Sunday 31st July
Westbury Harriers – Weekly News
Editors Piece
Have you been watching much of the Commonwealth Games? I started by watching the opening ceremony and since then I’ve been dipping in and out, using the BBC iplayer to catch up on events like the triathlon, marathon and track cycling. I’ve had a quick peek at the schedule and it looks as if the athletics start on Tuesday.
Yesterday I was competing in the Magor 10k and it’s a race I can recommend. Often race organisers will say a race has personal best potential and when you rock-up at the start line you can see a massive hill! The Magor 10k on the other hand is dead flat. So level if you were to place a spirt level anywhere on the course the bubble would be dead centre! In fact, according to Strava there was only 4m of elevation.
Of course, you can go one better than Magor and enter the Relish Running Cheddar Gorge 10k on the 17th September. With the Cheddar 10k it’s all downhill with 150m of decent, although it’s very unlikely your time will make it as a Power of Ten record!
Thursday Intervals
Just a reminder that track fees are due for the month of July. £2 per session for Yate AC and Westbury Harrier members, £3 for everyone else. Payments to Yate and District AC and include your surname in the reference. Many thanks.
- Sort Code 09-01-51
- A/c No. 68948303
Both the Tuesday Yate Track and Coombe Dingle Thursday intervals will be posted on facebook nearer the time.
Avon Road Relay Championship, Sunday 28th August
The Avon County 5K Road Race Championships in conjunction with the Cleeve 5K relays return on Sunday 28th August 2022 from 11am at Cleeve Cricket Club, Cleeve, BS49 4PP.
More runners are required, especially from the Vet men. If you’re a vet male and interested in running please respond to Anthony Glover’s facebook post dated 27th July. If you’re not on facebook send me an e-mail with you age and I’ll forward on your details.
Tamsin is sorting the teams for the women and she can be contacted via manager.women@westburyharriers.co.uk
Age Grader 5 miler
This event, organised by Rogue Runs, is a little different as the winner in based on their age-adjusted time and not the actual finish time. An age-graded calculator is used to determine the finish time meaning that a 65 year old has as much chance as winning as a 25 year old.
Anne Dockery (Bristol and West AC) was the winner in the 70+ age group with an Age Group time of 25:41 (92.78%). In second place (pictured on the left) was Sandy Masters V60 for Westbury in a AG time of 26:10 (91.11%).
The senior men did not do very well at all, proving that age graded times are a lot fairer with Chris McMillan (Weston AC) representing the top placed senior, coming in outside of the top 10 with an AG time of 25:19 (83.24%)
Ellie Leather Turns Pro!
Well done to Ellie Leather, a member of both Yate and District AC and Westbury Harriers. Ellie is very pleased to announce she’s become a profession runner for Under Armour and will join the Baltimore based mission run group. Good luck Ellie in your professional running career.
Member of the Month Nominations
The club committee meet the first Friday of the month which is only a week away! If you could send nominations for junior and senior running achievements before then it would be appreciated. We didn’t have any junior nominations at all last month so please get you thinking caps on and suggest a few youngsters for nominations.
Please e-mail all nominations before Friday to: member.of.the.month@westburyharriers.co.uk
GWR Towpath Series
Well done to everyone that ran last week’s Great Western Runners Tow Path Series. I must mention Matt Ellis (wearing race No. 324) who had a fantastic run, coming home in second place.
A reminder that the final event in the series is on Friday 19th August and it’s only 5k. It’s also a Club Championship event (and Trevor, don’t forget to bring your race number)! A few pictures below, thanks to GWR.
Club Championship Update
We are removing Beat the Bore (11 September) from this year’s Club Championship and replacing it with the Oldbury Power 10 mile race on Sunday 18 September. We are making this change as entries for Beat the Bore closed some time ago and only one member of Westbury Harriers managed to get a place. A lesson to us all to enter races early and we hope whoever was successful enjoys the race!
The Oldbury 10 miler is hosted by Thornbury Running club and entires close 16th September (if the entry limit does not fill up before then). Details in the link below. https://www.thornburyrunningclub.co.uk/trc-races/oldbury-power-10-miler/
The next event is in the Club Championship programme is the Bitton Road Runner 5k along the cycle path, starting from Bitton Station. The event is this Wednesday 3rd August and starts at 7:30 pm. Entry fee is only £6 for affiliated runners. Details in the link below: https://www.bittonroadrunners.co.uk/events/5k.aspx
The Emerson’s Green Rodway 10K Friday 2nd September
Just to let you know entries have opened for the Rodway 10k on Friday 2nd September at 7pm and it’s in Mangotsfield (BS16 9LH). It’s an awesome tough little 10k with a mix of closed paths and trails. £10 for affiliated running club members, £12 unattached with a medal for all finishers, plus prizes for various categories. This year we’re also putting proceeds towards funding the planting of at least 100 trees to help save the planet. The more places we sell, the more trees we’ll plant! We’re trying to put the GREEN into Emersons Green. Link below: https://tinyurl.com/3e8ah6n6
Midland Counties AA Road Relay Championships, Sutton Park
Just a date for your diaries as the MCAA Road Relay Championships will be held at Sutton Park, Birmingham on Saturday 24th September 10:45 pm.
The event will include a Senior Men’s & Master’s 6-Stage, Senior Women’s and Master’s 4-Stage and Young Athletes 3-Stage relays. The club will make the entry and more details will follow.
Bristol Track Club
Wednesday 31st August is your final chance of 2022 to bag that PB at the now notorious Odd Down Cycling Track. Get yourself signed up and use these last few weeks of preparation to get in PB shape. We’ve got pacers lined up for the final race of the year to get an even higher PB ratio than the 40-50% we’ve been achieving since the race launched.https://www.bristoltrackclub.com
Strava Segment of the Week
Well done to Graham Clark who took the long way around the Park today and on route achieved a personal record on Strava segment Pen Park Circuit, in a time of 4:22. Who knows, perhaps a Park Run is due next?
Diary Dates
Wednesday 3rd August Bitton Road Race (Club Championship)
Friday 12th August Beer and Banger 10k. Sausage in a bun and a pint for every finisher.
Friday 19th August Race 4 (5K) Towpath Series
Saturday 20th August National Athletics League (NAL), Yate
Sunday 21st August Avon Track and Field League, Yate
Sunday 21st August Two Tunnels , Relish Running Races
Monday 22nd August Westbury Harriers Charity Run
Sunday 28th August Avon Road Relays Cleeve
Sunday 28th August Severn Bridge 10k and Half Marathon
September (date changed from June) TACH Rowberrow Romp. TACH’s outstanding new Summer Race. A challenging 10k-ish route of Mendip mud, strenuous climbs, fab views and a thunderous descent.
Sunday 4th September, Bridgwater Half Marathon
Sunday 11th September Wells Festival of Running. http://www.wellscityharriers.co.uk/wells
Sunday 11th September Avon Track and Field League, Yate
Sunday 11th September Beat the Bore
Saturday 17th September, Relish Running Cheddar Gorge Downhill 10K. https://tinyurl.com/2p9yrsvk
Sunday 18th September Chippenham Half Marathon
Sunday 18th September Oldbury Power 10 miler (new club championship event, replaces Beat the Bore)
Saturday 24th September, Uphill to Wells Relay. An off-road relay race starting at Uphill beach and finishing at Wells Cathedral. The route is 90% off-road and follows the West Mendip Way along footpaths and bridleways. The race is a ‘hand-over’ relay, run without marshals, water stations or other assistance. Teams are responsible for their own safety and for researching the route although their progress will be monitored at check-points at the end of every leg. https://www.uphilltowells.com/default.aspx
Saturday 24th September Midland Counties Road Relays at Sutton Park
Sunday 25th September Great Bristol Run 10k and Half. https://www.greatrun.org/events/great-bristol-run/
Sunday 16th October Bath Half Marathon, POSTPONED!
Sunday 16th October Mendip Muddle (Club Championship)
Sunday 27th November Chepstow Racecourse Half Marathon (Club Championship)
Saturday 12th November Gwent League Cross Country Blaise Castle
Sunday 13th November Sodbury Slog (10 miler trail event)
Editor this Week
Ian Gawinowski is Westbury Harriers Communications Officer and can be contacted via communication@westburyharriers.co.uk
