Westbury Harriers Weekly News
Evening Westbury Harriers,
In this week’s newsletter:
- Club notices
- Training this week
- Race reports / results
- Upcoming races
1. CLUB NOTICES
ACADEMY UPDATE
No academy training until Monday 14th Sept.
Summer running challenge:
In support of our club charity of the year all the Academy members have been challenged to complete a sponsored running challenge over the holidays.
You can read more/sponsor the team here
U&R x MAAREE BRA FITTING EVENT – Thursday 30th July between 11-5pm
Would you like to get professionally fitted and find the perfect fit?
Up & Running will be hosting an exclusive all-day bra fitting event on Thursday 30th July, with the wonderful Sarah from Maaree. Test out the bras and get expert advice. There will be two styles to try: Solidarity and Empower Bras. There will be time slots throughout the day, between 11-5pm.
Click on the link to book your free slot: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/maaree-bra-fit-up-running-bristol-tickets-1993612251912
Discover your perfect fit with MAAREE’s award-winning sports bra. Tell your running and fitness buddies about it.
REMINDER – NEW CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP DATES
The next four Club Championship events are:
- Parkrun Participation, Saturday August 15th, 09:00, Blaise Castle. 10 points are awarded to all Westbury Harriers who participate or volunteer (parkrun or clubhouse). The Clubhouse will also be open this weekend. Please remember, points are for participation only; so please don’t get carried away racing between yourselves, parkrun is a run, not a race!
- Crook Peak Cake Race, Wednesday 19th August, 19:00. Entries are on the day only. We will usually head to the pub afterwards (food was available for pre-order last year!). It is a great event to socialise at afterwards, and there will be cake!
- Oldbury 10mile, Sunday 20th September, 10:30. The third and final race in the Thornbury Running Club Series that have been Club Championship events across two seasons! Definitely enter if completing the triad of (joining) medals is a necessity!
- Forest of Dean Autumn Half Marathon, Sunday 27th September, 10:00. Another long race, only one week after the Oldbury 10miler!
AVON ROAD RELAYS – SUNDAY 30TH AUGUST – Avon 5km Road Relays Championships 2026
10am start (Please note new start time of 10am and it is 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/V75 women, V50/V60/V70 men
4 person teams: senior men & V40 men
Cost: Free. This is a championship event so no charge, club pays the entry.
Teams: 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. Please sign up on RunTogether as early as possible so we know who we have as organising relay teams is always interesting (a slight headache!)
Suitable for: Everyone (16 years and over)
Team Managers for this event Women: Tamsin Men: Mike Mewse
This is an Avon championship road relay. Each person in a team runs a 5km circular route on local country lanes and paths. Westbury always have loads of teams at this event, so do come along and get involved it is always a fun and social morning. It is a great event local event, enjoyable and suitable for everyone. Held at the cricket club, where there is small children’s playground and plenty of space if you are bringing the family. We look to ensure everyone is included. From putting out competitive teams, welcoming new club members into a relay event 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 running over the summer, it will be the same for everyone. It is good season starter. The organiser has put a team limit this year of 70 teams in total as the event is getting so popular, so early sign up again would be appreciated.
Reserve Runners: Always needed and welcomed, let the team manager know.
How to get involved: Sign up on RunTogether
Men’s Team
https://clubspark.englandathletics.org/WestburyHarriersRunningClub/Coaching/Summary/c3a2b594-f88a-4311-ac47-b16837243a13
Women’s Team
https://clubspark.englandathletics.org/WestburyHarriersRunningClub/Coaching/Summary/b17a0c9c-2944-4a33-b895-4f9fc24069c6
Any questions talk to a team manager at training or drop them a message.
2. TRAINING THIS WEEK
MONDAY – Tempo Session:
Group runs from Blaise Castle Pavilion 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 at Yate
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:
7pm at Coombe Dingle Sports Complex.
4 sets of: 3mins (1min recovery), 90secs (1min recovery)
6 x 20secs (20secs recovery)
*Option to do 3 sets
90secs at 3k pace/effort
3mins at 5km pace/effort
3. RACE RESULTS/REPORTS
ACADEMY End of Term Sports Day Report:
The Academy finished up the end of a very hot summer term of running with the end of term summer sports day on 13th July.
The children competed against their team mates in a mix of fun races and challenges. We had lots of children impressively manage over 40 burpees in a minute! Our balancing on 1 leg challenge proved less of a challenge than predicted (they were still balancing after 10minutes!!?) We also saw brilliant efforts all round on the 300m race.
No sports day is complete without a relay, or (as is becoming tradition..) a soaking of the club Chair! Thank you Geraint for being such a good sport!!
Thank you to the over 20 volunteers who gave up their time to make our sports day happen!!
Special thanks to Megan, our DoE volunteer, who has completed her volunteering. The children have loved having Megan support the groups, thank you & you will be missed!
Snowdon International Race ‘Ras y Wyddfa’
by Ian Ruck
After an 11 year gap – it was back to Llanberis for my fifth and Bryn’s first crack at the (full) Snowdon race
Super simple – 400 plus runners including the International teams (Italy dominated the Men’s again) race the 5 miles up, 5 miles down from town. Iconic event, fear I may have the bug again.
Lakeland 50
by Seema Srivastava
Feeling really happy to have completed the Lakeland 50 yesterday, running 50 miles across the Lakeland fells from Dalemain to Coniston and taking more than three hours off my time from last year.
Training is never perfect (let’s be honest, we could all do more strength work!), but I’ve been consistent throughout the year and it really paid off.
The Lakeland 50 is a fantastic event: stunning scenery, a brilliantly friendly atmosphere, and exceptionally well organised. The cut-offs for the 50 are generous enough for runners like me at the front of the back of the pack, and the checkpoint marshals do an incredible job of looking after everyone.
I also love that a significant proportion of the entry fees goes to charity, with more than £1 million donated since the event began. A brilliant race that I’d thoroughly recommend.
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
Other local races:
Wednesday 19th August : Crook Peak Cake Race, (CLUB CHAMPS) Entries are on the day only. Fellrunner — Wed 14 Aug 2024 — Crook Peak Cake Race
Sunday 6th September: Waun Fach Fell Race – https://welshfellrunnersassociation.org.uk/en/races/waun-fach-2026
Sunday 20th September: Oldbury 10miler (CLUB CHAMPS) Oldbury10 Mile – Thornbury Running Club
Sunday 27th September:Forest of Dean Autumn Half mararhon. (CLUB CHAMPS) Forest of Dean Autumn Half Marathon
Sunday 27th September: Black Nore 10k https://www.fullonsport.com/event/black-nore-10km-2026/profile
Please send anything you might want to see in the newsletter to: communication@westburyharriers.co.uk
SOCIAL MEDIA:
WESTBURY HARRIERS FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/groups/westburyharriers/
WESTBURY HARRIERS INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/westbury_harriers/
If anyone is on Instagram, we would love for you to tag us, so we can share your posts/stories taking part in club events or other races!
Editor: Yvette Casallas
