Westbury Harriers Weekly News
Hi all,
It’s been a glorious week of weather and a busy weekend of racing as usual, including Frenchay 10k, the first of the 2025-26 Club Champs races. Spring marathon season also kicked off with Newport today, and many of you will be in the taper for London and Manchester. Best of luck to all those with big races coming up!
On Thursday, WH traded the usual Coombe Dingle intervals for a 5k time trial on the Downs. Brilliant running from everyone, on a particularly beautiful Bristol evening.
On to the news…
RACE REPORTS
Frenchay 10k, 13th April
by Becky Lee
There was a good Westbury turnout at the Frenchay 10k this morning, and a great haul of not only prizes, but course records!. Well done to all that ran this tough, hilly 10k, I really enjoyed the scenic, mixed terrain route. Every finisher received a nice mug at the end, and prize winners received a lovely, metal water bottle, and a key ring.
Prizes as follows.
3rd Male, 1st MV50, and new course record Anthony Glover
4th lady, 1st FV40 Rebecca Lee
1st FV60, and new course record Judy Knights
1st FV70, and new course record Anne Dockery
Men’s Team Prize (Antony has your water bottles) Anthony Glover, Chris Palmer, Murray Pearson, Jonathan Riley
Other mentions
2nd FV60 Sandra Sforza3rd FV50 Kate Hoffen3rd FV70 Ann Lovell
Lots of others finishing top 10 in category also.
Congratulations all.
Cribyn Fell Race, 12th April –
by George Griffiths
Today I ran Cribyn Fell Race – it was just brutal. It went up Cefn Cwm Llwch (the hike route that goes up from Cwm Gwdi Car Park) And then it becomes a proper Fell Race (no set or marked route just get to the checkpoints in order) where you just jump off into the wild basically running down a steep descent but its sloping up to your right so knees and ankles are worried. Down to the bottom side of Cribyn which is the hardest steepest longest climb I have ever done I think. Eventually reaching the summit and running down the other side to the bottom of Pen-Y-Fan. Ouch. Somehow got up there and then a long descent down to the finish where I followed a clearly experienced Fell runner who took an insanely steep wild route that hurt like hell! Character building!
Editor’s note: For anyone else interested in the South Wales Fell races, you can find this year’s calendar of races here. Next up is Cwmyoy on 26th April and Cwmdu on 3rd May. Highly recommend giving these a go if you like hilly races and they all tend to cost less than £10.
Newport Marathon – 13th April
No full race report but looking at the results, there were quite a few Harriers zooming around the streets of Newport today. Lots of impressive times here – well done all!
CLUB NEWS AND REMINDERS
MEMBERS OF THE MONTH
Senior: Sophie Rimmell – for putting herself forward to try different team events. Ran several of the Gwent leagues this season and competed at the recent Midland Road Relays, running really well.
Junior: Sophie Hanna – Sophie only joined the Academy after Christmas, but works really hard every week. She is focused and determined, and threw herself into cross country. Racing the last two Gwent League fixtures and helping the U11 girls’ team finish 4th overall this season.
Well done both!
WESTBURY HARRIERS CIC AGM 2025
You should all have received a separate email about the upcoming AGM on Thursday 24th April @ Coombe Dingle Sports Ground – 6.30pm for a 7pm start. This year’s meeting is held in person in place of training in the hope that as many members as possible attend to participate in our club’s future. Please do come along if you can.
COTSWOLD WAY RELAY
The Cotswold Way relay is taking place on Sat 5th July. This is a very popular race which follows the route of the Cotswold Way from Chipping Camden to Bath. The relay consists of 10 sections varying in distance from 7 to 13 miles, mostly off road, hilly and very scenic. I have entered three teams so looking for 30 participants. All abilities welcome. Please see me at club or email if you wish to run or would like more information about taking part.
Thanks, Eithne
Full race information can be accessed here: www.cotswoldwayrelay.co.uk
CHARITY HASH AND CAKE SALE
The annual WH Charity Hash Run and Cake Sale is happening on Monday 5th May at 6pm. Our chosen charity is St Peter’s Hospice. Please sign up and come along with cakes to sell and bring some money to buy some too. Thank you for your support for such a great cause. Please see our Just Giving page for any donations. The hash and cake sale will replace the usual group Monday runs this week.
STILL LOOKING – New club treasurer needed:
The club urgently needs a club treasurer, it’s a role we cannot do without. The role involves looking after the Westbury Harriers bank account , paying expenses and invoices and reporting on the club’s finances. If this is something you could do then please get in touch. To find out more please contact Judy to discuss. Treasurer@westburyharriers.co.uk
TRAINING THIS WEEK
MONDAY – TEMPO RUNS
Coombe Dingle 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. There is also a Wellbeing run at 7.15PM. (Advance reminder that Monday evening training will move back to Blaise on Monday 28th April).
TUESDAY – TRACK
Track session at Yate 7pm – Seniors book on via RunTogether.
WEDNESDAY – HILL SESSION
Adults, all abilities. Meet every Wednesday at 12pm at the traffic lights by Saville Road on the Downs. Book on via RunTogether. Coffee in the Downs Café at 1pm for anyone that wants to come along.
THURSDAY – INTERVALS
at Coombe Dingle 7pm
4 mins (2 min recovery)
2 x 3 mins (90 secs recovery)
3 x 2mins (1 min recovery)
4 x 1 min (1 min recovery)
(Option to drop the 4mins down to 3 mins)
For Group 1: Hills session – 5 mins undulating tempo; 2 sets of 10 x 30s hill sprints; 5 mins tempo (3 mins between each effort set)
You can sign up to all sessions via the RunTogether App.
UPCOMING RACES / EVENTS
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/
- Sunday 17th April: Berkeley 10k – https://www.dursleyrunningclub.org.uk/berkeley-10k/
- Sunday 26th April: Butcombe Ultra (50km and 50mile option). https://butcombetrailultra.com/
- Saturday 3rd May: Masters 5km Road Relay, Mallory Park;
Men: https://groups.runtogether.co.uk/WestburyHarriersRunningClub/BookClass/3a4a5fba-a675-4346-a895-d9f1ecd342c5
Women: https://groups.runtogether.co.uk/WestburyHarriersRunningClub/BookClass/095b82f1-c886-4e21-ab0e-8f24949dadd9
- Monday 5th May: Charity Hash Run and Cake Sale – Blaise Castle at 6pm
- Tuesday 6th May: Sri Chinmoy 2 miler – https://uk.srichinmoyraces.org/races/bristol
- Sunday 11th May: Bristol 10k/Half
- Tuesday 13th May: Rose Inn 4 miles – https://sites.google.com/…/cheps…/open-races/rose-inn…
- Friday 23rd May: Towpath 10k (MOB MATCH) – https://www.greatwesternrunners.org.uk/towpath-series/
- Sunday 8th June: Cheddar Trail (10k) – https://www.relishrunningraces.com/cheddar-gorge-10km.php
- DATE TBC: Beer ‘n’ Banger 10k – https://nailsea.fullonsport.com/event/search
- Saturday 5th July: Cotswold Way Relay – contact Eithne above
If there are any races or interesting events that you think should be added, please email: communication@westburyharriers.co.uk
For anyone interested, there are also a few orienteering events coming up locally. On Saturday 3rd May, there is a forest event at Blaise Castle with courses suitable for all ages. It’s organised by Hannah and Iain Large, and we’ve kindly been able to use the WH pavilion (thank you!) Do come along and give it a go. Starts from 10.30-12.30 so you could even combine with Parkrun!
The Bristol Urban Orienteering Series also kicks off this month. There are events most weeks on Wednesday evenings but WH members may be particularly interested in the University Halls/Sneyd Park event on 23rd April and the Coombe Dingle event on 4th June. If you’re new to orienteering, use the link on the flyer to claim your first race free. No equipment needed and there will be people around at the start to talk you through how it all works if you haven’t done it before.
Editor: Hannah
