WESTBURY HARRIERS WEEKLY NEWSLETTER 13/10/24
Hello, hope you are all well. The main focus this week was the return of the Gwent League cross country. It kicked off at Pembury on a beautiful sunny day. The senior women and men both fielded full teams, and there were some stand-out performances from younger runners as well. Geraint has written a full race report on the senior men’s race and the Snr Women’s report will be in next week’s newsletter. While we are on the subject of the Gwent League, please see if you can make the next fixture at Cardiff on November 9th. It really is ‘strength in numbers’ at the cross country and your participation counts no matter what your standard. What’s more, it’s a great day out and you get to witness and race with some of the country’s top runners. So get it in your diary and let’s have a sea of white and blue ‘giving it some’ at Cardiff!
RACE REPORTS
Gwent League Pembrey – Senior Men
The Gwent League season kicked off in the beautiful sunshine in Pembrey with nine Westbury men starting the race, but only eight finishing!
The course is two laps along some lovely trails and with just a couple of short, sharp climbs to sap the energy from the legs.
Captain Alastair Blackwood urged the men to fight for that extra position during the race to maximize the team points.
Jack Derrick continued his good form from last year to lead the men home in 124th followed by Ben Wood (154th), Captain Blackwood (182nd), Chris Treble (221st) and Paul Stuart (252nd) completing the men’s A team.
The B Team was wasn’t complete but the G-Team of George Griffiths (275th), George Pickering (377th) and Geraint Torrington (405th) did their best for the club. Men’s manager Geraint played the team sweeper role to perfection spotting injury struck Ewan Kilgour on the second lap and making sure he was OK.
The A team lay in 12th position in Division 1, but with four fixtures left there’s plenty of time to climb the table.
The next fixture is in Cardiff on Saturday, November 9th where we’ll be joined by some of the top cross-country runners in the country as the fixture is also part of the Cross Challenge.
Freya Bradley takes gold in the women’s under-20s.
Freya Bradley stormed round the course and took gold in the female under 20 category.
Freya started and finished strong, never looking fazed by the course or the opposition. This was clear at the finish line as she finished a full minute ahead of second place.
Well done Freya.
Arti Savage-Swain takes 4th place in the men’s under 20s.
Arti was one second from podiuming. He was caught up in the press of runners in the first half of the race and had to claw his way up the field in the second.
A never-say-die attitude saw him achieve a very respectable 4th-place finish.
Great work Arti.
CLUB NOTICES
CLUB T SHIRTS/VESTS
Tamsin is putting in a kit order. If anyone would like a Westbury Harriers t-shirt, white with blue hoop suitable for racing in please let Tamsin know ASAP what size by replying to post on FB or send her a personal message, text, WhatsApp or email manager.women@westburyharriers.co.uk
We custom order the t-shirts for people and don’t hold a stock of them. They will take around 4 weeks to get here. Price £22 adult sizes, £18 juniors sizes. Sizing is the same as the vests.
https://specials.ronhill.com/sizing/
Xmas Prom meal Thursday 19 December.
The Super Mare, West Wick, Worle. To book we need to secure a place with a deposit of £5 per head.
Please comment in the Facebook Group chat if you want to come and pay £5.00 to my Monzo account below by Tuesday 15th October at 8:30pm so I can book tables!
The Christmas menu is below it will cost £16:99 for two courses. £19:99 for three courses. There is a gluten free option on their website too.
England Athletics Fees
A quick note on England Athletic fees, they will rise by £1 in 2025 from £19 to £20
THIS WEEK’S TRAINING
MONDAY: Group tempo runs from Coombe Dingle
6.30pm, with Wellbeing run at 7.15pm
TUESDAY: 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 10th:
Intervals – Coombe Dingle at 7pm.
Warm up & running drills.
Intervals ran at 5-10km pace
5 mins – 90s recovery
4 mins – 60s recovery
3 mins – 60s recovery
3 mins – 60s recovery
4 mins – 60s recovery
5 mins –
Option to reduce work by -1 min and recovery by +1min
UPCOMING RACES
A reminder that we have an events calendar on our website where you can keep track of dates for training, events and races. (Thanks, Vicky, for keeping this updated). https://westburyharriers.co.uk/events/events-calendar/
Club Championship info and rules on this link: https://westburyharriers.co.uk/events/club-championship/
Sunday 20th October: Keynsham Dandy – Club Championship #13
Saturday 9th November: Cardiff Cross Challenge, including second Gwent League fixture
Thursday 7th November: Severn Bridge 5 Night Race #1 – Club Championship #14
Sunday 24th November: Brent Knoll Race – Club Championship #15
Saturday 30th November: Blaise Castle, Gwent League XC
Saturday 14th December: The 12Ks of Xmas – Club Championship #16
Sunday 15th December – Weston Christmas cracker 10k
Thursday 19th December: Weston Prom Race #4 – Club Championship #17
Saturday 8th or Sunday 9th February: Margam Park (TBC), Gwent League XC
Saturday 1st March: Venue TBC, Gwent League XC
Have a great week everyone.
This week’s editor is – Ben Wood