Westbury Harriers Weekly News

Hello, I hope everyone is well. We have a couple of race reports from the Towpath (which saw some great performances) and the Purdown Pursuit. Well done to everyone running, I’m slightly jealous as I’m currently laid up with a calf injury.

Onto the news;

RACE REPORTS

Towpath 10k, Race 3 of 2025

by Mark Andrews

Twenty Westbury Harriers took part in this Club Championship race, making it an enjoyable evening with good company but also ensuring a decent number of Club Championship points for everyone!

The organisers announced the results in reverse order this month, giving the age group winners first choice of the prizes! A nice touch and I will do the race report in the same way.

Westbury Harriers dominated the age group awards, congratulations to all our winners!

FV70: Lyn Jenkins
MV70: John Percival
FV60: Judy Knights
FV50: Kate Hoffen

With our V50 ladies also finishing

2nd: Debbie Hunt
3rd: Heidi Andrews
4th: Helen Sawyer
6th: Sandra Williams

We have amazing strength in depth and surely must be able to put out a strong team in the Avon Road Relays next month!
Last but not least the senior prizes!

Ben Rawlins was our race winner! Describing the event as just a training run, he took the lead after about 500 metres and by the time he had reached the turn and was heading back past me he had established a healthy lead which he maintained to the finish line. Despite being about a minute slower than his last race on this course, the time of 34;18 is pretty impressive!

Robyn Ellis was third lady in 42:56, and would have won first prize in her age category too! Well done Robyn, Sarah has a bottle of wine for you!
The DB Max search for Westbury runnners isn’t working for me this morning so no full list of results, but well done to everyone who took part.
The final race of this summer’s series is the 5k on Friday 15 August, with Ben and several age group runners well placed for series wins we hope to see another good turnout of Westbury runners there.

Thank you to Paul Turner for the chillled beer at the finish line and to Sarah for her support and photos.

Another well organised event, some good luck with raffle prizes and a beer at the Nova Scotia afterwards all made for a great evening out!

The Purdown Pursuit!

By Rachel Liston

My second attempt at this race and it lived up to expectations! Another beautiful evening, such a lovely setting at a beautiful time of day, running up, down, around and around through Stoke Park, the beginning felt like it was uphill after uphill and uphill, but it eventually seemed to flatten out.
We were even treated to a hot air balloon display, points to the race organisers for timing the race so well! 🎈

Some great results on a warm and hilly course! We were led home by Iain Large with a very speedy run, I was chuffed to come in 4th lady, 1st v40 with Wayne Ellis running proud in a westbury vest hot on my heels! Kate Hoffen and Helen Sawyer with a 1st and 2nd v50, and Alison White with a 2nd age cat placing!

Iain busy cooling down for the photo shoot, sorry we missed you!

The Montane Lakeland 50 miler

Well done to Seema Srivastava who ran The Montane Lakeland 50 miler. It’s a grueling 50 miles through the Lake district, and attracts some of the UKs top trail runners. She even waited for her running partner who had some complications on route, very noble!

This Wednesdays Gromit run,

Meet at Bedminster ASDA at 7pm, optional pint afterwards at the Ostrich.

Contact Heather Griffin if you’re keen 😄

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 Castle 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, on grass.

4 x (3 mins @5k pace) 1 min recovery (90s @3k pace) 1 min recovery
6 x 20s/20s recovery

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/

Saturday 9th August – RunThrough Trails Brecon Beacon: https://www.runthroughtrails.com/brecon-beacons/
Wednesday 14th August – Crooks 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/
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: Forest of Dean Autumn Half Marathon

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: Ben Wood