3. RACE RESULTS/REPORTS
Well done to those who took part in the Riverbank Rollick race hosted by Thornbury Running Club and the Speedway 10k, both took place today.
Speedway 10k
by Anthony Glover
This little group, weren’t the only Westbury harriers out there today, but it did look like everyone running did really well. Left to right, Tome Cummins 31.30 (17yrs), Oli Beale 33:58 (V45), Anthony Glover 35:06 (V50, Paul Gardiner 34:31 (V40) and Josh Adler 33:51 (SM). Strong runs from the 3 oldies, but Josh and Tom really performed. This was Josh’s 2nd 10K, that Layla Gardiner is setting some high standards so we have all upped our game!
Katie Hughes 37:34 (V50, 2nd Age Cat), Sophie Westmacott 41:11 (V40)
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
REMINDER OF GWENT LEAGUE DATES
This is our main cross-country team event. Suitable for all club members, all ages, all abilities. Everyone scores for the team, individually and for their age group. We want FULL teams in each age group. Cost is £5 + admin fee per race, payable via RunTogether. Running can be quite an individual sport, but this is really where it comes together as a team and a club with a great atmosphere. Do come and give a Gwent League a go, whether you can do one race in the season, or all five, whatever your contribution, it really does help.
Saturday, February 7th – Gwent league, Chepstow Race Course
Saturday, February 28th – Gwent League, Parc Bryn Bach
Other club races:
Saturday 21st February – English National Cross Country Championships
Saturday 14th March. The Frampton Globe Trot 8ish miles (Club Champs race) Frampton Globe Trot
Please send anything you might want to see in the newsletter to: communication@westburyharriers.co.uk
Editor: Yvette Casallas
