Westbury Harriers Weekly News!
Hello,
Lot’s to unpick this week. We had a strong men’s team out for the National XC champs at Parliament Hill and also a top finish at the Wokingham half marathon, plus Freya Bradley and Ellie Leather (now Team Bath) were competing at the UK athletics indoor championships. We had the last club championship race today at the Ironwood challenge, the weather gods weren’t smiling but I’m told a good time was had by all. Plus last but not least Dan Summers has been chosen to represent England in the Anglo/Celtic cup over 100km.
I was lucky(?) enough to run in the Nationals at Parliament hill yesterday and it was a brutal course, maybe not the muddiest I’ve seen Parliament hill but I think the stickiest. Just a quick look at the top ten finishers from the men’s last race in 2022 to 2025, and it was around 10% slower this year. So, I just want to say well done to everyone who ran. It was pretty challenging out there. And a special thank you to Mike Mewse, Neil Miller and Tamsin Chick for organising the teams and giving up their spare time.
If you feel you’ve missed out, fear not! We have the last Gwent league this coming Sunday. It would be amazing if we could finish off the season with a show of force at Brecon. One last big push to get those points in.
Ben.
RACE REPORTS
English National Cross Country Championships 2025
Parliament Hill, London Saturday 22nd February.
The story continues… Westbury continues to rise!
We’re immensely proud of all the Westbury Harriers runners at “The Nationals”. It was a dry day but the hilly, boggy course tested every runner to the limit in this, the ultimate test for cross-country runners.
The Senior Men’s team was the strongest for many years and they followed up the Michelin Trophy win in 2024 with another great performance over the 12K race – which was contested by 2,400 runners ! Our team, under Team Captain Oli Beale, justified their place in the top 30 elite teams with a 21st team place (from 112 complete teams) and a superb 17th place in the 9-man team event (from 59 complete teams).
The team was led home by Ben Rawlins with Greg Hayward, Oli Beale, Tom Reed, Alex Wilson (making a brilliant Senior debut) and Matt Cant making up our 6 man team. Josh Morland, Michael Feltham and Joe Addrison made up the 9 man team with strong support from Mark Statter, Jack Derrick, Rob Poole, Ben Wood, Alastair Blackwood, Rich Finch and George Griffiths. Ben Stone was unable to overcome a knee injury and had to withdraw at 8K.
U20 runner Artie Savage-Swaine battled back from illness to get to the start line and finish the 10K course in 39 minutes. U17 runners Tom Cummins (27.13) and Oli Grove (29.23) had strong runs in the ultra competitive Under 17 event, whilst in the Senior Women’s event there was a close battle between the three Westbury women with Emma Jane Orchard (49.51) just ahead of Anneke Bull (50.43) and Sandra Sforza (50.48).
Thank you to Alex, Josh, Artie and Tom who abandoned their university studies for a day to support the team – travelling from Southampton, Warwick, London (not too far for Artie!) and Exeter.
It was great to travel with Bristol and West who emphatically retained their English title – well done to all of their team and coaches Mike and Chris.
Ironwood challenge (by Iain Large)
As penance for being unable to run the National XC (sorry again Mike!), I decided to become acquainted with some more local mud and hills at the Ironwood Challenge. This well-established race involves 5.5 miles of mainly wooded, muddy, steep and sometimes technical terrain around Ashton Hill plantation and nearby Keed’s Wood. Highlights include a roped ascent through the old mine workings (better navigated, in my view, on all fours!) 28 Harriers turned out for this Championship event and undoubtedly would have taken the women’s prize (had one been awarded). I just managed to snatch 3rd place on the final up and down, while Robyn Ellis took 2nd for the women and first FV40. Nailsea put on a good show including plentiful recovery cake afterwards.
Full results here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1M-Lsy53JPjgg3-XMeaoqv3tTsG0bzTu2-ePnNfUicWk/edit?pli=1&gid=2060986923#gid=2060986923
Rosie Hamilton-James takes 4th place at the Wokingham half.
Congratulations to one of our senior ladies Rosie Hamilton-James. She finished the Wokingham half marathon in a blistering 1 hour 15 mins bagging her a very respectable 4th place. She was racing some fierce competition and we are excited to see what’s next for her.
Freya Bradley at the UK Athletics indoor 3000m.
Freya Bradley was up against stiff competition herself, as she toed the line with Laura Muir and Hannah Nuttall at the UK Athletics indoor 3000m final. What an experience for Freya and she was 1s away from breaking her own PB. This was a huge stage to be running on at such a young age and she should be feeling very proud at just how far she has come.
Also running was Ellie Leather who came 3rd in the 1500m event. An incredible achievement and surely a sign of future success to come.
CLUB NEWS
Dan Summers selected to run for England over 100km.
It feels quite surreal to share that I’ve been selected to run for England in the 2025 Anglo Celtic Plate. It will be such an honour to run as part of this team and I’m so looking forward to getting stuck into the training to get myself ready for it.’ Dan
The Anglo Celtic Plate is a yearly competition between England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland over 100k. Each team is made up of 5 people. The races are run on the road and are usually won in around 6.5hrs (thats an average pace of 6.17 mins per mile for 62.5 miles!). There is also an open competition where anyone can enter and run in the same event. This year the event is at Mallory Park (Leicestershire) at the same time as the masters road relays. It’s a great event and there is a great community around these races.
NEW CLUB TREASURER NEEDED.
The club urgently needs a Club Treasurer, its a role we cannot do without. The role involves looking after the Westbury Harriers bank account , paying expenses and invoices and reporting on the clubs finances.
If this is something you could do then please get in touch.
To find out more please contact the committee
Treasurer@westburyharriers.co.uk
CALLING ALL WESTBURY HARRIERS, JOIN US AT THE FINAL GWENT XC!
Sign up for the final Gwent League is now on RunTogether – a nice short one this time. Please note this is Penlan in Brecon, not in Swansea and it is not the course we have recently run in Brecon in 2021, but the one we used to do many years ago at Brecon Leisure Centre. For those that have not run this one before, there are no major hills and a bit of mud, but nothing too excessive.
Ladies and V65 men – 13.00 5.5km
https://groups.runtogether.co.uk/WestburyHarriersRunningClub/BookClass/c5267535-aebf-4e90-a145-270b274af65f
Men – 14.30 7.4km
https://groups.runtogether.co.uk/WestburyHarriersRunningClub/BookClass/d76661cd-dcb6-4119-89c6-6e9bab0b3f54
Please read the fixture and travel information: https://www.gwent-league.org.uk/fixtures.html
Our men’s and women’s teams are doing really well. We need one final BIG turnout from everyone. All abilities welcome, everyone helps score for the teams and age groups teams. If you have not done a Gwent before, do get involved. Lift shares available.
Spikes or trail shoes needed and you must wear your club vest. Don’t forget your number from previous fixtures.
Any questions please get in touch with your relevant team manager.
THE MIDLAND 6 (ladies) AND 12 (men) STAGE ROAD RELAYS, SATURDAY 29th MARCH 2025, SUTTON PARK, COLDFIELD
Men’s race – midday 12 legs
Book on via RunTogether: https://groups.runtogether.co.uk/WestburyHarriersRunningClub/BookClass/93703bcf-a928-4079-a6df-afa15667e54c
Ladies race 12.10pm 6 legs
Book on via RunTogether: https://groups.runtogether.co.uk/WestburyHarriersRunningClub/BookClass/db3623cb-80ae-4075-b7ba-eda12f0abd67
Each leg is 3.16 miles. No long legs this year! 🙂 Which should make for a very exciting race.
The road relays is always a great day and it is fun being part of a relay team. All welcome to compete. The club pays the entry fees and contributes towards travel costs. Please get signed up as soon as you know you are available. Sorting teams is always a challenge, especially 12 in a team! If anyone is happy to be a reserve this is always useful to know.
ANNUAL BRISTOL RUNNING SHOW, SUNDAY 23 MARCH 2025, 9-3pm (VOLUNTEERS NEEDED)
This year’s show will again be at the BAWA club on Southmead Road. This is a great event where you’ll get to meet a range of running clubs, race organisers, sports specialists and other local businesses. If you haven’t been before, it’s worth the visit!
I will be there at the Up & Running stand, and looking to team up with a few brands to join us and host footwear try-ons.
Westbury Harriers will have a stand and we are looking for volunteers to help us cover it throughout the day.
In previous years we have have a lovely mix of helpers from those who have been involved with the club for many years to those who have more recently joined. This really is something everyone can help with. It would also be great to have some people from the Junior section of the club this year too.
The show is open from 9:00am until 3:00pm. Mark will be drafting a rota dividing the day into 3 or 4 sessions.
Please email Mark if you would like to help:
SAVE THE DATE
Club AGM, Thursday 24th April, 6:30pm (Buffet provided. No club training)
SAVE THE DATE – Westbury Harriers Awards Night, Sunday 23rd March. Details to follows soon.
HAVE YOU SIGNED UP – BLAISE BLAZER ENTRIES OPEN
Entries are now open for this year’s Blaise Blazer on Monday 2nd June! Entry only £8/£10. Scenic/hilly 4 mile course through Blaise Estate. Friendly event, all abilities are welcome. Plenty of individual, team & spot prizes and lots of free cake after. https://race-nation.co.uk/…/westbury…/blaise-blazer-2025
CLUB ULTRA LIGHT PERFORMANCE VESTS
A few members of the club are looking at getting a high quality running vest made in Westbury Harriers colours. These are very lightweight and seamless vests. You may have seen some other running clubs at the Gwent League with these sort of vests (Pontypool – black and white) for example. They come in men’s and women’s fit and are made by Ronhill (our existing vest supplier). Dan Summers has obtained a couple of samples and will try to get down to club nights to show anyone that is interested. If you are interested and want to see the vests send Dan a message. They will costs between £50 and £75 depending on the size of the order we make. Please note, the club is not planning to hold any stock of these, each time we want to order some we will need to order them directly from Ronhill and will be subject to the same price structure based on the order size. Any questions please contact Dan by text message. We are aiming to put the order in with Ronhill by 31 March 2025 so if you are interested please make sure you contact Dan before then.
THIS WEEK’S TRAINING
MONDAY – Tempo Run
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. Bring running lights and reflective clothing if you have them.
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 – Interval Session
Coombe Dingle, 19:00
4 x 3min (1 min recovery) 5k/10k effort
4 x 90s (1 min recovery) 5k effort
4 x 45s (1 min recovery) 3k effort
Option to drop down to three of each interval length.
Reduced effort for those doing Gwent.
Bring running lights and reflective clothing if you have them.
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. (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 2nd March: 5th and final Gwent League fixture at Brecon (Penlan) – (Club Championship)
Sunday 6th April: The Big Cheese race. 15-mile fell race in Cheddar. https://www.cheddarrunningclub.co.uk/big-cheese
Sunday 13th April: The Frenchay 10km – (Club Championship). https://race-nation.co.uk/register/frenchay-10k/frenchay-10k-2025
Sunday 26th April: Butcombe Ultra (50km and 50mile option). https://butcombetrailultra.com/
Sunday 11th May: The Bristol 10km and half marathon.
If there are any races or interesting events that you think should be added, please email: communication@westburyharriers.co.uk
Ben Wood
