Westbury Harriers Weekly News
Evening all,
Hope everyone is enjoying the summer holiday, and having a well deserved break! A few races coming up like the next Club Champs race, The Crooks Peak Cake Race on Wednesday 14th August and also the Avon 5K Road Relays Championships on Sunday 24th August. An email has been sent out today with an update. Thanks to those who have already signed up, we are still looking for a few more people to join. Everyone is welcome to take part, so have a read and sign up.
Lastly, our local running store Up & Running will be hosting a footwear try on night with Altra on Tuesday 12th August. They’re offering 20% OFF on Altra shoes on the night and rest of the week. If you’re free that night, pop along and test out the shoes and enjoy some free refreshments.
Have a great week all!
RACE REPORTS
Midland League – Division 2, Match 3 – Worcester
by Lyn Jenkins and Anne Dockery
On Saturday 2nd August Anne and I headed off to Worcester to join Yate AC at the Midland League Match 3 event. Anne had heard that Yate were short of runners for some of the track events, and despite my initial thoughts that I was far too old to do that, Anne persuaded me to “give it a go”.
It was a great day, with all ages and abilities just “having a go” at both track and field events, from a marathon runner doing 400, 800, 1500 and 5000m races ro a masters hammer thrower doing all the throwing events with weights higher than usual for her age group, just to get points for her team.
Anne and I ran the 800m and 5000m races in rather uncomfortable hot sunshine, but all the officials were very helpful in explaining where to stand, when to start, and when we could leave our lanes to head to the inside lane of the track (all new to me). We didn’t come first, but we weren’t always last, and we earned some points for the team.
If you’ve never done track races before I’d urge you to give it a go, helping Yate earn points in their league matches, and challenging yourself in very different ways (5000m is nothing like a 5k Parkrun!)
800m – Lyn – 3.27; Anne – 3.44
5000m – Anne – 25.17; Lyn – 25.26
Club Updates
WEDNESDAY GROMITS
Last week, Heather and the gang met up for wednesday social run and did the Historical Bristol Trail.
EXCITING NEWS!
Freya Bradley has gained selection for the GB team at the European U20 track champsionships. She is running in the 5k race on Thursday 7th August at 7:25pm. We wish Freya good luck!
UP & RUNNING x ALTRA TRY ON NIGHT – TUESDAY 12TH AUGUST
UP & Running will be hosting a try-on night on Tuesday 12th August. Altra will be bringing the new Experience Wild 2 trail shoe and Experience Flow 2 (neutral) road shoe to test out. Altra are known for their Zero or Low Drop shoes and specific Footshape toe box, which enables more natural movement of the feet. If you’ve never tried Altra shoes before, now is your chance. Refreshments will be provided.
Arrive from 6pm so you have more chance to find available sizes. The run will be 5km around the Downs, and we will set off at 6:30pm.
There will also be 20% OFF on all Altra shoes on the night and for the rest of the week until 17th August.
ADD TO THE CALENDAR: The Gwent Cross Country League
The fixtures for next season are:
Saturday, October 11th 2025 Margam Park (Swansea Harriers)
Saturday, November 8th 2025 Cardiff in conjunction with Cross Challenge
Saturday, December 6th 2025 Blaise Castle (Westbury Harriers)
Saturday, February 7th 2026 Chepstow Race Course (Bristol & West AC)
Saturday, February 28th 2026 Parc Bryn Bach (Parc Bryn Bach RC)
TRAINING THIS WEEK
MONDAY – Tempo Session
Group runs from Blaise Club House 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:
Track session at Yate 7pm – Seniors book on via RunTogether App.
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
Coombe dingle sports complex, on grass.
5 – (1min recovery) – 40secs – (80secs recovery)
4 – (1min recovery) – 40secs – (80secs recovery)
3 – (1min recovery) – 40secs – (80secs recovery)
2 – (1min recovery) – 40secs – (80secs recovery)
1 – (1min recovery) – 40secs
* Option to drop 5min to 4min and 4mins to 3mins
5mins @10k pace progressively increase pace for 4,3,2,1 mins towards 3k pace.
Note 1: You can sign up to all sessions via the RunTogether App.
Note 2: There is no longer a separate booking for Group 1 on a Thursday. There is still the same focus as originally outlined, but as the weather and field are in good conditions over the summer, Group 1 can be accommodated into the existing session.
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/
Club Championship info and rules on this link: https://westburyharriers.co.uk/events/club-championship/
Saturday 9th August – RunThrough Trails Brecon Beacon: https://www.runthroughtrails.com/brecon-beacons/
Wednesday 14th August – Crooks Peak Cake Race (Club Champs): https://www.fellrunner.org.uk/races/5856fd20-4006-49fa-89a2-ee243f26d2d5
Friday 15th August – GWR Towpath 5k: Towpath Series – Great Western Runners
Saturday 16th August – Limitless Trails Beast of Llangattock: https://www.limitlesstrails.co.uk/beast-of-llangattock
Tuesday 19th August – Severn Bridge 10k (Club Champs): https://sites.google.com/site/roguerunsevents/home/our-events/sb-10k-half
Saturday 23rd August – Torbay Twilight 10k: https://torbaytwilight10k.godaddysites.com Use the discount code Westbury3 for a £3 discount on the entry fee
Saturday 23rd August – The Green Man / The Green Boy: https://www.greenmanultra.co.uk/the-summer-green-man-ultra/
Sunday 24th August – Avon 5km Road Relay Championship (See info below)
Saturday 30th August – Mendip Marauder: https://www.albionrunning.org/mendip-marauder
Sunday 31st August – Wyedean Ultra: https://www.rogueruns.co.uk/home/our-events/wyedean-ultra
Saturday 20th September – Maverick Trail Race X Series Afan Forest South Wales: https://www.maverick-race.com/products/the-maverick-x-series-afan-forest-2025
Saturday 27th September – Maverick Original Mendips: https://www.maverick-race.com/products/the-maverick-original-mendips-2025
Sunday 28th September – Forest of Dean Autumn Half marathon: https://www.forestofdean-halfmarathon.co.uk/autumn/
Avon 5km Road Relays Championships
Date: Sunday 24th August, 11am start (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 women, V50/V60/V70 men
4 person teams: senior men & V40 men
Championship event so no charge, club pays the entry.
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.
Westbury always have loads of teams at this event, so do come along and get involved. Always a great event local event, fun, enjoyable, suitable for everyone, competitive for those that want 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 over the summer.
Reserves always welcome.
Suitable for all abilities groups 1-6. Talk to Tamsin or Mike.M/Mark.A for more information.
Sign up on RunTogether
If there are any races or interesting events that you think should be added, please email: communication@westburyharriers.co.uk
Editor: Yvette Casallas
